When you go through the soap isle at your local grocery or drug store, you have many options to choose from. Conventional soaps are in great abundance, stacked together in cardboard boxes for your convenience. But what are you really getting when you buy those standard soaps? While they may be convenient, they can also be bad for your skin and for the environment.
Harsh and Toxic Ingredients in Conventional Soaps
Although conventional soaps are designed for use on the skin, that doesn’t mean they are necessarily good for you. Many soaps contain dyes and perfumes that can irritate the skin, especially those with allergies or sensitivity. Some antibacterial soaps can be even worse for you.
Many assume that by using an antibacterial soap, they are protecting themselves from germs and illnesses, but in fact, these soaps can do quite the opposite. Many antibacterial soaps, both bar and liquid, contain toxic chemicals that can negatively affect the body. Two common ingredients in antibacterial soaps, triclocarban and triclosan, are even registered as pesticides by the EPA.
Chemicals in conventional soaps with preservatives and anti-bacterial agents negatively alter the microbiota balance on your skin. There are many microbes that live on your skin which promote healthy skin and protect your body from pathogens. These chemicals kill the microflora on your skin that are beneficial to your health, leaving you susceptible to bacterial and yeast infections that the microflora naturally prevent. If you disrupt the microbiota balance in the skin, you set your skin up for unfortunate skin conditions like eczema, allergic contact dermatitis and rosacea.
These chemicals not only negatively affect the body, but are also terrible for the environment. Once you wash them down the sink, even after filtering through treatment plants, chemicals such as triclosan can still been detected in streams and other bodies of water. In the environment, these chemicals disrupt plants ability to perform photosynthesis – throwing off the area’s ecosystem.
Natural Soap Alternatives
You don’t have to expose your skin and the environment to these conventional soaps. Natural soaps will clean your skin, killing germs and bacteria, without the use of harmful chemicals. All-natural soaps like the options we carry at Pure & Gentle are perfume and dye-free, so they will not irritate your skin or release harmful toxins into the environment.
Our all-natural and eco-friendly soaps are made with plant-derived ingredients. We also use minimal packaging for our soaps to help reduce the impact on the environment, plus all our products are made in our carbon neutral facility. We do everything we can to make our soaps healthy for our customers while protecting the environment we live in.
Make the switch to all-natural soaps for your family. Check out our full line of Pure & Gentle soaps, shampoos and household cleaners, all made with safe, effective ingredients that are good for you and for the environment.
