Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Swap of the Week #4: Nail Polish

 When detoxing and swapping out products to reduce your body burden, nail polish is probably not in the forefront of your mind, but it should be!


Going to a salon to get your nails done can not only be costly it can be hazardous to your health too.  Most conventional nail polishes are full of toxic chemicals that you are breathing in the air at the salon, as well as putting on your body.  Nails need to breathe therefore whatever you are putting on it can leech down into the skin of your nail beds. Your nails absorb whatever is put on them just the same as your hair since they are both made up of keratin.

One of the most common recommendations within the toxin free community to replace toxic nail polish is the Color Street Nail Strips.  These nail strips are easy to apply with no to minimal drying time and they are low to no tox!!  They have an abundance of colors, glitters, designs, and overlays to choose from with more drops happening frequently. They retire and bring new designs out so make sure to keep up with the scheduled removals via their email or grab you a consultant.



Color Street is free of parabens, Formaldehyde, Dibuytl Phthalate, Camphor, Xylene, and Ethyl Tosylamine.  They do contain a small amount of Toulene but it isn't considered toxic in the nail strips because they are dry.  Toulene is an issue when it can be inhaled and with the nail strips being dry instead of a wet polish the threat is very minimal.

Color Street also has an ongoing sale Buy 3 Get One FREE.  The savings are endless when it comes to this swap. No expensive salons, no toxins, and no waiting to change your nails. You want red on Monday and Teal on Thursday, no problem just remove the strips with your favorite toxin free polish remover and you are good to go!  

I have had great luck with the strips. They last and don't chip as much as traditional polish in my opinion.  I did my toes a week before a beach vacation and they still looked the same 4 weeks later even with getting in the ocean and digging my toes in the sand. I can not say the same about expensive manicures, my polish would have been gone within an hour in the ocean and beach.  I also have farm chores that I have to do daily and they strips have held up well while doing them.

I know giving up the salon can be difficult for some, but please consider it for your health and give Color Street or another toxin free option a try! Tell me in the comments if you have used Color Street Nail Strips or what your favorite toxin free nail polish is!

**This post may contain affiliate links that may generate monetary compensation to me when used. Thank you!**

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Ingredient to Avoid #4: Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE)


I was sharing a banished ingredient list the other day and this ingredient was questioned so I thought it would be the perfect time to spread a little light on why this particular ingredient made the banished list in the first place.

There have been numerous studies and tests performed on Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) by independent researchers showing the antimicrobial properties once thought to have been contained in the seeds has actually been the synthetic preservatives used during the extraction process and not the extract from the fruit pulp or seeds.

These tests also found the synthetic preservatives to contain Benzalkonium Chloride, Triclosan, and Methylparaben, which are all on the banished list due to toxicity concerns.  Let's run down each one of those ingredients concerns real quick.

Benzaalkonium Chloride is a well recognized irritant and allergies can present with just 0.1% of this ingredient present. It also decreased the fertility of mice when their cages were cleaned using this ingredient.

Triclosan is a well known endocrine disruptor. It has been known to cause a decrease in thyroid production, also binding to estrogen and/or androgen receptors causing interference with the endocrine system, and it can even play a role in producing antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Methylparaben has shown some evidence of accumulating in breast tissue and may mimic estrogen acting as an endocrine disruptor.

The tests performed did find a sample that did not contain any synthetic preservatives and self made samples were also tested to eliminate the chances of other harmful ingredients being present, however the antimicrobial properties were not found in any of the samples without synthetic preservatives. These results essentially show there are no benefits to using the extract.

In conclusion, GSE made the banished list because there are far too many extracts containing synthetic preservatives and no antimicrobial benefits without the preservatives for this specific extract to be used and considered safe for toxin free products.  I have included a list of sources for additional research.

Souces: