I’m often asked about my skincare routine. I think many women realize most of the products available today are filled with toxic ingredients that can wreak havoc on your body. But how do you find clean beauty products?

To this day, little regulation exists in the U.S. concerning skincare ingredients. In fact, the U.S. currently has only banned 30 chemicals from cosmetics and skincare, while Europe has banned more than 1,328! Commonly used ingredients in products currently on the U.S. market are classified as hormone disruptors, neurotoxic or have little to no research on how they can affect the body altogether. 

Because of this, it’s crucial to choose beauty products that go above and beyond the current standard and are formulated as toxin-free. However, sifting through the ingredients list on a bottle is easier said than done! But rest assured, there are a few simple resources that can help.

Before I dive into the tools I use to check the safety of products, it’s important to understand the role of hormones in the body and how toxic chemicals can disrupt their vital, everyday function.

Why Clean Beauty Products Matter

Hormones act as the “chemical messaging system” in your body and are in charge of regulating virtually every part of your health. In order to get their messages across, hormones have to connect to the cell receptors (or parking spots) of their “target” cells.

Hormone disrupters are chemicals that act as master “manipulators.” Their cellular makeup mimics your natural hormones, so when they enter your body, they steal the rightful “parking” spot where your hormones need to park. This causes communication disruption, excess hormone production and overstimulation, which leads to cancer and other life-threatening issues. 

Hormone disrupters work subtly—you may not notice their negative effects for years (usually when it’s too late). Because of the delayed repercussions, a lot of people do not recognize the serious danger long-term exposure to these chemicals can pose.

How To Find Clean Beauty Products

Memorizing the long list of chemicals to steer clear of can be confusing. Here are two simple, easy-to-use tools for checking the safety of ingredients in skincare products and common household brands. 

1. The EWG Skin Deep Site

The EWG (Environmental Working Group) is an American nonprofit activist group. They specialize in research and advocacy to help empower people to live healthier lives. Their website is an amazing resource and full of vital information. I specifically want to highlight the skin deep cosmetics tab of their site. 

Find Out a Product’s Toxicity Levels on the EWG Site

The EWG website allows you to type in a brand or specific product. It scours a database full of thousands of products and gives you the analysis and toxicity score of the product you’re searching for. It also gives you a breakdown of each ingredient listed in that product and the score it received.

This helps give a better idea of the ingredients you need to be more aware of moving forward. It can also help you assess the risks involved if you choose to continue using the product you researched. This database contains a lot of products, but is definitely not all-inclusive. 

Because of this, you are able to search for individual ingredients, as well. They make it easy to quickly analyze an ingredient list, so you can assess the toxicity level of that product or chemical. 

You can also search by “best score” (EWG verified), and discover new skincare lines and beauty brands to try.

Don’t Forget to Check Your Tap Water and Sunscreen

The EWG also houses extensive information on the best non-toxic sunscreens. They categorize the safest sunscreens for activities, children, overall performance, etc. The site updates regularly to accommodate any new formulas or new information for the public’s use.

In addition, the EWG has a public database on the cleanliness of tap water found in different counties across the country. Enter your home zip code for a breakdown of any toxins found in the tap water surrounding your home.

Your daily drinking water may be the source of chemical toxicity within your body. This tool helps you assess the quality of water in your area and walks you through choosing the right filter.

2. The Think Dirty App

Think Dirty is a free app that I recommend downloading on your phone. How does it work? Simply type in a product or scan its barcode for a full breakdown of the product’s ingredients and toxicity score. 

In addition to skincare and cosmetics, the app also contains a database of laundry detergents, nail polish, hair coloring agents, sunscreens, oral care, household cleaners, fragrances, hair care and much more. 

Many people don’t realize how many products we come into contact with on a daily basis that contain harmful chemicals. All of these common items have the potential to increase the chemical load within your body.

For example, it’s important to choose your laundry detergent wisely. Your clothes, pillowcases and sheets touch your skin every day, absorbing any detergent residue on the fabric. If you use a detergent that contains harmful chemicals, it can contribute to increased toxicity levels in your body over time. 

Even the fragrance found in products (soaps, detergents, perfumes, etc.) can disrupt your hormones and create negative effects within the body. 

Some argue that they don’t notice a negative effect when using conventional products and therefore, it must not affect them. Unfortunately, these products contain smaller concentrations of harmful chemicals. So rather than having an immediate effect, the negative effects can build over time. This way, most people don’t even realize body changes until the damage has been done. 

Find The Best Clean Beauty Products

It’s unfortunate how much toxic chemicals in your daily life can affect you and your loved ones. Shockingly, these potentially harmful ingredients appear in so many household brands.

But the good news? You can alter your health simply by filtering product ingredients through trusted sites before adding them to your shopping cart. There are some really amazing products out there to explore, so I encourage you to use these resources to find new product recommendations you’ll love.

Have fun shopping!