I recall as a child (during my Eloise phase) opening other peoples’ medicine chests with glee and abandon. I found it then, to be a productive exercise, as special knowledge was gained for my personal amusement, as I was the purveyor of supper time “shock & awe” with disclosures of what was contained within said medicine chests.

I promise I have given up such pastimes and while I don’t have to know anymore, you MUST know what is in yours because your future health may depend on it. Every day we are assaulted with hundreds if not thousands of toxins in our food, our water, our medicines and our personal care products to include cosmetics. Many of the companies that use these toxins are loathe to ever admit any link between these chemicals and various diseases despite many studies showing a correlation and well, err, duh, common sense. And so many of us to include myself have slathered on sweet smelling lotions, shampoos and the latest greatest facial concoction to preserve us well into the grave and in that we have done our bodies a disservice and have possibly set ourselves up for developing serious diseases. That need not be you or your family!

So go to your bathroom with pen and paper in hand and pull out all those personal care products and have a long hard look. Just for fun give extra scrutiny to the ones that you bought thinking they were “Organic,” “Natural,” “Pure” or “Botanical” and especially to the ones whose scent you cannot live without!

Can’t pronounce an ingredient? Definitely write that one down for more research on your product suspect list. Next plug your product list in at http://cosmeticdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1  and see how your products fair. Keep in mind, the database is a guide and has a classification system that can in certain cases leads to some confusion. For example, any certified organic product can still have a mark against it if it has an ingredient that can be irritating for some skin even though that product is likely quite safe. Organic doesn’t necessarily mean non-irritating. But overall, this database is an excellent way to evaluate the safety of your beauty routine!

Let us know what suprises you have found in YOUR medicine chest or shower? How many of you found your “Organic” products really were not so organic after all?