When I’m helping clients start to detox their products it can be overwhelming, expensive and feel like you need a chemistry degree to read the back of your products.

I wanted to share with you today the top two that I start with that are easy to find in an ingredients list and a great place to start. I would always suggest replacing products that cover the most area of skin and that are used in the most internal and areas first. That way you can gradually move towards a less chemically laden bathroom cabinet without breaking the bank.

The truth is, everything is made up of chemicals water, soil, plants, our pets, and even us! We all say we want to avoid “chemicals,” but what we really mean is we want to avoid ingredients that are harsh or harmful. And so it’s not chemicals themselves which are dangerous or unnatural. It’s what the ingredients are, and what they do, that you should understand, so you can make the safest and healthiest choice for you.

Expiration Dates

Before we even get to ingredients the very first place to start is use by dates. I know myself especially as a makeup artist in the film industry I often end up hoarding skincare, something I can do less now as the products I’m hoarding have a much shorter life than my more mainstream products used to have. So head to the bathroom, have a look around. Is anything older than a year? If yes its time to say goodbye, empty and recycle if you can during this process. You wouldn’t want to eat something over a year old so lets not pop it on our skin. Double check for any shorter expiry dates just in case.

Products you just never use

So now you’re left with all your in date usable products, what haven’t you used in a really long time, what maybe wont make it until winter before going out of date? Grab a bag and start to put those products in, maybe you have 5 products that all do the same thing and you know you physically can’t get enough on your face or body to get through it. All of those products pop in a bag, send a message around to friends and family let them know you’re having a clear out and see who would love them, remember one mans trash is another mans gold, it may be the pick me up someone needs too. If you have any unopened products they can be donated to beauty banks.

Let’s Begin

So now you’re left with products you love, you use regularly and more space in your bathroom for dreamy candles for bath time (who doesn’t love a candle – side note some of my absolute favourites are Sundayoflondon and The Self Care Company look out for natural wax and essential oils so as not to be filling your relaxing bathroom with harmful toxins)

So products you love great…. now we get to the tough part round one, first pull out:

Hand Wash
Body Wash
Body Moisturiser
Body exfoliator
Face Wash
Soap
Deodorant
Sanitary Products

These are your first round of products if you’re looking to clean up that you want to switch out.

Turn them around so you can see the ingredients you are looking for:

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
Parfum/Perfume

There are a tonne of others but in the interest of keeping things simple this is a great place to start. So whats my problem with these guys? Well luckily here in the UK we are more protected than our USA friends, the FDA deem a lot (like 100s) of chemicals we have banned still safe for use. So it’s important to be extra diligent if you’re over the pond. You have access to some amazing brands over there, check out Gurl Gone Green and This Organic Girl for beautiful affordable US brands. However these two ingredients are a no no from me.

This is a great article over at the guardian outlining the disparities between the US and the EU

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate

It’s basically a foaming agent. So anything that foams has to have something in it to make it foam. Makes sense right. In the interest of only putting on your skin something it needs, foaming isn’t massively necessary in my humble opinion this is coming from the girl who doesn’t even use a foaming shampoo but I know that journey is a weird one, however if you do love a foaming thing there are some Ecocert approved options out there, you just have to know what youre looking for.

What have the studies found?

Sodium lauryl sulfate can cause irritation to the eyes, lungs, and skin. It’s also hazardous to the environment, particularly aquatic life. Studies on sodium lauryl sulfate have shown concerns about non-reproductive organ system toxicity. Aerosolised products that contain sodium lauryl sulfate or that are used around the eyes and skin have been classified as human irritants by Cosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments. Some studies have shown that sodium lauryl sulfate can cause developmental, endocrine, or reproductive issues. However you want to look at it, we are already surrounded by pollution we can’t do anything about so if you can lower your toxic burden on your body in any way then why not.

So whats it actually doing to our skin?

Although SLS is a strong and effective detergent, it’s often one of the most (if not the most) harsh and irritating surfactants out there. Studies have shown that it damages the acid mantle of the skin, the protective outer barrier created by our body’s natural oils and sebum. For many hair types, too, it may be too drying and damaging, even if softening butters and oils are included in the product’s ingredient list. The damage may not be immediate, but over time, it will show up.

What am I looking for in the ingredients list?

It can be under any of these names… and its usually quite high up, within the top 5 normally.

Lauryl sodium sulphate
Lauryl sulphate sodium salt
Sodium dodecyl sulphate
Sodium n-dodecyl sulphate
sulfuric acid monododecyl ester sodium salt
sodium lauryl sulfate
monododecyl ester sodium salt sulfuric acid
sodium salt sulfuric acid
monododecyl ester
sulfic acid
monododecyl ester
sodium salt
AI3-00356
akyposal sds
aquarex me
aquarex methyl

My products foam but I don’t see any of the above ingredients and I think the brand of this product is a more conscious brand?

Have a look for these ingredients these are more naturally derived for want of a better phrase and certified Eco.

SLSA (sodium lauryl sulfoacetate)
Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate
SCS (Sodium Coco Sulfate)
Disodium / Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate
Decyl glucoside
Lauryl glucoside.

If all your products contain Sodium Lauryl sulphate and its too expensive to make an immediate switch make a little list, do a little research and when you come to the end of your bottle have something lined up to switch it out with.

If you’re still with me let’s look into Parfum/Perfume

Parfum/Perfume is still classed as a trade secret. And thus 100s of ingredients can be hidden behind this title without legally having to be listed visibly for the customer to read. Meaning you can’t make a well informed choice about the product you are applying directly to your skin and your body.

This one is a biggie, While some of you may have vaguely heard of phthalates, many of you may be reading this word for the first time. That’s because phthalates are most often not labelled on a product’s ingredient list because hide in a product’s fragrance formula, which is exempted from ingredient labelling.

Fragrances don’t only include perfumes and colognes, the majority of personal care products on the market have some sort of scent – even the ones listed as unscented as there are chemicals added to mask the scent. That’s why I suggest avoiding products that list fragrance, parfum, or aroma on the ingredient list unless the package clearly states that the product is phthalate-free, the company lists all of the fragrance ingredients, or they state from naturally occurring essential oils.

What have the Studies found?

Scientific research has found that they disrupt hormones and affect our reproductive health. They are increasingly being linked to the rise of infertility in men. Again another one not to mess around with. If you want more information on this there is a great documentary called Stink which is well worth a watch and really digs deep Into the industry. You can also read more about it on EWG https://www.ewg.org/research/not-so-sexy By removing products containing Parfum you are potentially removing 100s of unknown unwanted chemicals from your bathroom cabinet and your body.

Again do the same thing as before make a little list, do a little research and get some naturally perfumed products lined up to switch out.

I think that’s enough for today, as I’m sure you can see after this exercise its a minefield deciphering all those ingredients, its also not true that if you can’t say it its bad for you so it is a matter of finding the key ones to avoid and going from there. You will also find as you move towards a more natural playing field the ingredients lists get shorter and you’ll start to recognise certain things.

If you want to have a look through your other products for these two then absolutely go for it. But for now il leave you with those.

Sending Love,
Alice x

Helping You to Navigate Detoxing Your Products – SLS & Parfum explained.