Your skin eats —when it comes to food, we often think exclusively about that which we ingest orally and digest, not paying any attention to the food our skin ingests. That’s right…60% of the substances we put on our skin is readily absorbed by our bodies. From the shampoos, hairsprays, lotions, creams, toothpastes, and cosmetics to even the quality of fibres in the textiles we wear.

There are many natural preservatives such as essential oils and grapefruit seed extract so don’t become a victim to the idea that synthetic chemicals are necessary to create a product with a decent shelf life. Nature can give us up to 18 months of using highly pure, bio-active, effective and cold-formulated treasures for our skin, hair, and body.

Many of the commercially available personal care products such as toiletries and cosmetics are highly toxic as they contain synthetic chemicals such as: sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate; phthalates; the family of parabens including methyl-, butyl, and propylparaben; the ethanolamines— MEA, DEA, TEA; as well as PPG, PEG and the FD&C dyes.

To protect your health:
1) Start reading the labels on your personal care products and eliminate certain classes of chemicals that are known to be harmful to you and your environment;
2) Focus on the "edible" nature of the ingredients;
3) Slowly incorporate non-toxic and non-irritating fibres (such as organic cotton, hemp, bamboo and soy) into your wardrobe, especially your intimate wear;
4) Use natural soaps to launder your clothing. This can minimize dryness, rashes, eczema and other difficulties of the skin as chlorine and other known cancer-causing chemicals are also avoided.
5) Remember that "natural" only means that the ingredient is derived from nature, but does not address the purity of the end product or the potentially harmful processing it might have undergone.
For the full article, http://www.imforreal.com/IFR_pdfs/htrlabels.pdf

Michael Solomon is the owner of I’m for REAL, an eco-lifestyle store in Mississauga that sells organic, sustainable and repurposed items from personal care products to clothing, baby, bed and bath as well as green home renovation materials.