DO YOU KNOW WHAT GOES TO YOUR BABY’S SKIN?

Becoming a mother can suddenly turn you into a more careful being.

I never bothered to check ingredients I put on my skin pre-motherhood. But now…..

I recently learned about the Environmental Working Group (EWG.ORG), a non-profit, non-partisan organisation which aims to protect both human health and the environment. If you visit their website, you will see a lot of articles on the key issues on consumer products, farming, toxic products, and even water.

Thankfully, they have a SEARCH TOOL that allows people like you and me to type in the name of an ingredient listed in your skin products and it tells you the hazard level of that product, what the possible concerns are (like irritation, ecotoxicology, etc), what it’s made from and if it’s possibly from an animal origin (which is very helpful for vegetarians like me!)

Now, if you’re like me who spends a lot of time online and on social media, you know we can easily get bombarded with product marketing and branding. Sometimes, all it takes is a group of influencers to make you believe in the product without doubting at all! My momma instincts are all out though, so I would prefer to backup what others say by researching it myself!

I have been to a few mom expos and fairs where I got freebies from some brands (you know those samples they give out to people), and have also received a few skincare items from friends, so my son actually has a ready stash for skincare already (body wash, soapbar, lotion).

But truthfully, I really wanted to know which ones from that box are safe to use. As you probably know, sometimes, the most popular brands carry the scariest ingredients in their products! Unfortunately, they just happen to have the biggest budgets for marketing and branding.

So anyway…I began with 5 different brands in my stash, but after putting in each and every ingredient on EWG’s website, I am down to one brand for my son: SACRED. It’s a fairly new local brand here in the Philippines, and I’ve read from many people’s accounts that this is the best one to use for newborns because it contains ZERO fragrances and scents (this is really good – scents are not good for babies!), ZERO irritating acids, and ZERO creepy chemicals such as parabens, methylisothiazolinone, and phenoxyethanol. Well…I’m not really knowledgable on chemicals, so please feel free to correct me. Right now, I am trusting this website to tell me what I need to know and I’m sticking to products that don’t go over 2 in the hazard level (thankfully, for Sacred, most are in #1). So far, it seems this is one of the most baby-friendly products I can try out.

Like mentioned, I had 5 different brands in my stash and only Sacred made it back to the box, but I also researched on Human Nature (which I don’t have in my current stash), another local brand that heavily brands itself to be pro-nature (tries to use as much natural products as possible), pro-poor (buying from local communities and all for fair trade), and pro-Philippines (using local materials as much as possible). Out of all their baby care line, it seems their Natural Baby Wash can pass for me, too. I’m just worried about one ingredient: glyceryl oleate. In the EWG website, it comes with a concern on irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs). Upon researching more, it seems this ingredient is generally safe. If you can tell me more about this ingredient, I would be grateful!

Now, I am not telling you to go with these brands. Anyway, if you are not from the Philippines, you’d be better off finding a local brand wherever you are.

I am sharing my website find with you because I want you to research yourself and make informed choices for you and your baby.

I guess that’s what I want my blog to be about – an avenue to share things I learn and find out along the way to help me (and hopefully my readers, too) make informed choices. This is one website find I believe is worth sharing! If you have other sources for things like this, feel free to tell us about it, too. Would love to hear your thoughts!