The 8 Commandments of Natural Beauty

Commandment No. 1

Just like you would consult the back of a box of cookies to check the calorie content before eating, you should get in the habit of investigating the ingredient lists on your beauty products.

It's impossible (not to mention unrealistic) to avoid every single suspect ingredient — but by steering clear of products with ingredients that can harm both the health of your body and the health of the environment; you're taking solid preventative measures. It's a big step in the right direction.

6 Beauty Product Ingredients to Avoid

• Petrochemicals
  Examples include petroleum jelly, isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol, methyl alcohol or methanol, butyl alcohol or butanol, ethyl alcohol or ethanol (often used in skin astringents and perfumes or colognes).

• Sodium laureth/lauryl sulfates and other sulfate-based detergents
  Examples include sodium lauryl ether sulfate; sodium laureth sulphate; sodium lauryl ether sulphate (most commonly used in shampoos, shower gel, bubble bath)

• Propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol, along with various ingredients formulated with PEGs and PGs
  Examples include ethylene glycol (used in firming lotions) and propylene glycol (found in everything from deodorant, mascara, baby powder, after shave and more).

• Formaldehyde & paraben preservatives
  Examples include butylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben (found in sunscreen, shampoos, shaving gel, toothpaste and more)

• Synthetic dyes
  Examples include anything with F&DC preceding it, usually followed by a color and a number. (F representing food, D&C representing drugs and cosmetics), other color additives, including caramel, lead acetate, manganese violet, and more.

• Artificial fragrances
  Avoid most perfumes/colognes, which legally aren't required to list ingredients to protect their trade mark