Is choosing products as difficult for you as it is for me? Does the average person know where ingredients come from ... are they natural or synthetic? Some ingredients are even known by different names. Even when we are careful and choose products that have a seemingly innocent "green" product label we are tricked! I have seen products like Simple Green at the health food store and later found it on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) dirty list! Let the buyer beware!
So, to make this simple, I have chosen a couple apps for my phone for scanning products before purchasing. Think Dirty is awesome for personal care items. The name makes me giggle even before using it! This app doesn't have everything but contains a lot of most used products; even simple products can be carcinogenic. Do you want to know which ones are carcinogenic? Get this free app! You will love it! Also you can add products to the app and help build the database.
Another app that is on the rise is the EWG Healthy Living app. It is just "okay" for now but I'm hanging on to this one. The EWG website is awesome and I'm sure they will make improvements to the app. My scanner crashes when I try to scan but EWG has tested a lot of products, including sunscreens, food, cleaners, baby products and more! This app is a must have for access to more information on the go! What are your favorite apps to make product decisions?
Harsh, unhealthy, disease causing synthetics is an awesome reason to use our high quality essential oils! Use them for health and wellness and to make your own household cleaners, personal care items. This is a win-win. You don't need to purchase hand sanitizers when you have high quality, tested essential oils that are antimicrobial and have no synthetics. In side-by-side comparisons high quality essential oils win every time for reducing germs (bacterial, fungal, viral ... and parasitic). Why is this important? Do you have any idea how many products contain synthetic anitmicrobial ingredients such as triclosan? Yikes! Its been used in everything from saniters to soap, toothpaste, clothing and laundry detergent. Approximately 75% of the women I talk to have thyroid problems and the FDA says exposure to high levels of triclosan can cause thyroid problems in test populations. But they know nothing about long term chronic exposure! This is only one of the many synthetics in our world today that cause chronic health problems.
Lets move on to happier thoughts! These apps will help you monitor the products you use topically, internally, breathe in, or use for making your own awesome DIY products at home! Have fun scanning products and staying safe!
