What is in your beauty products? Most people do not know the answer to that question because we fall victim to following the latest trends and what celebrities are using. We assume it is alright for us when, in reality, it is function and popularity over health quantity.
The sad reality is that there is really no rule to using harmful chemicals in your everyday products and no true safe chemical to use unless it is natural products. But even claimed natural products are not fully natural so what do you do?
Look at the Ingredients
The key is ingredients. Always, always look at the ingredients of your hair and beauty products. This will tell you what is really in a product. It will help you know the real natural products from the fake advertised ones or what I like to call posers.
Posers are those companies who see the trend of natural products, the need for it and the market for it but don’t actually want to do the work to get their product to that level so, they just slap on words like ‘Natural‘, ‘Organic‘, ‘Free From‘, ‘Nontoxic‘, ‘Hypoallergenic‘, or even ‘Gentle‘ so that you buy it. They know customers don’t look at the ingredients. Customers are known to look at the front packaging so they use this information to catch you like flies to honey
Does that sound like you? Real talk, have you looked at your ingredients?
You may have never checked the back of your everyday products. Companies misguide us in any way. However, there is no rule that tells companies they can’t. Therefore, we can’t trust what every company says. You have to look at the back of the bottle. The ingredients expose the real truth.
Related: What is the Inspiration for a Natural Living lifestyle?
Know What to Avoid
To find what you need to avoid, you need to know what you are looking for. One huge thing you want to avoid is parabens. What are parabens? It is a chemical compound used as a synthetic preservative found in your skincare, body products, and hair products. It has been known to be linked to cancer, change breast cancer cells, and create tumors. Also, it mimics estrogen in your body and it can lead to fertility or fetal development problems.
I mentioned it in my article, Beginner Tips to Start a Natural Lifestyle. I also mention that parabens are hidden in your product labels under other names. Here are some of the names to look for:
- alkyl parahydroxybenzoate
- butylparaben
- ethylparaben
- isobutylparabens
- methylparaben
- propylparaben
Research Before You Buy
This one can be a tough thing to do, especially because we have don’t have all the time to look up everything to the level we want. Not when we have our families, jobs and busy schedules. To make it easier, check to see if your products are verified. You can use the site -www.ewg.org. They do the research for you so, the next time you are at the store you can check it out. See if they are labeled with an EWG VERIFIED™ seal or NEA SEAL OF ACCEPTANCE™.
Test
Once you have found a product that you like with the ingredients that you love. Next, you will have to try the product out. It is the same as all the other times you have bought products from the store. In order to know if it works for you, you got to try it and test it out. Give it two weeks to a month. Just because it is natural doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the perfect product for you. I for sure go through the same cycle when looking for new products for myself.
If you are looking for great hair safe alternatives you can check out, oVertone products which are a cruelty-free and vegan hair dye company that is rocking the hair dying industry naturally.
Related: How to Rock Your Natural Skincare Routine
Final Thoughts
Remember that finding safer alternatives to your everyday products is just the same way as finding popular products out there, however, this time you are more aware of the ingredients and what to avoid. You also now know how to research the products in the store before you buy it so that you can test it out to see if the product will work for you. In the end, it works out.
