Cosmetic Database...What's In Your Shampoo etc.???

[lapetite66]

Hi Everyone:

I don't know if anyone else knows this but there is a website called Cosmetic Database that you can go to if you are unsure about a certain ingredients in your shampoo etc. to find out if they are harmful or not.

I actually found it by accident. At the time I was searching for information about how to improve my hair. I was wondering why my hair wasn't improving and looking as lively as the girls on those commercials not realizing that it was the shampoo with all it's chemicals that was jacking my hair up. I have using chemical free shampoo for the last three years now and although it takes some getting used to, in the long run I know my hair is all the better for it.

I couldn't believe that some of the ingredients used in our shampoos, and skin products, not to mention the creams and lotions we use on our babies are some of the same chemicals we use to clean our floors! Some of them are so toxic that they have long since been banned for years in other countries such as Japan and Europe.:evil:

Anyway, cosmetic database is a great website that gives you really good in depth information about various ingredients that are found our soaps, shampoos and other stuff we use everyday.

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient/706561/TITANIUM_DIOXIDE/

 

[carebear]

It is absolutely important to know your ingredients and your products, and I encourage you to research them. BUT this is NOT a great site for that - their information is not reliable and is presented in an alarmist fashion. They make huge leaps in logic - right over the huge gaps. Don't let that site sway you.

For example, the TD that your link leads to. The cancer concern is for aerosolized TD - ? If you work with it you SHOULD be taking proper precautions - including wearing a mask if appropriate, but are you breathing in your shampoo? For irritation to skin and eyes - sodium chloride (yanno, table salt) can irritate skin and eyes as well if not used properly.

 

[TessC]

Yup, one of my friends sent me a link to that very site a while back and was all up in arms because one of the really common cosmetic ingredients (I'm blanking on what it was right now) was "shown to be carcinogenic in studies", so she was convinced that her B&B products were going to give her cancer.

Upon actually reading the information they loosely quoted, it's a known carcinogen if you eat it, and in hefty amounts to boot. :roll: Just about anything is harmful if misused or overused, and I loathe the alarmist pseudoscience sites that fail to tell the whole story.

 

[Best Natural Soap]

Oh my... don't get me started.

We were at Mt. Rushmore about a month ago, and a drinking fountain in the visitor center had a noted posted above it stating that the water at Rushmore was found to have higher amounts of arsenic than had previously been recorded, but that it was still safe to drink.

Me, my husband, our kids--- we all got a drink from it, and turned to leave, when I was accosted by a woman who reprimanded me for allowing my children to drink TOXIC WATER!!!

There are safe thresholds of use for many many ingredients that would be lethal in larger doses.

Sites like that are great for figuring out what the latest ingredient buzz is... but then you have to find a site with good science to get the truth.

 

[ilove2soap]

This website was the incentive for my learning how to make soap, shampoo bars, and bath products. It really scared me to think the products I was using on my daughter, hubby and self were so toxic. I agree that it is a bit alarmist, but I am also grateful because I probably would never have considered making my own soap! :wink: