You watch what your child eats. You religiously smoother your little one with sunblock from head to toes. You remind them again and again to wash their hands. You help them wash off their tearless shampoo. You both have fun building soapy mountains of bath foamy babbles. You put some nice smelling lotion before bedtime. And what would you say if you found out that all of that can do more harm then good?

Many of the lotions, sunscreens, toothpastes don’t work at all as it is promised on the nice shiny beautiful packages. Many are actually harmful.

I have a friend who refuses to put sunblock, who avoids lotions. I don’t find this safe. You can’t avoid brushing your teeth or washing your hands! And I am a firm believer in more sunblock, and less staying in midday sun!

So, the following site was a wonderful discovery for me: Environmental Working Group, a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products, Shoppers’ Guide to Pesticides in Produce, and many more. EWG is a non-profit organization, that “specializes in providing useful resources (like Skin Deep and the Shoppers’ Guide to Pesticides in Produce) to consumers while simultaneously pushing for national policy change.”

Some useful links:
Which Sunscreens are Best
(I was happy to see California Baby, that became available in Target and BabiesRUs on the list!)
Guide to personal care printouts (Kids Personal Care, Feeding, Antibacterials, etc…)
Skin Deep
Shoppers’ Guide to Pesticides in Produce