Health Conscience Toiletries

I have been on a slow and steady track to change over the products in the bathroom  to more health conscious products. The first thing I realized when I did this was how many products I use! The second thing I realized was how poorly many of them rate. And my third realization was how many products there are to choose from. Getting lower hazard products isn't necessarily more expensive, but it does take research and possibly some internet shopping if you don't have local stores that carry them.

I am going for products that are listed as lower hazards on the Cosmetics Safety Database. Products are rated on a scale of 0-10, and lower scores indicate lower hazards for the ingredients. A lot of the products have high data gaps (that is, there have not been studies on many of the ingredients/chemicals in the product), so ideally you would want a product also with a low data gap so the score is more reliable and indicative of the whole product. Here is a rundown of products I've investigated:


Hair dye-this was the first thing I looked at because I was pretty sure it was horrible. I was right!

-Past product: L'oreal Couleur Expert, a hazard rating of 9/10 and a 79% data gap
-Trying: Light Mountain, rated 1/10 and 62% data gap
-Other info: the only hair dye that you'll probably find at Target that's a moderate hazard is Garnier Dimensional Lightener and Loving Care by Clairol. All the others are high hazard.


Shampoo:

-Past product: Herbal Essences Moisturizing Shampoo: 5/10 hazard and 76% data gap
-Trying: BWC Lavender Highland 3/10 and 87% data gap. I got it because it was on sale for $5 on Amazon.com, but it smells like the shampoo I've washed my cats with. Probably will not buy again.
-Other info: Burt's Bees Outdoor Shampoo Bar and Pantene Pro-V Expressions are also low hazards. Other common shampoos (including other products by Burt's Bees and Pantene) are moderate-high.


Bug Spray:

-Past and present product: Cutter and Off! unscented repellant and wipes, 2-3/10 and 65% gap
-For comparison: Off Skintastic, 7/10 and 75% gap
-Other info.: According to this it seems like DEET isn't that bad (or maybe is in the data gap) but the fragrances and other ingredients are often not so great.


Toothpaste:

-Past product: Colgate Total Advanced Fresh, 6/10 and 73% gap
-Trying: Tom's of Maine Natural Whole Care, 3/10 and 70% gap
-Other info: Jason Natural Cosmetics toothpaste is low hazard, and the basic Colgate toothpaste has lower scores than the fancy ones.


Mouthwash:

-Current product: Listerine, a 3/10 and 68% data gap, though tartar control is rated 5/10
-Happy enough to keep with it, did not do additional research

Contact Solution:

-Current product: Opti-Free, 3/10 and 77% gap
-Other info: every all-in-one contact solution is listed as a moderate hazard, CVS Saline Solution is low hazard

Deoderant/Antiperspirant:

-Current product: Crystal, 0/10 and 29% data gap (this is a cheap product and I've been happy with it, doesn't stain!)
-Past product: Degree, 4-6/10 and 83% gap
-other info: the low hazard products don't contain fragrance. Crystal and Naturally Fresh also rate better because there are just so few ingredients. Aluminum in many antiperspirants has been implicated in Alzheimer's but is not ranked as high hazard in the database.

Still working on finding alternatives:

Sunscreen:
 Banana Boat Sports Sunscreen Spray, 7/10, 84% data gap
Banana Boat Sports Faces Lotion, 7/10, 86% data gap

Conditioner:
Bath and Body Works Moisturizing Conditioner, unlisted

Shower Gel:
Bath and Body Works, unlisted

Lotion: 
Suave, 7/10 and 79% data gap
Pacifica Body Butter, 3/10 and 81% data gap
I know that many moisturizers rate poorly because of petroleum/plastics in the ingredients.

I also need to investigate these but I think this is a long enough post!
Makeup
Hand Soap
Hand Sanitizer

For products that are unlisted, it is possible to get a tentative report if you are a registered user. Basically you can create your own report by entering all of the information on the label and the database weights it based on the ingredients listed. Of course, for those products that have 20 ingredients in all chemical sounding names this would be quite the task to enter correctly!