how to choose...here's my way

Are you familiar with the EWG(Environmental Working Group) cosmetic safety database, Skin Deep? I've been using the EWG as a resource for the past six years(when Heidi first introduced me) and it is clear how much interest in cosmetic safety has grown by the look of their very on-pulse and updated site. Here is the skinny on Skin Deep and some facts about the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics(including baby products!!!)...

What is Skin Deep?

"EWG's Skin Deep is an online safety guide for cosmetics and personal care products, launched in 2004 to help people find safer products, with fewer ingredients that are hazardous or that haven't been thoroughly tested. Skin Deep combines product ingredient lists with information in more than 50 standard toxicity and regulatory databases. The database provides easy-to-navigate safety ratings for tens of thousands of personal care products."

Why is the site SO needed?

"Some companies use ingredients that may cause cancer or that are associated with developmental problems. Many cosmetics ingredients penetrate the skin. People ingest those used on lips and hands and inhale sprays and powders. When risky and unstudied chemicals are used in cosmetics, the stakes are high."

How can this be?

"On average, consumers use about 10 personal care products containing 126 ingredients per day. The government does not require health studies or pre-market testing for these products. The Cosmetics Ingredients Review (CIR), the industry's self-policing safety panel, does not make up for FDA inaction. In 2007 EWG analysis found that over 30 years, the industry panel has reviewed the safety of just 13 percent of the 10,500 ingredients in personal care products."

What should I do?

Visit the site and search even one product that you use daily.

You might be surprised.