2 min readI remember reading once that just because you buy a product from a health food store doesn’t necessarily mean it is healthy.  I didn’t really believe it.  It goes against everything I’ve always believed to be true.  You see I tend to take things at face value.  If a jar is labelled peanut butter, I assume it is filled with peanut butter.  If a store is labelled a health food store, I assume it is filled with healthy products.  I assume I’m paying more for them because they are made with more natural and healthier ingredients than the cheaper mainstream products.

However, lately I’ve come to realize that I can’t always depend on labels.  I need to do some research to ensure I am buying the healthiest product.  Luckily I’ve found a very good online research tool for cosmetics and personal care products – Skin Deep.

Skin Deep is basically an online searchable database of personal care products and their ingredients.  The database rates products on a 0-10 scale from low to high hazard based on their ingredients.  The database also lists “how much scientists know – or don’t know – about an ingredient’s safety”.  They recommend consumers should look for “products with low hazard scores and at least “fair” data availability”.

I still haven’t perfected this system of researching and then buying.  I was recently at the grocery store and decided to buy a fairly expensive bottle of moisturizer from the health food section.  When I looked it up on the database I found it had a hazard rating of 6 – not good.  Just out of interest I looked up another mainstream brand of moisturizer – Aveeno – and found which one of their products, that can be found in the regular aisles of the grocery store, had a hazard rating of 2 – much better.

So, the moral of the story is just because it’s in a health food store doesn’t mean it’s healthy.  Lots of unhealthy chemicals get into our bodies through the products we put on them – soap, cream, shampoo, toothpaste – so you may want get some more information on the products you are using by visiting Skin Deep.