How can I read labels better and choose the safest products?
A good place to start is by choosing products that do not contain any of the dirty dozen. Something as simple as buying products with a shorter ingredient list is another idea. For example, some safer shampoos have 12 ingredients where other conventional brands list upwards of 25. Maybe even choose products with ingredients you can pronounce. Some companies go one step further making their products safe enough to eat. Their ingredients are actually food grade. For a more critical analysis, check out Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database, or go straight to their What Not to Buy list Note: in some cases products sold in Canada might be made with different ingredients than the U.S. products analyzed by EWG.
