Are your beauty products slowing you down at the gym? Is your makeup preventing you from developing your dream, physique? Surprisingly, it might be. As a fitness professional, I often write about clean beauty on my fitness blog because the products we use can impact our health and fitness in unexpected ways.
You might wonder why a fitness expert is discussing beauty products. Shouldn’t I stick to articles about blasting belly fat and sculpting muscles? The truth is, unclean beauty products can severely compromise your body weight, energy, and performance. The connection between beauty products and our health is becoming increasingly clear through research and anecdotal evidence. Here are six times I realized my beauty products might be harming me, and my workouts.
Who knew that perfume and scented beauty products could sap your cardio performance, cause weight gain, and make you feel lousy? At my first fitness job, there was a sign in the women’s locker room that read, “No scents, is good sense.” It urged members not to spray scented products due to chemical sensitivities among club members. At the time, I didn’t understand its importance. Today, I get it. Walking through a department store’s beauty section overwhelms me with fragrance, and often makes me cough.
We’re only beginning to understand the internal damage synthetic fragrances can cause. According to Anthony William, author of “The Medical Medium,” synthetic fragrance is one of the top everyday toxins we encounter. He suggests eliminating them from our homes and routines. These vaporized toxins burden the lungs, building up a waxy, oily residue that can reduce oxygen capacity, liver function, and hydration. All of these things will affect your workouts and will be a barrier to get lean.
I once sampled mascara that came as a gift-with-purchase. As I leaned closer to the mirror to apply it the first time, my neck felt prickly and turned red, covered in dots. The discomfort dissipated quickly, but the next day it happened again. On the third day, I realized that simply holding the mascara up to my nose caused the same reaction. I threw it away immediately. It is difficult to say which of these ingredients was likely the culprit, look how many there are:
Isododecane, Microcrystalline Wax\Cera Microcristallina\Cire Microcristalline, Aluminum Distearate, Kaolin, Polyisobutene, Pouteria Sapota (Mamey) Seed Butter, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Beeswax\Cera Alba\Cire D’Abeille, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Lanolin, Methicone, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate, Propylene Carbonate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Tocopheryl Acetate, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax\ Copernicia Cerifera Cera \Cire De Carnauba, Bht, Phenoxyethanol, [+/- Mica, Iron Oxides (Ci 77491), Iron Oxides (Ci 77492), Iron Oxides (Ci 77499), Yellow 5 Lake (Ci 19140), Yellow 5 (Ci 19140), Manganese Violet (Ci 77742), Blue 1 (Ci 42090), Ferric Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510), Blue 1 Lake (Ci 42090), Ultramarines (Ci 77007), Chromium Oxide Greens (Ci 77288), Chromium Hydroxide Green (Ci 77289), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Carmine (Ci 75470), Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510), Bismuth Oxychloride (Ci 77163)] <ILN43720>
Once, while applying nail polish, I noticed my tongue going numb from the strong chemical smell. I removed the polish and discarded the bottle. Finding information about tongue-numbing chemicals is challenging, but this experience made me wary of the hidden dangers in beauty products.
On my vitiligo healing journey, I discovered that formaldehyde exposure may have contributed to my skin pigment disorder. Formaldehyde, found in so many skincare products and makeup, is linked to cancer and other health issues. Look for these names on labels: formaldehyde, quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, and more.
Formaldehyde is on Credo Beauty’s “Dirty 12” list of banned ingredients.
While researching this post, I discovered my longtime eyeliner contained Perfluorononyl Dimethicone, a form of Teflon. Could this explain why the skin pigment around my eyes deteriorated over the years? PFAS chemicals, like those in Teflon, disrupt hormones and are found in many cosmetics. Messing with hormones can be a huge barrier to weightloss. Be wary of ingredients with “fluoro” in their names.
I recently read an article about the removal of thimerosal from contact lens solutions. Although it was removed in the early 2000s, I realized that for the first 13 years that I wore lenses, I was getting a daily dose of mercury in my eyes. This frightening thought makes me wonder what other toxins are lurking in my daily use of beauty and health products.
Get Clean and Get Lean
These experiences highlight why I discuss clean beauty on my fitness blog. We can’t perform at our best when bogged down by unclean beauty products. Today, I advise my new clients to clean up their beauty routines. Reflecting on my 20 years as a personal trainer, I think of clients who struggled to lose weight despite their best efforts. They might never have guessed that their beauty products were part of the problem.
Check all your products here: EWG Skin Deep
Shop for clean beauty here: Credo Beauty. It’s comforting to know there’s a place where I can shop for beauty products and not have to question the ingredients; Credo does the work and has included restrictions on over 2700 dangerous chemicals in the products they carry.
Stay clean to get lean,
Shari
I started pumping iron and drinking green smoothies in my teens. Now a 40+ mama with 25 years of experience working in the fitness industry, I do things differently. What I discovered during my personal healing journey made me pivot in my approach as a personal fitness and wellness coach. Now I teach people how to sweat, nourish and glow from an entirely new perspective.