How Low Can You Go? GIVEAWAY

This giveaway has ended. Thanks to all that entered! Congrats to Itsme for winning!


My eye opening experience about toxic chemicals in personal products was when I was challenged to look up E's shampoo on the EWG Skin Deep website. When I saw that the hospital recommended brand scored a 4 (a moderate hazard/health concern) and contained neurotoxins, hormone disruptors, allergins, and could cause organ system toxicity, I decided it was time to make a change.

Some people might say that moderate health concern products are no big deal and that some people are just overreacting. But, when you add up all of the moderate health hazard products, your body is swarming with potential toxic, organ altering chemicals. Children can't break down the chemicals as fast as adults, so it's even more critical to buy them pure low hazard items. 

This is why I'm happy to bring you the Earth Mama "How Low Can You Go?" Challenge and giveaway! 

It’s Toxic Limbo time! Sing with us, “All around the natural world, gonna get the toxins out!” How low can YOU go when it comes to safe, natural personal care products? Take the Earth Mama How Low Can You Go Challenge to find out!

It’s a surprise for most people to learn that cosmetics are not regulated by the FDA.  Did you know that cancer-causing chemicals are commonly added to everyday products like baby shampoo and hair-straighteners?  Current research shows that these multiple low-dose chemical exposures add up to damage our health.  And, even worse, the timing of exposure at certain points in your baby’s development may have even stronger effects on their health.

Here’s the challenge:

Gather some of the most common pregnancy and baby care products you use regularly on your pregnant (or nursing) body or on your baby. (You do not need to be pregnant, anyone can participate!!) You can include shampoo, lotions, soaps, diaper cream, stretch mark oil, hemorrhoid cream, etc.  Go to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ Skin Deep database and enter a product name in the search field (for example, Angel Baby Shampoo Body Wash). Look for the Hazard Score for that product. The Hazard Score tells you the toxicity rating: 0 is lowest, 10 the most toxic. Click the product if you want to see specifically which ingredients add up to create that score. If your product isn’t listed, ask yourself why.  Is there something in the ingredients list that the company might not want you to see?  If your product isn’t listed, you can enter individual ingredients to check their toxicity rating.

Add up the Skin Deep toxicity rating for all the personal care products that you use on a daily basis on your pregnant or nursing body, or on your baby, to find out what your score is. Then answer these questions.

1. What was your Skin Deep toxicity rating score?
2. Were you surprised with the score and/or ingredients?
3. What would you like your score to be?

Here is our list and scores:

Me- even though I'm not pregnant, I wanted to know my score:
Juice Beauty Organic Facial Wash (facial cleanser) 2
Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Powder (acne treatment) 3
Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Nipple Butter 0
Earth Mama Angel Baby Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash 0
Earth Mama Angel Baby Angel Baby Bottom Balm 0
Earth Mama Angel Baby Earth Mama Body Butter 0
Earth Mama Angel Baby Happy Mama Spray 1
Skin Free Whipped Tamanu Butter 1
Auromere Toothpaste- all 0's
Skin Free Deodorant- all 0's 
Honeybee Gardens JobaColors Eye Liner 1

John Masters Shampoo 2

Total: 10


E:
Earth Mama Angel Baby Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash 0
Weleda Children's Tooth Gel (baby toothpaste) 2
Earth Mama Angel Baby Angel Baby Bottom Balm 0
Total: 2


I am happy with our scores. It took 2 years to get us this low, so if you have a high score, no worries! There are no right or wrong answers, and everyone wins when mamas are informed and empowered. The biggest surprise is how high the toxin score can be, even for products that are labeled “natural” or “organic.” The only way to lower your score is to know what to look for, and there’s a whole tricky business trying to trick busy mamas with unclear labeling. That’s why Earth Mama supports the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011.

Here’s the action and how you can make a difference!

The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 needs your support! The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 (H.R.2359) is designed to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to ensure that personal care products are free of harmful ingredients and that ingredients are fully disclosed. It’s pretty simple, right? Earth Mama Angel Baby is hoping you’ll use this handy action tool from our friends at the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to tell your rep to close the loopholes that allow “cancer-causing chemicals in baby shampoo, hormone disruptors in fragrance and lead in lipstick.”

Enter to Win the Prize!

Visit any participating blogging mama’s website and complete the following steps to be entered to win Earth Mama’s A Little Something for Baby, filled with zero toxin essentials for an angel on the go. This is a fabulous gift set that is great for baby showers, traveling, and even moms can enjoy some of the products, I know I do!


One winner on each participating blog will receive: 

A Little Something For Baby Includes:

Angel Baby Bottom Balm 1oz

Angel Baby Lotion 2oz

Angel Baby Oil 1 oz

Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash 1.67oz

Giveaway ends Aug. 31, 2011 11:59 p.m. EST. 

Make sure you do #1 before getting any extra entries!! 

1. Take the How Low Can You Go challenge and leave your score in a comment. (1 entry) If you list the products with their score (like I did above) you can get 5 extra entries. 
2. Use the Action Tool to contact your representative  (5 entries)
3. Share your score on Earth Mama's Facebook page, on Twitter with @EarthMamaHQ, on the Mkokopelli FB page, on Twitter using @Mkokopelli. Make sure you link to the How Low Can You Go post and leave a comment with the link to the shout out. Please leave a separate comment for each entry! 

Also keep in mind that the Skin Deep scores change as products are reformulated and new data emerges, so they are not fixed.  We recommend you visit the database often and sign up Campaign for Safe Cosmetics email updates on their Get Involved page.