Greenwashing: Buyer Beware

Greenwashing is a term I first encountered a few years ago when I first started on my toxin free journey. It refers to the act of companies advertising and presenting their brand or products within their brand as "natural" "organic" or "clean" when they in fact are not. They may have an ingredient that is natural, organic and clean but their brand or product when under scrutiny will be found be toxic.
 
There are different degrees of greenwashing that occur. There are numerous companies that will use the color green (seriously) and keywords to con you into thinking that their product is clean. There are other companies that may have some products that really are toxin free and show a commitment to that and then when their business expands they loosen their loyalty to their mission. Some products may stay toxin free while new ones contain questionable ingredients. Of course they never warn their public. 
 
How are we supposed to navigate if we can't trust even the companies that have a place in our hearts (and wallets)? Read. The. Labels. All of them. Become acquainted with the dirty ingredients that you should avoid like the plague. Here are some tips that I use when reading labels. If an ingredient contains a number it is usually bad news. If an ingredient contains "ethanol" or "paraben" it is bad news. If there is an abbreviation it is usually bad news. 
 
There are apps that can help you shop for non toxic beauty products. The best I have found is Healthy Living (Previously Skindeep) by the Environmental Working Group. This app is simply phenomenal. You can scan a barcode or use a keyword search and if that product is listed in their database it will show you a rating from 1-10 (one being cleanest to ten being the most toxic). If the product is not in their database you can search any ingredients you have questions about. I often will use them as resource if I have questions about a particular ingredient when shopping. 
 
Stepping into the clean beauty world can be overwhelming at first but I promise you it is worth the investment. My skin has never looked better and it makes my heart happy that I can help steer my daughter in the right direction when she is ready for skin care products of her own... and cosmetics much later.