Make-up, perfume, lip stick, shampoo, bubble bath – we all have our favourites and most of these small items make us feel happy, give us a sense of indulgence and boost our self confidence as we step out into the world. They are also guilt free as we don’t put on weight using them unlike chocolate!

Unfortunately most of the commercially available cosmetic items contain “nasties”, a vast array of chemicals that should never touch our skin. Remember – whatever touches your skin will eventually end up in your blood stream and find its way into all the nooks and crannies of your body.

Robin Adler has made it her mission to educate whoever is willing to listen about the dangers of chemical ingredients in beauty products. Go to www.stretchyourmindandbody.com/blog/beautifynaturally to get Robin’s free ebook “Beautify Naturally: 10 Non-Toxic Ways to a More Beautiful You.

Toxic ingredients on cosmetics are nothing new. In ancient Egypt lead was used as an ingredient. It made the colours look more vibrant and had an added bonus – it protected the user from particular eye, nose and ear infections which were very common and problematic.

Nowadays the use of toxic chemicals usually is due to commercial reasons – they are cheap, easy to produce and give the product the desired quality. We are conditioned to expect particular qualities – like lots of foam when shampooing our hair, lots of lather from our soaps and detergents, lots of bubbles from our bubble baths.

Natural products do not necessarily act the same – they still do the job they are designed to do but they may not be as frothy or bubbly.

The list of toxic chemicals used in cosmetics is long – to find out more abolut the products you are using right now and better alternatives you might want to visit www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

Luckily for us, lots of organic and much healthier products are available nowadays. Robin has some great recommendations on her site www.toxicbeauty.com

To find out more and listen to our interview with Robin click on the player below: