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The New Year is a time of renewal --looking ahead, visualizing, and anticipating positive changes and developments for our selves in the year to come. This time-honored tradition takes on many forms: new year's resolutions to lose weight, get fit, stop smoking, find ways to reduce stress in our busy lives- give away or recycle old possessions that have outlived their usefulness- and clear out all manner of clutter to make room for new and better things.

If you've resolved to take better care of yourself this year and be healthier, there's never been a better time to give the medicine cabinet in your bathroom a New Year's Makeover. You can start now by taking a closer look at what's inside yours. Even the most seemingly innocuous items can contain a veritable of soup of chemicals that may be doing you more harm than good.

Read the labels and familiarize yourself with the ingredients. Start with the products you use daily --toothpaste, mouthwash, antiperspirants or deodorants, talcum powder, face creams, lotions, cleansers, "anti-bacterial" soaps, and traditional cosmetics. After all, these are products you routinely apply to your skin or your teeth and gums --both the fastest routes for substances to be absorbed into the bloodstream. When substances are absorbed into the body this way they often by-pass the liver -- your body's principle detoxifying organ-- or worse, clog and congest it. That often means many toxic substances you unwittingly ingest or absorb aren't properly eliminated and often take up residence in the fatty tissue of your organs where they build up over time. These can become a virtual "thorn in your side," compromising your immune system and leaving you susceptible to a host of health problems. A congested liver is also one of the fastest routes to inflammation in the body, and inflammation is the foundation for many degenerative diseases.

Ironically, many of the chemical ingredients in personal care products are there to improve the texture and consistency, appearance, or shelf-life stability of the product, and have no functional purpose. To add insult to injury, many are primarily there to speed up or enhance the penetration of other ingredients into the skin- increase the thickness and intensity of the lather (making it harder to rinse off)- or make the product more visually appealing.

While it sounds hard to believe, new evidence has recently surfaced suggesting that exposure to some of these ingredients may even lead to pre-mature childhood obesity! There's a lot we don't yet know about how routine and repeated exposures to these substances can affect our health. Given all the alarming information that's floating around, it seems foolish to wait until there's proof positive that these substances are indeed harmful. Take a cue from your mom... better safe than sorry!

Eliminating products мейд with ingredients that are at worst toxic and potentially harmful to your health, and at best, possible irritants or allergens that don't support healthy living, can greatly reduce your risk of exposure. It may even free you from mysterious persistent health problems.

What to Toss and Why?

Anything that goes in your mouth or on your skin, are the biggest culprits to watch out for. These include things like toothpaste, mouthwash, oral care products in general, deodorants and anti-perspirants, creams and lotions, soaps and cleansers.

Toss out toothpastes мейд with fluoride, mouthwashes мейд with alcohol, any products мейд with propylene glycol --as the key ingredient in anti-freeze this substance may be good for your car but not for your mouth or your skin! Alcohol, commonly used in mouthwashes, is drying, changes the pH of the mouth, and strips away the protective mucous membrane in the mouth and throat. Fluorides are industrial waste products created in the production of aluminum, phosphoric acid, and phosphate fertilizers, that have been linked to bone problems, diabetes, thyroid malfunction, and mental impairment. Avoid soaps, body wash, cleansers, and shampoos мейд with SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) or Ammonium Laureth Sulfate. These are harsh detergents that typically strip away your skin and hair's natural oils, leaving them dry and vulnerable to damage.

Other ingredients to be concerned about in your liquid soap, body wash products, and shampoos: Cocamide EDTA (or similar compounds ending with DEA, TEA or MEA) along with formaldehyde-forming substances such as Bronopol, DMDM hydantoin, Diazo-lidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea and Quaternium-15. These are ingredients that have been known to react with other nitrogen-based ingredients to form cancer-causing nitrosamines after absorption.

And a special word of caution regarding "anti-bacterial" liquid хэнд soaps, body washes, хэнд sanitizers, or any product мейд with Triclosan. This chemical is classified by the EPA as a toxic pesticide, measured in parts per billion, and one of its by-products is Dioxin. Its over-use has scientists seriously worried about the rise of 'super bugs' -- harmful bacteria that are resistant to existing antiseptics and antibiotics.

Be wary of the unidentified "fragrance" oils or compounds (sometimes referred to as Fragrance or Parfum) that are ubiquitous in personal care and beauty products. These are synthetic chemicals мейд in a lab, designed to mimic the smell of many things that exist in nature --fruits, flowers, trees, and food. The problem is that "fragrance" often contains Phthalates(industrial chemicals used as solvents and plasticizers in cosmetics) which are now known to be endocrine disruptors (wreak havoc with your hormones) and potentially damaging to the kidneys, liver, and lungs, but especially harmful to pregnant women. Phthalates don't appear on the ingredients lists of products containing them, including so-called "fragrance-free" or "unscented" products, that may contain fragrances designed to "cover up" the smell of other ingredients. And many so-called "natural" products often use a combination of essential oils and fragrance oils, so be vigilant about this when checking labels.

What Products Are Safe?

When you consider how many personal care products are on the market today and how few have actually been tested for safety it's hard to know how to choose products that are safe. The best thing you can do is stick with products мейд from natural, plant-based vs. synthetic ingredients -ones that are identifiable and familiar. Look for soaps and moisturizers мейд with vegetable and nut oils (preferably unrefined) like jojoba, coconut, olive oil, hemp seed, sunflower, high-oleic safflower or shea butter. These are ingredients that work with your skin to keep it hydrated and protected and will not clog pores or interfere with your skin's ability to produce it's own natural and protective sebum.

Replace your anti-bacterial Triclosan-based products with ones мейд withTea Tree essential oil and Lavender alcohols. Instead of propylene glycol, looks for products мейд with vegetable glycerin and aloe vera juice or gel. And avoid products preserved with parabens.

For an added measure of security, look for products that are certified organic or мейд with certified organic ingredients. And don't be fooled by products that combine synthetic ingredients with natural ones. While the natural ingredients may be helpful they don't cancel out the toxic or unhealthy effects of the other ingredients.

Don't forget that many of the ingredients that are harmful for you, are also harmful to the environment, both on the manufacturing and production side and on the back-end as they make their way down toilets and drains and into our riverbeds and streams altering the ecological landscape. Packaging plays an important role here too. Look for minimal, earth-friendly packaging мейд from recycled or recyclable materials. With these delicate matters in mind, get your new year off to a clean start by resolving to green your personal care routine today!

Donya Fahmy is the founder and owner of Dropwise Essentials, a San Francisco-based green business specializing in pure aromatherapy and organic plant-based personal care products that enable people to safely and effectively relieve stress, increase vitality, improve confidence, or manage their emotional state any time or place.

An experienced writer, content producer, and Internet consultant, Donya transformed her avid interest in alternative health and aromatherapy into a business committed to making clean, safe, and sustainable products, as well as educating and empowering people to create low-stress, low-impact, toxin-free lifestyles.

Donya researches and personally creates all the products and unique essential oil blends that make up the Dropwise product line. She is an expert on safety in personal care products, green beauty and living, alternative health, and using aromatherapy to achieve maximum health and wellness.

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