Before slathering your moisturizer on your face or applying your new mascara, I would invite your first to ask, “What exactly am I about to place on my skin?”. Today, the Food Drug Administration does not require safety testing for ingredients in our skincare and makeup products. Many products on the market today may contain toxic chemicals such as Formaldehyde, a well-known carcinogen.

Luckily, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released an app called Healthy Living which allows you to confirm if a product is EWG VERIFIED. EWG verification is based on their Skin-Deep database, which provides consumers with information on personal care products. Using the data from this database, the Healthy Living app allows you to find products based on the organization’s strict standards that ensure safety from chemicals on their “Unacceptable” list. The list includes ingredients that concern our health, contamination, and ecotoxicity. By knowing your product is EWG VERIFIED, you can ensure transparency in ingredients based on decades of research. 

To use the app, simply tap scan at the bottom of the page, scan your product’s barcode, and receive an overall rating. From there, you can further explore individual ingredients to find their rating and use. Additionally, the app offers data on food and household cleaning products. 

The EWG is an activist group founded in 1993 that conducts research and advocacy work focused on protecting public health. EWG has made great strides in fighting against damaging agricultural practices and outdated legislation. Their website EWG.org offers not only information on personal care products but also food, water, energy, and more!

By Miriam Flores