Why We Should Care

The next time you reach for your shampoo, shower gel or cleanser, take some time to read the small print (ingredients) listed at the back of the product. What is advertised as gentle for your skin may come as a rude shock to you. Ingredients such as sodium laureth sulphate (known eye irritant) and methyparaben (suspected carcinogen) may read like greek but they are actually toxic chemicals that have the potential to harm us. After all, these are the products that we use everyday, on ourselves and even on our babies.

My good friend pointed me to this excellent website www.safecosmetics.org/ hosted by a group of non-profit health and environmental organizations that have been lobbying the government and the personal care industry to phase out the use of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems.

The eye-opener is the Skin Deep database where you can type in the name of your personal care product and it will indicate the toxicity level of the item. A quick survey of some of the personal care products that I use show that nearly all had at least a moderate hazard rating.

So what's the solution? Of course cynics would argue that going organic is not realistic and does not necessarily mean it is better. It is also expensive to upkeep. But after being aware of what goes into the products that we use, it really helps to eliminate a lot of the stuff advertised out there, some of which are also expensively priced. You are likely to be less tempted to spend heaps on products that actually do your body harm and save money in the long term.

Thus I have taken steps to replace some of the products that my family uses. In my search for affordable and healthier personal care products, I realised that there were limited alternatives available in Singapore compared with a whole load of junk that was sold on the shelves.

I capped my price criteria at $20 bucks or less.All the products listed below are available either at selected Watsons or Guardian Pharmacy stores.

Sukin Organics
http://sukinorganics.com.au/

Recommendations: Botanical Body Wash, Facial Scrub, Body Lotion. I like the body wash best. It's the only one that comes in a 1 Litre bottle, which makes it more economical.

Organic Surge
http://www.organicsurge.com/
I've only tried the Bergamot shower gel, which is nice. Planning to try the body scrub soon.

Gaia Baby
http://www.gaia.com.sg/
The skin soothing lotion works for me and Kieran. It helps to treat irritated skin, diaper rash and even mosquito bites. I'm also using their bath product for Kieran.

Lavera
http://www.lavera.com/
German-based brand. I have yet to try any of their products so welcome any feedback!

California Baby
www.californiababy.com
This is the most expensive of the lot but I decided to add it to the list because I've heard that it's good for very sensitive skin. The calendula cream as well as shampoo and body wash products are popular.

If you guys have recommendations for affordable personal care products, do post it on Shout Box.

Start today by reading your labels.