Safety in cosmetics and other body products

On a similar note, you should try to buy bath, body, and beauty products that use natural ingredients. Unfortunately, these industries are not heavily regulated, so there are many harmful chemicals in much of what is available in mainstream stores (including such things as lead in lipstick, formaldehyde, and other known carcinogens). The Environmental Working Group also does work in this area, and has compiled an extensive online cosmetics database called Skin Deep that analyzes the safety of different products. It includes rankings of popular products such as sunscreen, and each category lists the worst and best products in terms of consumer safety. It is browsable with advanced search options. In addition to searching by product or company, you can also search by ingredient, health concern, organics, and it even contains information on which companies have signed PETA's pledge against animal testing!

The database is located at http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

One of the nice features is that, when looking at products, it explains why certain ingredients are considered less safe, so you can evaluate the results. You can also enter the ingredients from a product you are using that is not the database and receive a provisional report on its safety (not as accurate as the reports they have compiled, of course). While it can be helpful to look for "organic" products, there is much less regulation of what constitutes "organic" in the beauty/body products industries. As a result, look for products that list specific ingredients as organic and are certified by a reliable third-source party. In general, when shopping for body products, it is best to use brands that have more natural ingredients and fewer synthetics. Some of the most common ingredients to avoid in products such as lotions are triethanolamine and parabens such as methylparaben and ethylparaben.

For more information about safety in cosmetics, you can also check out The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at www.safecosmetics.org or read 'Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry,' by Stacy Malkan.