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You might be wondering why a Dietitian is writing about beauty products. It’s true, I’m not a beautician. But it is important to recognize that what we put on our skin can be just important as what we put into our body. Especially during pregnancy.

Chemical exposure during any part of pregnancy can be harmful to the growing baby. Most people know that but may not be aware of the prevalence of toxins in our daily lives. On any given day, we can be exposed from the pans we cook with to the pollution in the air and cosmetic products we put on our skin.

**Which chemicals are harmful?**

The most harmful chemicals in care products are phthalates which are added to lotions, hair sprays, nail polish and fragrances (candles, air fresheners and perfumes). You can avoid phthalates by reading the label on products and avoiding anything with ‘phthalate’ in the name, such as ‘diethyl phthalate.’ Also avoid fragranced products such as laundry detergents and scented candles. Other hazardous chemicals include parabens and hydroquinones. Like phthalates, parabens and hydroquinones can be added to makeup, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorants, you name it.

How to Find Safe Products

To stay as toxin-free during my pregnancy I did some due diligence on the products that I buy regularly. It turns out, they were not the best choices. I then discovered a great resource that allowed me to search for toxin-free options, EWG’s skin deep beauty database. Enter in your products and see what it says! Here are some options that achieved the highest rating according to their database.

Serums

· Purito Fermented Complex 94 Boosting Essence

· Biossance Squalane + Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping Serum

Moisturizers

· Honest Beauty Calm & Heal Melting Balm with Hyaluronic Acid

· Beautycounter+ No. 2 Plumping + Jasmine Facial Oil

· Silk Therapeutics Hydra-Rich advanced moisturizing cream

Cleansers/ Toner

· Biossance Squalane + BHA Pore Minimizing Toner

· Stryke Club Face First, Unscented

Stretch Mark Oil

· Mustela Stretch Marks Oil