poison.

One more thing to keep myself awake at night: I read a post on The Coveted about toxic chemicals in beauty products. Truly frightening! This lead me to a website called Skin Deep. It is a large database of common personal care products/cosmetics. Each item is rated based on chemical content, carcinogen content, potential allergy issues, etc. Furthermore, the manufacturer's use of animal testing is revealed.

I decided to rate some of the products I use on a regular basis.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Anti-Blemish Clear Skin Cream
I slather this on my face every morning. I have been using it for approximately 2 years. It's fairly affordable ($10-12 for one tube...each tube usually lasts me about 4-5 months). Furthermore, it has not irritated my skin like most other anti-blemish products I have used in the past.

This product received a 7 (out of a possible 10) rating...qualifying it as a high hazard product!

Ingredients in this product are linked to:

• Cancer
  
• Developmental/reproductive toxicity
  
• Allergies/immunotoxicity
  
• Other concerns for ingredients used in this product:
  Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes
  

Furthermore, this product is tested on animals! So I guess I won't be purchasing this again. If anybody has any suggestions for a less frightening/animal friendly lotion, I want to hear about it.

Queen Helene Cocoa Butter Hand and Body Lotion

As a compulsive bather, I require a large amount of lotion in my life. I coat myself in this stuff at least twice a day.

This product received a rating of 4, making it a moderate hazard. I guess this is good news?
Once again, this product can cause cancer, reproductive/developmental issues, allergic reactions, and all of the other bad news attributed to the Neutrogena face lotion.

On the bright side, Queen Helene does not conduct animal testing.

Biore Pore Perfect Daily Deep Cleansing Cloths

I use these before every Bikram class to take off my makeup (because I am going to be drenched in my own sweat for the next 90 minutes). Since I go to class 5-6 times each week, I am exposing myself to the chemicals in this product quite a bit.

This product received a rating of 5, making it a moderate hazard. It contains all sorts of carcinogenic chemicals that may also cause birth defects/fertility issues. Great!

It is unknown whether this company conducts animal testing. Huh?

Maybe it's time to switch to baby wipes (also good for removing makeup).

I won't even go into the terrible scores for almost all of the makeup I use...even the nice Sephora items. In fact, the best product was Tarte Cheek Stain, which received a moderate hazard classification.

Unfortunately, I am not naturally lovely enough to survive without products! I'm not sure where to begin to find new, less dangerous stuff...because even the hippie products I use (not listed above) scored poorly. Any ideas?