Did you know your skin is the largest organ? It has an average of 16-21 sq ft surface area. Our skin is constantly absorbing toxins and chemicals around you, including products you put on your bodies such as makeup, soaps, and lotions.
I'm amazed at how long we have gone without thinking about what we apply to our skin and feel It is so important to share and educate awareness of the ingredients that make your common bottle of body wash.
Here is an example of a well-known body care brand. Let's look at the ingredient list:
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate:
This is a surfactant, it is an inexpensive and very effective chemical produced to assist in foaming in detergents, soaps, shampoos, toothpaste etc.
This is known to be irritating to the skin if left on the skin for a period of time or used in high concentrations
It is derived from vegetable sources, palm kernel oil or coconut oil
TEA-Lauryl Sulfate:
A triethanolamine salt of Lauryl Sulfate. Used as a cleaning agent by helping dirt and oils mix with water so it can be rinsed away as you wash.
High concentrations can cause irritation to skin.
Oleth-10:
This is also an emulsifier (which keeps oils and liquids mixed together) and surfactant, it aids in cleaning ability.
A study published in the International Journal of Toxicology in 1999 proved animals showed effects on organs even with low doses.
Lauramidopropyl Betaine:
This is another emulsifier and surfactant, it aids in foaming to help clean your skin. This can also be found in household cleaning products such as laundry detergent and dish soap.
Benzyl alcohol:
This is a harmful chemical that can dry out your skin, cause irritation, inflammation as well as itchiness.
This substance is used in cosmetic and body products generally as a pH adjuster and a preservative.
Triethanolamine:
This is a pH adjuster and an emulsifier in body care products. Although it is an approved ingredient to use in cosmetics and body care, it should never be used long term as it has been proven to have terrible effects on the skin and immune system. High dosages have also shown to cause certain cancers in the liver and bladder in some animal testing.Â
These are only a few of the most common ingredients that are used in body care. You can simply look up these ingredients one by one and see what they all are. A great resource for this information is cosmeticsinfo.org.
As you can see, there is an abundance of ingredients that goes into this product. Most of these are chemically engineered and is just not needed to make a good soap. Â
We challenge you to be aware of the products you use and really do the research to find out what exactly are the ingredients some of these companies are using to create their body care products, and think about if you need or want these ingredients on your skin.