Holy SUPER App Batman!!

So, as many of you know, I am a super freak about ingredients.  I care about ingredients,  where they came from, and the integrity of the source of the product.  Whether it goes in my mouth or on my body, I read the ingredients label, and I look to see where the product was made.  Now, as a busy girl (who is easily swayed by sparkly packaging) there are times that I miss the fine print (like the fact it comes from a third world country with entirely different standards for human consumption).  The pollutants in the environment, coupled with bad water, and a mix of lead paint in the packaging, can all add up to money NOT well spent.  If you have the time to research the brand, that is awesome.  If not, then you should have this app on your phone: Skin Deep, created and launched by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is hands down, the best beauty companion a girl can have.   

Here is how it works:

Before you buy it, you must scan it!  As you stalk the aisles of the grocery store, drugstore, or Sephora, have your phone out.  Pick the item up, scan the bar code and a “score” will appear on your phone.  The score indicates how dangerous or safe, the scanned product is for you.   You can also read about the score as well, which makes it very user friendly.  If you do not care that the company does not use biodegradable packaging, and therefore, the score (in your opinion) is too harsh, but physically the product is safe, you can make that judgment call in seconds!  Since I have a CVS addiction and peruse the aisles at my 24 hr CVS to kill time at 5 am, I have had the time to find out some really interesting things that I discovered with my app.  

They are as follows:

• Most “organic” beauty products score very poorly.  The USDA organic seal is only approved for products that meet their acceptable edible food standards.  That’s right kids…the USDA cannot certify anything inedible to be organic.  This means that some of the “ingredients” may be organic, but the product itself is not.  BEWARE BUYING ORGANIC beauty products!  The beauty industry is ripe with nefarious characters looking to charge double for cheaper, lower quality products (and many of the big namers STILL USE ANIMAL TESTING which does not mean they cannot claim "all natural or organic!! Bastards!).
• La Roche-Posay rocks it across the board.  Almost the ENTIRE collection rates very well and is considered very safe.   I bought the sunscreen and use it as a hand lotion.  LOVE IT.
• Kiss My Face- One of the best natural brands on the market, DOES NOT score well.  Apparently EWG has issues with the packaging.  Well you know what EWG,  if it’s not going to give me cancer, block my endocrine system, or cause my ovaries to shrivel up and fall out, I’m good ...THANKS.  The products actually work, and I am an ardent fan of the company.

Heed my cautionary tale…you will get super addicted to using this app, and you will start buying items with the lowest score because you are a responsible adult who lives a healthy lifestyle.  Here is the one problem that this type of mentality has, not all products are created equal.  Most of the time, the really clean items, the ones with the lowest scores, JUST DON’T WORK.  For example, I bought a new shampoo and conditioner based solely on scores.  My hair got so tangled from the shampoo and conditioner, that it took me an hour to get a comb it out.  I bought some WILDLY expensive face cream, again based on score, and my face broke out into a rash that it took me 5 months to get rid of ( I literally had to go to the dermatologist). 

Warnings aside, I am a huge fan of EWG and all the work they do to make sure we are not getting the shaft from the beauty industry, well at the very least, we won’t become sterile and die of cancer from our lipstick (unless it’s a really, really good color).

Stay tuned for next month’s post…..

Xoxoxo-

Willy