While browsing the health and beauty section in Ross recently, I came up with what I think is a pretty fun idea for a new feature on the blog called Not Quite Natural. So here’s the deal- once a month or so I’ll post a few pictures of products I’ve either seen while out or read about online whose ingredients aren’t quite as safe as the product’s brands/labels/packaging make them seem. I’m the worst about quickly skimming ingredient lists of products that boast the words “natural” and “organic” and doing little research before making a purchase. Hopefully these posts will make me a wiser shopper, and maybe you’ll find them helpful as well!
The pictures for this first Not Quite Natural post were all taken at either Ross or Marshalls. I am almost always lured in by their cheap and occasionally fancy personal care products.
As the name suggests, Petal Fresh Organics Shampoo and Conditioner do have a couple of organic ingredients. They also contain retinyl palmitate, fragrance, methylisothiazolinone (a preservative associated with allergic reactions and neurotoxicity), methylchloroisothiazolinone (another preservative associated with allergic reactions), cocamidopropyl betaine (a synthetic surfactant that is likely contaminated with carcinogens called nitrosamines), and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Sure, this product is paraben and DMDM free. Unfortunately, it’s still made with sodium laureth sulfate, propylene glycol ( a petrochemical), diazolidinyl urea ( a formaldehyde releaser), and fragrance.
With a name like Nature’s Gate, you might expect a short list of natural ingredients. You’d likely be disappointed to discover the following: sodium laureth sulfate, fragrance, cocamide dea, and cocamidopropyl betaine. For those of you who aren’t familiar with cocamide DEA, it’s a chemically modified form of coconut oil. Yikes!
This Home & Body Organics Hand Soap was full of questionable ingredients, including fragrance, sodium laureth sulfate, and cocamide DEA.
Well, I’m pretty saddened by my findings. How about you guys? Are there any not quite natural products that have bummed you out lately?
P.S. I’ve added the above questionable ingredients to the Ingredients to Avoid page if they weren’t already there.
Filed under: blog changes, health and beauty, not quite natural
Tags: Cocamidopropyl Betaine, fragrance, health and beauty products, home and body organics, nature's gate, not quite natural, petal fresh organics, questionable ingredients, sodium laureth sulfates, tree hut
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