How do you covert to chemical free?

Converting to chemical free might seem overwhelming at first. For some of you, it's not something you can change overnight. You might want to start out slow and change one product at a time. For others, you might want to immediately ditch your current products and start over fresh. It's really a matter of  personal preference and as I said, every little bit helps.

Products you should change first: shampoo, deodorant, body soap, toothpaste, face wash, moisturizer, makeup

Products to change in the near future: hand soap, mouthwash, hair products (hairspray, gel, mousse, etc.), exfoliating scrubs, nail polish, hand sanitizer, and even laundry detergent (the chemicals you wash your clothes with seep into your skin every time you get dressed, yikes!)

I created tabs at the top of this blog. Each tab references a different cosmetic. If you click on the tab, it brings you to a page where I go in detail about each one. I also give recommendations for chemical free versions of each cosmetic.

Below is the shoppers guide to safe cosmetics. You can save the image to your phone so you can revert to it when you are at the store.

Why should you go chemical free?

You are probably thinking "She isn't a scientist. She isn't a chemist. She isn't even a doctor. Why should I listen to her?" You are correct, I'm not a scientist, I'm not a chemist, and I'm not a doctor. I am however, highly educated on the chemicals in cosmetics. If my eyelashes didn't fall out, I wouldn't be sitting here blogging about the dangers of chemicals. I would still be washing my hair with Pantene, slathering Dove all over my body, and applying Diorshow mascara while wearing Crest Whitestrips. It's almost a blessing in disguise that my eyelashes did fall out because it was a huge eye opener for me. I had no clue how dangerous these chemicals are and I never thought twice about what I put on my skin.

You don't have to be perfect when it comes to chemical free skincare. Every little bit helps. Every little change helps. You can start out slow by changing one product at a time.

We, as the consumer, are in control. If we stop buying chemical ridden products, the manufacturers will stop making them. It's up to us to make the change.

What you put on your body is just as significant as what you put in your body

Putting chemicals on the skin may be worse than eating them. When you eat something, the enzymes  in the saliva and stomach help to break it down and flush it out of your body. However, when you put these chemicals on your skin, they can be absorbed straight into your bloodstream.

We know that our skin is our biggest organ. The skin is grouped into several layers, the epidermis, the dermis, and the hypodermis. These layers act as barriers to the blood vessels located under the hypodermis layer. The skin does a good job in protecting what makes it to the blood vessels, but chemicals still get in.

Penetration rates of chemicals into the skin are affected by the body part they are applied to. The skin on the soles of our feet is very thick, whereas the skin on our eyelids is very thin. Absorption rates on our face and scalp are 5-10 times higher than on other parts of the body. Absorption also depends on molecule size, chemical solubility, the means in which its transported (cosmetic), and whether or not the chemical reacts with the enzymes in your skin.

Enzymes in the skin can activate and inactivate many drugs and foreign compounds. This means our skin protects us from exposure to certain chemicals while actually intensifying the effects of others. There are actually enzymes that activate chemcials and make them more toxic!

You have likely heard the saying, you are what you eat. And the same theory holds true for your skin. This is why it's so important to read labels and become educated about what ingredients to avoid when selecting cosmetics.