Are self-care products actually caring for our bodies?

Shampoos, conditioners, make-up, perfumes, lotions, moisturisers, creams, body sprays, deodorants. There is a product for every square inch of you, and we rarely ask what is in them or what they might be doing.

Laundry detergent

Conventional detergents contain phosphates, intended to soften hard water, which reach waterways and feed algal growth that strips the oxygen out and suffocates aquatic life. The ingredient lists run to dozens of chemicals, and not all of them have to be declared.

It matters more than it sounds, because whatever is left in the fabric sits against your skin all day. Fragrance-free formulations, plain castile soap at roughly a third of a cup per load, or soap nuts soaked overnight all do the job.

Shampoo and conditioner

Sulfates are strong detergents. They bind to the sebum on your scalp and, when you rinse, take all of the oils with them — including the ones that were doing something useful. Hair left stripped becomes brittle and frizzy.

Conditioners containing dimethicone, a silicone, then seal the hair with a waxy layer that keeps moisture out rather than in, and is difficult to wash away. The result is build-up.

Shampoo bars and simple organic formulations avoid both.

Moisturiser

The things worth avoiding are alcohols, synthetic fragrances, petroleum-based ingredients and parabens.

Alcohol dries the skin. If your skin is oily that sounds useful, but the skin compensates by producing more oil and you end up worse off than you started. Fragrance is among the most common irritants, and it is absorbed — which matters for the endocrine system.

Essential oils are a different thing entirely: plant-derived rather than laboratory-made, and capable of genuine effects on mood and inflammation. Petroleum-based moisturisers block the pores rather than feeding them.

Tallow is worth knowing about here. It is animal fat with a composition close to human sebum, so the skin recognises it and absorbs it; it locks in moisture without blocking pores, and it carries vitamins A, D, E and K along with CLA, which plant-based alternatives do not. It is also antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, which makes it useful on skin prone to breakouts.

Deodorant

Aluminium works by blocking the sweat glands, which means it is absorbed through skin that is doing its best to excrete. Parabens — artificial preservatives, listed as methyl, ethyl, propyl, benzyl or butyl — are the other common ingredient worth avoiding, associated with skin irritation and with effects on hormone function.

Natural and organic deodorants using essential oils for fragrance are now widely available, in stick and spray form.

How to check

The EWG Skin Deep database is the most useful resource I have found — you can search almost any product and see what is in it and which ingredients carry a risk, along with certified alternatives.

Skin is the largest organ we have. Everything we put on it is absorbed. Ingredients you recognise are, as with food, the whole of the rule.