GHS Natural Health Blog

For many women having a home based business is a dream come true. Sometimes, just having a hard time finding safe products for themselves and/or their children will lead someone to look for alternative answers to finding personal products for their home and family. Amy Alamarmanazi, owner of UrthBeauty.com writes, “Necessity was the driving factor to starting my business. As I am getting older, I am finding that my skin is more sensitive and I started having issues like rosacea and adult acne. I needed products that I could trust to be pure and good for my skin. I know that there are a lot of others that face the same types of issues and I would love to have them benefit from the same products that have helped me. I have been handcrafting beauty products for a long time, but giving them away for gifts. I decided the next logical step was for me to start Urth Beauty. 

Many women have been motivated into natural remedies by watching their grandmothers make soaps, collect herbal remedies from the garden and make healing lotions. Whatever the reasons, many women carry that dream in their heart, but they also wonder if they have the courage, skill, and knowledge to run a home-based business either reselling, or crafting their own natural cosmetics and toiletries. This article we will focus on the many issues of that arise from selling natural toiletries at home.  

One of the first questions that come to mind is ‘Am I the right person for a home-based business and what would make person a good candidate?’

First off you must have a good sense of discipline. If you work at home you must be able to focus on one business task at a time, even if you have other household duties to complete such as the dishes in the sink, bills to pay or the messing bedroom. It might sound simple, but if you are someone who is dedicated to your household duties, and you have a hard time leaving them till last then you might not be a good candidate for a home based business. Also, the discipline must apply to your work schedule as well. When it the middle of the night and you know you have to get up in the morning for work you have to have the motivation to stop what you’re doing even if you haven’t completed everything you wish to accomplish.

Secondly, organization is a must; can you set up an office in a minimal amount of space?  Can you successfully carve out an area for your business that won’t take over into the family area?  Will you be able to tidy up from a day’s work so that it doesn’t intrude into times of the day when a partner, friends, or children want your full attention? You need to have the ability to organize you business as it is very important: without organization, your business can become a monster and can be quite invasive.

Thirdly, necessity can become your greatest motivator. If you are a stay at home mom then a home based business that is correctly run can be a great way to can be a wonderful way to produce more income for your family, as well as give you another passageway to use your talents. If your current job is not satisfying or stimulating enough , a home-based business can prove to be a creative and rewarding diversion, while again, providing that extra income that we all need. Another ideal candidate is a person with a disability, or lack of mobility. The internet has given many people who haven’t held a steady job in the past the opportunity to earn a income with their own home business. E-bay, E-commerce websites, and other venues, are all avenues for someone to create income, who cannot work a full day out of the house.

What venues can you use to sell your products? This is one of the most pertinent and challenging questions that new business owner’s face? What venue will create the quickest income? How much does it cost to have a table at a fair? Can I sell to my friends or office mates?

Mattie Horsley, owner of Makeup-Junkey.com states, “I market to anyone who is interested in more natural makeup, I sell through the internet or individual appointments or makeup parties.”  This is a typical approach for home–based businesses. Many women start off by selling natural products that they themselves like, to friends or office mates. Also common for crafters is that products intended for themselves get snapped up by family members and friends, until the seed of a business is born. Constant praise for handcrafted products is a confidence booster. Local crafts fairs, womens’ events, and health fairs, are wonderful ways to create an income in a short period of time. Always do research first on how many consumer there will be, and be familiar with the clientele before you set up a table. You need to understand their lifestyle, budget range, complexions (in the case of makeup), and the general theme of the fair. If it’s a farmers’ market, you can be sure that olive oil lavender soap will sell, but makeup may not do as well.

The internet is the gold boom or our age. People have become millionaires in as little as a year after launching E-Commerce sites, and it’s so convenient. All you need is a computer, and ‘viola’, you’re set! Of course, it’s not so easy, so how do they do it? If you are a one-person gig, and are not heavily financed, expect your sales to take off after years of hard work and little profit. That’s the unfortunate truth. You have to work very, very hard, and work very, very smart to make an internet site blossom into a real income. It’s a lot of sweat and tears, but it can be done.  I run a wholesale division and truthfully, some of my biggest vendors do no internet sales. The focus on fairs, seminars, and trade shows, do some traveling, and make a very good living staying far away from a computer. But by the same token, I have seen some natural products internet stores take off at a pace that is astonishing!

Should you produce your own natural products, or purchase them from a manufacturer?

What a packed question! If you really have a passion for making soaps, mixing different minerals together to create your own cosmetics, the go for it. Mattie Horsely says, “Creating your own makeup line is rewarding but it does take a lot of patience and work, make sure you know this before you get into it. I thought it would be easy, but after a year and I was still working on the products and colors, I learned that it does take a lot of work. It is such a great feeling though when you see one of your final products packaged up with labels from your very own company.” On the other hand, if you make 100% of the products yourself, pack all of the orders, package and label the products, answer phone calls from customers, file the paperwork, pay the business bills, order the supplies… it would be hectic. I hear women business owners express grief all of the time, “ I’m exhausted!”. No wonder. What is more sensible, in my opinion, is to make what you love to make, and make well, and then source the rest from reputable companies whose philosophies, ingredients, and company mission closely mimic your own. There is nothing wrong with this, and there is everything right with it.

Back when I had my first kiosk, and after a long fruitless search for natural skincare that I could sell to my customers, I began to make my own. I set up a lab in a warehouse next to my house, did heaps of research, and burned the midnight candle formulating, testing, and reformulating. I came up with a limited range of high-quality, natural skincare products that I was proud to sell at my kiosk. Then I had a baby! When he was about six months old, I remember going to my lab one Monday (which was the day that I had tagged as, ‘skincare production day’). I made a batch of lotion for a local salon, and it didn’t come out right. I made another batch, and the same thing happened. I realized that as much as I wanted that salon to have my lotion, that my heart was no longer in it. 

I was managing my kiosk, training and supervising the sales staff, doing payroll, closing the cart down at midnight on the weekends, and crafting all of the mineral makeup as well (that was my favorite part!). There I was locked away by myself on a Monday, working Tuesday through Saturday at my kiosk, and leaving my baby, and my toddler with a nanny. Sure they were right next door, but I made a decision right then and there to find someone to craft my skincare line for me, so that I could have a normal life. It took some time, but I finally found a couple of small companies whose owners had the same outlook as I did in terms of ingredients and manufacturing practices. I have never regretted that decision, and neither have my children.

How can you set up a workspace from your home?

For a home-based business, this is a big concern. Suburban homes often have the luxury of a garage that can be converted into a lab or shipping area. A guest bedroom or the corner of a dining room can serve as simple office space with a computer, space for files, and a phone/fax. A finished basement is another space that can absorb the needs of a small home-based business.
If you are considering starting a home-based business, make a list of the items for which you’ll need space, including: blending equipment, raw materials, such as oils, waxes, pigments etc, work tables if you will be crafting your own products, shelving, a desk for a computer and files, a table for a phone, and fax, a work space for packaging and labeling, storage room for finished products…and the list goes on. Compare the available space in your home with your list, and decide if the two are a good fit. You may want to have your cosmetics storage or manufacturing out of your home, and run the sales and paperwork from a home office as a compromise.
If you are going to craft products from your home, make sure to use completely different utensils for your business than for your personal use. If you are making a lotion, and the spatula can’t be found, don’t use a spatula from your kitchen. It’s unprofessional, and unhygienic.  Storage areas should be dry, clean, and relatively dust-free. Always consider if you were the customer. What would you expect from the company that you were buying cosmetics from?  Then do the same as the manufacturer.

How can you maintain a balance between work and family?

As women, we know how incredibly difficult this can be, even when we work out of the home. We seem to be hard-wired to multi-task, and to be worried about everyone, everything, and all the time! My dear friend, and supplier Kimberly Platko of Geografx-Cosmetics.com, and mother of two adorable nine-year old twins has this to say after years of running her business from a lab attached to her home: “Try to establish regular working hours, and do not work beyond those hours, unless there’s an absolute emergency. A home based business tends to suck you dry, and follow you everywhere, so setting and keeping to a realistic schedule will help you balance work and home life. If you have kids, and they are home from school for the holidays, I would suggest hiring a mother’s helper, which costs less than a nanny. Since you are home, you can handle any emergencies, so the mother’s helper can be younger, and thus more economical. “

My brother, who is an artist, works from home, and his office is right smack dab in the middle of his home. His wife, also an artist, and his children, spend most of their time either in the kitchen/family room, or the playroom, within feet of his office. How does he do it? He has clear guidelines for his work day, and enforces the guidelines strictly with his children. I remember once arriving for a holiday weekend. I was there for about 45 minutes, and didn’t know that he was there, until he materialized from his office to greet me!  He had been on a business call overseas, and couldn’t stop what he was doing.  His office door was closed, so he finished his work day, and then “went home”. I found the expression funny, until I realized that that is one of the ways that he maintains that discipline that is needed to work from home.  He leaves his ‘house’, and goes to ‘work’ every day at the same time, and his family respects that. 

How can you separate your personal and business finances? 

Kimberly Platko of Geografx advises, “I would suggest setting up a separate bank account for your company, and setting up a debit card for that account, so that you can purchase products online for your business. A lot of times, banks aren’t willing to extend credit to home-based businesses, so you need a way to be able to make purchases online. Keep careful records of any of your personal funds that you or your spouse use to start or maintain your business, and document repayment of the funds.” This is especially important if your spouse is officially or unofficially helping to finance your business by either paying some of your bills to allow you to use other work income, or business sales to develop your company, or by outright lending you money. If you’re not careful, this can become a black hole, and a source of resentment and frustration to your partner.

In conclusion, running a home-based business is a wonderful opportunity for the right person in the right place. Space limitations, personal characteristics and the strictures of family life can be a challenge, but need not be prohibitive. Many of the world’s most successful businesses started out as home-based businesses. A good example is Carol’s Daughter, one of the premier handcrafted spa care lines. Lisa Price, whom I had the joy of meeting, ran her business out of her Brooklyn town home for many, many years. It was only recently after Will and Jada Pinkett Smith invested in her company that she was able to move into a warehouse space.

Clever planning, enormous dedication, and the inspiration of combining the convenience of home, with the satisfaction of an extra income can lay the foundations for a rewarding and worthwhile business.

There is a new report linking health risks and birth defects with a chemical used in popular cosmetics, gives a long overdue awakening to the FDA, consumers and the beauty industry.

Say if you’ve just got out of the shower this morning, blow-dried your hair and sprayed you hair with a bit of VO5 you’ve just poisoned yourself a little bit. If this is a regular routine in your life then it will eventually build up to immaculate amounts.

But it’s not just VO5 that could make you sick. Try Secret Sheer Dry deodorant, or the suitably named Poison, a perfume by Christian Dior. In fact, 52 popular cosmetics are now proven to have toxic components in varying concentrations — and they’re all over the place.

A report released jointly July 10 by Coming Clean, the Environmental Working Group and Health Care without Harm details the extent to which a toxic family of chemicals known as phthalates (THAY-lates) are used in everyday household products, especially beauty products like nail polish, lipstick and perfumes.

The report, titled “Not Too Pretty: Pthalates, Beauty Products and the FDA,” has its basis in a 1999 FDA study of toxins in the general population of the U.S. From a sample of 1,029 people, every one of them tested positive for phthalates in their blood or urine. Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control singled out a subgroup of 289 people with a particularly high incidence of phthalates: women of childbearing age. These women were found to have daily exposures of phthalates ranging from 2.5 to 22 times the normal for the rest of the general population, with 5 percent showing levels of 75 percent or higher of the acceptable daily amounts.

Judging from the 5 percent of women with dangerously high test results, it can be assumed that every day, as many as two million women of childbearing age are exposed to toxic levels of phthalates.

Phthalates have been shown to cause a wide array of health problems, from liver and kidney failure to heart, lung and blood pressure problems. The most worrisome aspect by far is the phthalates’ effect on the reproductive development of fetuses and infants, particularly the reproductive tracts of males.

Phthalates are metabolized in humans once ingested or absorbed through the skin. In pregnant women, phthalates pass through the placenta to be absorbed by the fetus. In nursing women, phthalates are found in breast milk, which means infants are ingesting these chemicals as they develop. In male fetuses — and infants especially — the phthalates have been shown to cause testicular atrophy and a reduced sperm count, among other serious health problems.

Dr. Stephen Safe of Texas A&M University notes that some in the medical community have expressed concerns about phthalate exposure and human health. “It’s hard to be specific until more medical data is available,” Dr. Safe says, “but if people have concerns, they should limit their use of these products.”

The HCWH report is the first to document and link the deleterious effects of phthalates to male reproductive development. Women of childbearing age were shown to be the most at-risk demographic, and it is reasonable to attribute this in large part to one fact: the beauty industry. According to Charlotte Brody, executive director of HCWH, “With all the variables involved, the only one that doesn’t apply on a large scale to both men and women is the use of cosmetics.”

Global Pollutants

Phthalates are plasticizers. In cosmetics, they are used to add texture and luster to the product. Ninety percent of the world’s plasticizers are used to soften PVC (vinyl) and make it pliable. The other 10 percent have been used in many kinds of manufacturing for 30 years, beginning with medical products like IV bags, gloves and blood bags, but also paints, lubricants, adhesives, toys, food containers, and, of course, cosmetics.

The use of phthalates in manufacturing is widespread, and has such a long history that phthalates have wormed their way into every corner of the globe. Traces are present in virtually every person on the planet. The phthalate DEHP has been found in Antarctica and in deep-sea jellyfish 3,000 feet below the ocean’s surface.

Different phthalates can be found in consumer products like shower curtains, umbrellas, adhesives, children’s toys, and countless other manufactured goods. PVC, being incredibly cheap to produce, is the preferred product for the world’s manufacturers. With phthalates, you can easily turn PVC into any number of products.

Turning the Tide

Since the FDA does not regulate the use of pthalates in cosmetics and beauty aids, manufacturers are not required to disclose them as ingredients.

Says the report: “Taken as a whole, the lab results indicate that a substantial fraction of cosmetics companies may be hiding phthalates on store shelves within the containers of their products, with no warning for pregnant women who might want to avoid purchasing products that contain chemicals linked to birth defects.”

DEHP, the primary phthalate found in medical supplies, has been found toxic in studies of patients who spend considerable amounts of time in hospitals, mainly newborns and the elderly. But other phthalates, including DEP, DBP, BBP, DCP, DOP and DINP, were last studied nearly 20 years ago.
 
According to FDA spokesperson Kimberly Rawlings, “Phthalates were shown to be safe for topical use in 1984, and there have been no further studies by the FDA on this subject since then.”
In a recent Dallas Morning News story on phthalates and the cosmetics industry, Rod Irvin, a spokesman for the American Chemistry Council’s Phthalate Esters Panel, said that “[p]hthalates are among the most-studied products out there. They have a long record of safe use, with no reports or evidence of harm to human health.” Additionally, the industry group has spent “millions” studying the compounds and has found no reason for concern.

In November 2000, the Environmental Working Group released a report that stated, “Phthalates are recognized as toxic substances under environmental law, but companies are free to use unlimited amounts in cosmetics.”

The FDA in the past has considered each of these phthalates separately when studying their toxicity. If you’re a dialysis patient, then you’re at risk for poisoning because you’re getting twice the amount of DEHP recommended with each visit. That’s bad. But if you’re a dialysis patient and you wear a lot of makeup and spend a lot of time playing with your grandchildren and their toys, your exposure could be deadly.

Not in the many-faceted eyes of the FDA, though. Its consideration of disparate exposure to phthalates is the main loophole manufacturers use to claim that phthalates are safe. Without recognizing that all members of the phthalate family accumulate to cause the same health problems, phthalate manufacturers are able to claim that each individual chemical is not harmful at the documented levels.

HCWH tested 72 of the following kinds of cosmetics: Nail polish, fragrances (perfumes, body oils, etc.), hairsprays, deodorants and lotions. Fifty-two of these contained phthalates as ingredients, though none were listed on the labels. Most of the pthalate-containing products are household names: Aqua Net Professional Hair Spray; Degree Original Solid Deodorant; Nivea Créme lotion; Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door fragrance; Calvin Klein’s Eternity perfume.

As Brody of HCWH points out, this is just the beginning: “It’s impossible to know without testing which products contain phthalates. Just because some of the lotions we tried tested negative doesn’t mean [all lotions are] clean.” Until the manufacturers are required to label phthalates, there’s no way to know for sure.

Early Warnings

This is only the latest in a long series of warnings about the dangers of phthalates, which have been used extensively since the early 1970s. The biggest commotion over phthalates came in 1998, when the Danish government issued a well-publicized ban on toys containing phthalates because of concern that children were being exposed to toxic chemicals when they put toys in their mouths. Lego, the Danish toymaker, quickly responded by reformulating its toy factories to phase out the use of phthalates in production of its toys.

Since then, there has been steadily growing awareness of the dangers of phthalates. Network news programs have discussed the dangers in toys, cosmetics and beauty products, and even in fish that live in polluted waters. Despite all this, the battle against phthalates has been a stalemate: The EU continues to extend its temporary ban on toys for children aged 3 and under, but European manufacturers are lobbying to institute a voluntary reporting system for all other products similar to what is in place in the U.S.

Stacy Malkan of HCWH is urging people to distribute the lists of phthalate-containing products far and wide, to discuss the topic of phthalates in cosmetics and medical supplies with their health care provider, and to contact the FDA to demand an industry-wide ban on phthalates in cosmetic products. In addition, the groups releasing the report are preparing to launch a national ad campaign.

As the report makes clear, non-toxic alternatives are readily available: “The limited testing done for Not Too Pretty reveals that the same big companies that produce phthalate-laced beauty products, also make similar products without phthalates … L’Oreal markets Jet Set nail polish without DBP but puts the phthalate in its Maybelline brand.”

Without the pressure of the public however, there will be no reason for the $20 billion-a-year cosmetics industry to phase out all phthalates. And women who continue to douse themselves in Christian Dior’s Poison may be helping the perfume live up to its name.

Most natural consumers are concerned with the products they put in their bodies and on their skin. In a polluted, industrialized system that sometimes seems a bit powerless to meet our needs, we try to gain some kind of control over our health by buying healthy chemically free products.

We’re sure that we want only “natural” and “pure” products, but have a difficult time finding these products on the shelves that qualify.

There is a reason why it is so difficult to make truthful choices that reflect our needs. The natural products consumer is targeted by commercial companies that want our revenue, but don’t have the deep desire to promote healthy products that we assume.

It’s all about packaging and marketing. Marketers, advertisers, and CEO’s of personal care products companies literally sit around tables figuring out how to convince us that what they are selling is natural. This is done with clever wording, choice of color and label design, packaging style, and choice of ingredients. Many of these products contain plant extracts that are highlighted on the label, but the base ingredients are synthetic. The same companies that are producing synthetically based products set aside “a portion” of their budget to create and promote a “natural line”. 

So how are we, as caring and educated as we are, so easily fooled? The first mistake that we make is when scanning an ingredient list on the back of a product, our eyes (and minds) skip over the long, complicated ingredients that we don’t understand, and rest on ingredients such as chamomile, lavender, and aloe. I cannot count the number of customers who have said to me, “Oh I just bought a natural chamomile lotion by “such and such (commercial brand)”, it smelled so good, and it’s all natural”. If I ask “Does it have methylparaben or propylene glycol in it?”, the answer is invariably “No, it’s all natural”. Upon follow up research, I consistently find that though the product may contain some plant-based ingredients, it also lists some dangerous chemicals.

I personally take offense at the large number of chemical-bearing personal care products that line the shelves of natural food stores. A natural products consumer goes to this type of store looking for a haven; a safe-house, where the frightening chemical-laden society recedes, and Nature presides. Because they are so trusting of the establishment, they are less critical of the products, and more likely to believe the advertising claims on the bottles of shampoo and lotion.  As a case in point, one of the largest “natural food chains” boasts that they don’t carry any food items with preservatives, yet they carry hundreds of personal care products that contain those exact preservatives.

It is a well known fact that 60% of what we put on our skin is absorbed into our body. If you have convinced yourself that these questionable ingredients are not something that you have to worry about, then ask yourself these few questions:

• Do you know, or know of a woman that has or has had cancer?
• Do you know, or know of a woman, man or child that has eczema, psoriasis, or scalp   problems?
• Do you know, or know of a woman or a man that is suffering from hair loss or arthritis?
• Do you know of a child that has suffered from genital infections?

If you can say yes to any of these questions, and if any of them apply to you, then you do need to become concerned about some of these questionable ingredients.

One last point, before presenting an informative list of ingredients to avoid, is the question that our customers constantly ask: Why does the FDA allow so many  products to carry toxic ingredients? The answer revolves around capitalism, greed, and power. Laws in Congress are influenced by lobbyists, and the large personal products manufacturers have very powerful lobbyists. The FDA does not require studies on the long-term health risks of the ingredients in personal care products, only short-term irritancy tests (think animal testing). To change this we must band together and become a more powerful voice, and let our congressman know that our and THEIR mothers, sisters and friends are dying of cancer, in direct relation to the quantity of chemicals that they apply to their skin over a lifetime.

INGREDIENTS TO AVOID:

QUATERNIUM 15: (DOVE, Johnson’s Baby Shampoo) FORMALDEHYDE, a carcinogen.

FD&C DYE: These dyes are produced from COAL TAR, and are documented to be CARCINOGENS.

BUTYL CELLOSOLVE, and ISOBUTENE: (Fantastic, Windex, and Formula 409)
A neuro-toxin. Damages the central nervous system, kidney and liver. Listed as a pesticide.

DIOXIN: Lysol disinfectant. Carcinogen, 500,000 times more deadly than DDT Ethyl Alcohol.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL: (contained in shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, lipstick, lotion, face cream, etc) This industrial solvent is so HIGHLY toxic, that industrial workers are warned of SEVERE health risks if contact occurs, such as brain, liver, and kidney abnormalities. They are required to wear protective clothing, gloves, and goggles during handling, and PG can only be disposed of in hazardous waste sites at a cost of $500.00 to $1,000 per drum!!!

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Sodium Laureth Sulfate
Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
Sodium Myreth Sulfate

The above ingredients and other detergents are industrial surfactants that are linked to cancer, and literally strip the scalp and skin of necessary oils, leaving it dry, and severely itchy and flaky. They were originally designed to clean floors and engines and now are found in 95%!!!! of shampoos and body cleansers, even the NATURAL brands. The saddest aspect of this is that this SLS causes irritation and infection in the genitals of young children, yet is the main ingredient in baby shampoos and bubble bath.

TALC: (contained in baby powder, foot powder, pressed eye shadow and blush, and foundation)
Linked to uterine cancer and respiratory problems in infants. Literally “suffocates” the skin.

DEA, MEA, and TEA: Repeated use of these chemicals leads to a major increase in the incidence of liver and kidney cancer. Restricted in Europe.

DMDM Hydantoin & UREA: Preservatives that release FORMALDEHYDE into the body. Funeral directors are now saying that there is such a high concentration of formaldehyde present in the human body at death that they are using 50% LESS formaldehyde than they used to.

FRAGRANCE (including FRAGRANCE OILS): Linked to cancer and mental problems including depression.

TRICLOSAN (found in ANTI-BACTERIAL SOAPS): Registered as a PESTICIDE with the FDA, linked to cancer, a hormone disruptor.

METHYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN: Preservatives that deposit in the human system that disrupt normal enzyme activity.

PTHALATES: (Used nail polish, fragrance and a host of other products) Extremely toxic chemicals (regulated under environmental law) that reduce fertility, harm the male reproductive system, and are especially dangerous to pregnant womens’ fetuses. Found in products by Proctor & Gamble, L’Oreal, Lever Brothers, Maybelline, Chesebrough-Pond’s, Colgate, Elizabeth Arden, Kraft, and Revlon.

CARMINE: (found in lipsticks, glosses blushes, and eye shadow) This extract from the carmine beetle in South America, has been connected to heart problems.

Now, aside from these obviously toxic chemicals, there are other issues that arise with products that claim to be “all natural from pure vegetable sources”.

There are several ways to extract an oil or a wax from a plant, (eg. jojoba oil, evening primrose oil, shea butter, cocoa butter). It can be extracted with a solvent, which leaves toxic residues in the products, or by extremely high heat, which DESTROYS the botanical properties associated with the plant, or by the cold-pressed method. If you are a consumer or a manufacturer, ASK QUESTIONS. How was the shea butter extracted? Are the oils cold-pressed? Is the vitamin E or glycerin synthetic or natural?

Find out if the ingredients are organic. This is an extremely important issue, due to the very high toxicity level of pesticides that become concentrated in liquids extracted from plants.

Look for the words ‘cold-pressed’ and ‘organic’ on labels, and if you don’t see them, put the product down and keep looking. Ask questions to store owners, who in turn can call suppliers and manufacturers.

Stay away from ingredients that contain long words you cannot pronounce, that have the phrase “from coconut oil” in parentheses. Any natural products that have been chemically broke down are no longer natural and should be avoided at all costs. Sodium Laureth Sulfate is derived from coconut oil is still an unhealthy product, despite its source.

This list could go on for ages, but if you would like to gain more knowledge, start asking questions. Call the manufacturer, log on to the FDA website, and get the word out.