What’s Hiding in Your
Beauty Routine?

Everything you put on your body ends up on your biggest organ — your skin. Your daily routine can expose you to harmful chemicals, not just from what’s inside your products, but from the plastic packaging itself. Endocrine disruptors like phthalates, parabens, and microplastics interfere with hormones, fertility, and thyroid function.

Nine out of ten
cosmetic products contain
microplastics

Source: Plastic Soup Foundation

top beauty
swaps

Switch to Solid Bars: Use shampoo, conditioner, and body wash bars, or choose low-tox shower essentials in aluminum or glass packaging.
Choose Durable Tools: Opt for stainless steel safety razors, natural sea sponges, and plant-based brushes.
Adopt Reusable Basics: Use washable organic cotton rounds, reusable silicone mask covers, and compostable swabs.
Select Glass & Metal Packaging: Look for lotions, creams, and serums packaged in glass jars, aluminum tins, or metal tubes.
Use Clean Beauty Formulas: When possible, choose clean makeup products that explicitly ban toxic ingredients.
Prioritize Natural Scents: Select products that are fragrance-free or scented with pure essential oils.

Label alert

Fragrance

Can hide hundreds of chemicals, like phthalates.
Plastic-Free Packaging

Heat or sun exposure +
plastic = toxins.
Parabens

Watch for any ingredient ending in “-paraben.”

Learn which products are
the worst offenders

01

Fragrance

Perfume
Fragrance or perfume contains hundreds of unlisted chemicals hidden under the term “fragrance/parfum.” Daily use means chronic exposure to endocrine disrupters.

Often includes phthalates – endocrine disruptors linked to fertility issues.

When sprayed or applied to the skin, they can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream.

When inhaled, chemicals can bypass many of the body’s natural detoxification pathways.
02

Personal Care

Deodorants, Antiperspirants
Both deodorants and antiperspirants are quickly absorbed near lymphatic and breast tissue, making them a high-impact exposure source.

Both often contain parabens, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, and fragrance.

Antiperspirants contain aluminum salts that can be absorbed into breast tissue.
03

Lotions

Body Creams, Body Oils
Lotions are often used daily over large areas of skin, leading to sustained, whole-body chemical absorption.

Often contain parabens, formaldehyde releasers, synthetic fragrance, and “forever chemicals.”

Some lotions contain ingredients to enhance skin penetration, increasing the possibility of hormone-disrupting chemicals entering the bloodstream.
04

Hair Products

Shampoos, Conditioners, Leave-ins, Relaxers
Many products, applied directly to the scalp and hair, are designed to last all day, prolonging exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals.

Hair relaxers and straightening treatments contain potent endocrine disruptors and are linked to uterine cancer.

Leave-in conditioners, serums, and heat protectants stay on the hair and often contain high levels of fragrance, parabens, silicone derivatives, and PEGs.
05

Makeup

Foundation, Lipstick, Mascara
Worn for hours and, in the case of lip products, repeatedly ingested – these products create a direct pathway into the body.

Over 50% of lip products contained PFAS.

PFAS in foundation correlates with measurable blood serum PFAS levels.

Heavy metals and chemical colorants are not always clearly disclosed.
06

Nail Products

Polish, Polish Remover, Gels
These products contain highly volatile solvents that are inhaled and absorbed through the nail bed and surrounding skin.

Many formulas contain toluene, formaldehyde, DBP, and other solvents linked to hormone disruption and respiratory irritation.

Gel and artificial nail products often contain acrylates and methacrylates, which can trigger allergic reactions.

Nail technicians experience some of the highest occupational chemical exposure.

Communities of color face disproportionate exposure to toxic beauty ingredients — especially in hair relaxers, skin-lighteners, and fragranced lotions.