So I've been on a quest to rid certain chemicals out of my skin, body and hair care routines. I found this site (www.goodguide.com) to be very helpful in allowing me to no only get idea of how well a product affects myself but also how it stacks up against other products on the environment and society scales. Does anyone else find these sites helpful or is it just a bunch of bologna? Also are there any other sites like it? Discuss.
goodguide.com
- Thread starter dlew86
- Start date
I think websites like that, and the methods they use for rating products are basically meaningless.
They will write off a product, because a small minority of people may have a sensitivity to one of it's ingredients. What about the vast majority for whom the ingredient has no negative side effects?
They will also write off ingredients that have a potential to cause issues for some people, but there is little in the way of studies to show just how bad these ingredients may be; the ingredients could be harmless.
The word "suspected" is used quite frequently; indicative that little actual data exists to back up a claim.
For example Glycerin is listed as a "low concern" ingredient. It's listed because: "ingredients that are prohibited in cosmetics in Canada only if they contain specified contaminants." That's rather heavy handed, on an ingredient that would be safe probably 99% of time!!!
I also feel most of these websites are fueled by scar tactics, and methods/testing/techniques that have no basis in actual science.
They will write off a product, because a small minority of people may have a sensitivity to one of it's ingredients. What about the vast majority for whom the ingredient has no negative side effects?
They will also write off ingredients that have a potential to cause issues for some people, but there is little in the way of studies to show just how bad these ingredients may be; the ingredients could be harmless.
The word "suspected" is used quite frequently; indicative that little actual data exists to back up a claim.
For example Glycerin is listed as a "low concern" ingredient. It's listed because: "ingredients that are prohibited in cosmetics in Canada only if they contain specified contaminants." That's rather heavy handed, on an ingredient that would be safe probably 99% of time!!!
I also feel most of these websites are fueled by scar tactics, and methods/testing/techniques that have no basis in actual science.
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I think there is at least one other site like that on the net.
They go by a list of ingredients. No thought whatsoever about the amount of the ingredient in the product and the concentration of the ingredient itself.
One purpose of all this is to drive people from one "fad" to another while all the time pushing people into higher priced items that are supposedly better for them.
This is "bad" for you this month, another thing next month.... but you always pay more. It's amazing how that works.
They go by a list of ingredients. No thought whatsoever about the amount of the ingredient in the product and the concentration of the ingredient itself.
One purpose of all this is to drive people from one "fad" to another while all the time pushing people into higher priced items that are supposedly better for them.
This is "bad" for you this month, another thing next month.... but you always pay more. It's amazing how that works.
What chemicals are you interested in getting rid of? It's an interesting notion, much the same as my wife's interest in getting rid of as much plastic out of the kitchen as is reasonable. going back to glass storage and steel utensils.
-jim
- Thread starter
- #5
Yea I figured their methods of finding out all this information wouldn't be accurate.
As of right now just surfactants like SLES and SLS. I mainly use it to find out what ingredients are in products as some online retailers and company websites tend to leave this information out.
Haha. I've never noticed any sensitivity to SLS but out of curiosity I wanted to try a SLS-free toothpaste. I bought some tubes of Tom's of Maine toothpaste that had flouride, whitens and fights tartar. They state that they use natural ingredients and of course they list the natural sources that they get the flouride, xylitol, etc. and I didn't notice until weeks later it still has SLS too (undoubtedly from another natural source).
I'll start by stating the obvious which is that everyone here is free to spend their money as they please, and if they want products free of these ingredients then go for it.
Sulfated alcohols like SLES and SLS were themselves all the rage in the 1940s. The reason is that they made a good soap replacement particularly in hard water areas. Sulfonate cleaners do not form insoluble precipitates in hard water. In other words, they don't leave soap scum behind.
IF you get any irritation/dryness and you are on a budget (especially if your water is SOFT and you don't need all the strength), then just try diluting your SLS or SLES product with water. This is pretty easy to do with shampoos if you have an empty bottle around. For instance, mix it 50/50. Of course, it does result in a thinner product when you dilute something with water.
Also, a lot of the misinformation on the web about these SLES and SLS assumes that people are applying them full strength. They are treating this like people are using 100% SLS or SLES! This is NOT how they are sold. Besides that, I can think of a whole lot of ingredients (including many, many "natural" ones) I would not apply at 100% concentration!
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