I'm starting the new year with a "clean" slate
Earlier this month I saw a documentary called Toxic Beauty that really made me take a closer look at the skincare and personal-care products I use every day. Although I have been more than aware of the potential problems that may be caused by controversial ingredients like parabens and phthalates for quite some time, I never really took these threats seriously. Maybe because I “came of age” in a time when personal-care ingredients were rarely the subject of scrutiny—or maybe I was just burying my head in the sand. Regardless, there’s no denying the lack of government oversight in the U.S. when it comes to the ingredients in the products we use every day. Case in point: More than 1,300 cosmetic ingredients are banned in the E.U., while only 11 of these are no-nos here. (Yes, you read that correctly.)
No joke, I started searching the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database for my most-used products that night, and it was an eye-opening experience. (Though a majority of the products I use have yet to be entered, the site lets you build your own report by copying and pasting an ingredient list from another site for a general idea.) As it turns out, my dry shampoos are among the biggest offenders—especially the aerosol ones that use chemical propellants. So the search was on for a “clean” alternative and I’m ecstatic to report I found one.
Ladies, meet Captain Blankenship’s Mermaid Dry Shampoo. Not only is it the best-smelling dry shampoo I’ve ever tried, the fact that you sprinkle it on your roots and massage it in with your fingers means my bathroom will never be covered in a thin layer of white dust ever again. (As soon as I knew it was a winner, I cleaned every single product sitting out on my counter, every tray and container and every square inch of my countertop and floor—and everything is still squeaky-clean.) Oh, and for the record, this dry shampoo just might work better than virtually every other dry shampoo I’ve tried over the years.
I think my reluctance to go “clean” with my routine may have something to do with my not-so-great beauty experience when I went organic inside and out when preparing to get pregnant. Fortunately “green” beauty has come a long way in the last 10+ years, and now I’m actually excited to start replacing the “nasties” with healthier, lower-risk options. But this doesn’t mean I won’t try new products that may not fall on the “safe” end of Skin Deep’s score spectrum, and it doesn’t mean I’m throwing all of my products away and starting over. But it does mean that I’m infinitely more aware of what I put on my body, and the potential implications my personal-care routine may have down the line.
Since so many of us are mindful of minimizing our exposure to chemicals, I’m going to start including info about the safety profile of EVERY product I feature on IBB. The FDA may not want to do it, but I’m up to the task! This is my way of saying thank-you for supporting me and the site for all these years—and hopefully keep you coming back for more!
Captain Blankenship Mermaid Dry Shampoo
EWG/SkinDeep® Score: 1 (via the “Build Your Own Report” tool)
