You Are What You Wear

A comment from a reader on my post about you-are-what-you-eat prompted me to do this follow-up post on you-are-what-you-wear.  Fashionistas' thoughts will immediately go to clothing and accessories, but I'm talking about your birthday suit.  Skin is our body's biggest organ but we often treat it either with spotty love, benign neglect or downright contempt.  Most of us slather on chemicals without regard to their potential negative effects on either the skin itself or where it ends up inside us.  Our choices are based on smell, touch or advertising promises.


I've been trying to choose products based on what's actually in the bottle, tube or jar that does the job but is fairly harmless.  I try to steer clear of high-powered chemicals but it's a daunting task when I think about hair care, body care and even what I wash my clothes with, let alone candles I breathe in and perfume I wear.  A lot of noise has been made lately in the media about steering clear of parabens but that's just the beginning.  Here's the ten most un-wanted list thanks to www.kiahouse.com (forgive the spelling):

1. petrochemicals (coco betaine, PVP/VA, copolymer, propylene glycol, propyl glycol, sodium laurel sulfate)
2. polyethylene glycol (PEG, PPG, cocoate.peroleate)
3. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (benzene, DMBA, 1-nitropyrene)
4. diethanolamine and triethanolamine (DEA or TEA)
5. phthalates
6. parabens
7. methylchloro and methylisothiazoline
8. formaldelhyde (2 bromo, 2 nitropropane, 3 diol, hydantoin)
9. butylated hydrosxyanisole (BHA)
10. artificial colors and fragrances

And this is just the short list!  Happy hunting!