Safe Make-up Brands—So You're Not Putting Toxins On Your Body

Are you using mainstream make-up, shampoo, nail polish, fragrances, and soap brands? You may be rubbing toxins onto your skin daily. Your skin is your largest organ and it absorbs what you put on it.  Unfortunately, many products on the market aimed to make you feel clean and beautiful are actually toxic—and this is especially true when you are trying to get pregnant.  

So many choices but not many green choices 

You see the shelves full of endless options for beauty, soaps, and shampoos. But did you know that manufacturers are not required to show they’re safe before putting them on the market?  And that only after years of complaints, studies, and documentation might a product be “voluntarily” pulled off the market?

What chemicals in make-up or skin care are problems for fertility?

Endocrine Disruptors (EDCs) are known to impact fertility and your baby. Bigtime. How?

EDCs disrupt endocrine properties by either mimicking or blocking endocrine actions which interfere with receptor binding and the metabolism of hormones.

This results in improper hormone signalling. Signals can be weaker than normal, sent at the wrong times, or fill more of the receptors than normal. The hormones that EDCs affect are: estrogens, androgens, progesterone, gonadotropin releasing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and thyroid hormones. These hormones are responsible for the production of eggs and sperm as well as fertilization, implantation, miscarriage, and live birth rates.

EDCs include

Phthalates. A group of hundreds of products used in nail polish, hair sprays, aftershave lotions, soaps, shampoos, perfumes and other fragrance preparations. 
A 2016 study examined 256 women in Massachusetts who underwent a total of 375 IVF cycles. Of the women with the highest urinary concentration of phthalates, 28% had a baby, compared to 50% of women with the lowest exposure.

Bisphenols (BPA/BPS/BPF). These can decrease your egg count (ovarian reserve).  A 2015 study of 209 women undergoing infertility treatments demonstrated a significant trend (p-trend 0.001) of higher BPA associated with lower antral follicle count (AFC), a measure of ovarian reserve.

BPA affects oocyte maturation. In this study, the highest documented BPA urinary level in the 4th quartile showed a 17% decrease in AFC. This means a lower number of eggs that can be recruited each month, especially important for the egg retrieval process for IVF.

And not only do EDCs affect fertility, but your child’s development. As babies grow, they are very impressionable to their surrounding environment. Toxic chemicals like EDCs can negatively impact a baby’s well-being as they can lead to various neurodevelopmental disorders. 

It is important to remember that EDCs do not just impact fertility, as there are many consequences to using these products that result in poor health outcomes for all individuals that are exposed. 

What toxic products should I avoid to protect fertility?

Below is a list of EDCs that can affect fertility. 

  • Bisphenols (BPA/BPS/BPF)

    • Widely used in plastic products, lining of cans and sales receipts printed on paper with a glossy sheen. Leaches from many products into food

  • Phthalates

    • Added to plastics to increase flexibility and durability and found in toys, footwear, food packaging, medical plastic tubing, and personal care products.

  • Parabens

    • Used as a preservative and in antibacterial products, and found in food, cosmetics and personal care products.

  • Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

    • Used in electrical devices and industrial lubricants and found in flame retardants in furniture. By-products of industrial processes such as metal and paper production, wood incineration or heating plastics

  • Pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides

    • These kinds of products are found in most people’s garden sheds and sprayed on many food products and crops sold commercially

  • Heavy metals (e.g. aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury)

    • Exposure occurs through smoking, air pollution, dental amalgam fillings, consumption of contaminated food and drink, and contact with petrol, industrial and household products. 

Source: the Fertility Society of Australia. 

Oof! That was a lot! After reading that long list of products that have been linked to infertility, you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed and questioning all your past consumer decisions. Well, don’t fret too much! There are numerous healthy personal care products and non-toxic household products (we’ll cover those in an upcoming blog post) that are viable replacements. 

Where to start? Just start! You can begin transitioning to healthy and safe products for you and your family today.

What am I looking for in green cosmetic and hair care options?

The best thing is to get products that do not have known chemicals and keep your skincare and hair-care as light and as close to mother nature as possible. This means using less products and greener products. 

Now, I have to tell you—chemicals are what make lipstick never come off and hair that does not move. Most of us are used to make-up that never fades. This type of make-up is great for a night out on the town, but should not be your standard go-to for daily beauty. 

Going green is a bit of make-over in how you think about beauty.  As a nutritionist, I’m all about beauty from the inside out. Glowing skin and lustrous hair comes from taking care of your health and giving  your body the nutrients it needs to thrive. Make-up, nail polish and hair products are the icing on the cake—they accentuate the TLC you give your body on a daily basis. That TLC should include eating clean foods, the right nutrients for your body, exercise, deep sleep, water, healthy relationships, and good mental health.  

As you switch to green products, the natural ingredients don’t shine your hair for you and blush your cheeks—they offer a softer, but beautiful, touch.  

What to do?  

My suggestion is do what you can do without.  In the pandemic, I think we all learned to live with less.  Fewer clothes, fewer products and spending more time making our homes nicer and more comfy.  Make-up and some hair styling care  is not necessary everyday.  When you are trying to get pregnant, less is better. 

Now for what you do need?

There are definitely products we all need (shampoo/soap and some colorful lip balm).  I suggest looking things up before buying and here are my tips below: 

Green make-up, hair and skincare products to explore

Your very best starting place to find safe cosmetics and skincare products? The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG’s) Skin Deep Database, which rates products based on available information. Look for a rating in the green zone, with EWG VerifiedTM being the very best. 

  • Fertility-friendly, green cosmetics

    • Tarte high-performance naturals—Made without harmful ingredients such as parabens, mineral oil, triclosan, phthalates or sulfates.

    • Jones Road beauty—They follow guidelines that work to eliminate over 2,700 potentially harmful ingredients from our formulas. There are no phthalates, sulfates, petrolatum, PEGs, cyclic silicones, EDTA, or BPA. 

    • Burt's Bees. Their products are formulated without phthalates, parabens, petrolatum or SLS.

    • Josie Maran. Instead of parabens, Josie Maran Cosmetics uses ingredients such as ethylhexylglycerin, which is plant-derived and phenoxyethanol, a naturally derived ether alcohol.

  • Fertility friendly hair and skin products 

    • Living Nature's—A collection certified organic products for babies by a New Zealand company. They are certified by COSMOS Organic, which conducts one of the world’s strictest certification processes. Their products are considered safe for use during pregnancy. I really like the kelp shampoo

    • Conti Castile bar soap. It only contains olive oil, sodium palmate, sodium cocoate, water, and glycerin and is widely available.  

    • Everyone 3 in 1 Soap. A natural plant based soap made with pure essential oils. EWG VerifiedTM, the very best rating.  

Trying to figure out how to put greening your personal care into a master fertility plan?  We can help you figure out how.

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Fun in the Sun! Fertility (and Eco) Safe Sunscreens