Toxic Ingredients to Avoid in the Shower

When it comes to product choices, sudsing up is serious business. Your skin is a wonderful and protective barrier for your body, keeping germs and other harmful substances out. Unfortunately, toxic chemicals hidden in soaps and shampoos can be easily absorbed by the skin and, from there, make their way into your bloodstream. Knowing which ingredients to avoid in the shower will help keep you healthy and clean, inside and out. Here are our top offenders:

Avoid: Sulfates

Why: Most commonly appearing as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate, these synthetic detergents show up in everything from foaming soaps and shampoos to toothpaste and make-up. Sulfates are skin membrane irritants; they dry out impair the natural protective qualities of skin and hair. They also commonly combine with other ingredients to produce carcinogenic and nervous-system-disrupting by-products. Luckily for us, though, these little nasties are totally unnecessary when it comes to getting clean.

Avoid: Parabens

Why: Used in everything from all shower products, cosmetics, shaving creams to deodorants, parabens are man-made preservatives used in products to prevent the growth of molds, bacteria and yeasts. They mimic estrogens in the body and have been linked with breast and skin cancers.

Avoid: Phthalates

Why: These chemicals are found in hundreds of products, including plastics, cosmetics and personal care products. They’ve been linked with cancer and reproductive problems, and may be especially dangerous to babies and young children, whose are more sensitive to chemicals.

Avoid: Fragrance

Why: On an ingredient list, “fragrance” most often means some combination of synthetic, carcinogenic, hormone-disrupting chemicals you definitely do not want in your system. Because they aren’t individually listed on labels, they fly under the radar, but are nonetheless present in almost all shampoos, deodorants, skin creams, and other personal care products.

What’s a Mom to Do? We know you love your shower time. Lucky for you, all Nine Naturals’ products — from luxurious shampoos to body butters to deodorants and more — are free of the above-listed toxins and pregnancy-safe!

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