Are All Personal Care Products Safe?

Hey, it's J.J. here. You know, I've been talking about environmental toxins forever, and laundry detergent is a sneaky one. A lot of them contain harsh chemicals like dyes, preservatives, and even UV brighteners. Those brighteners don't actually clean anything. They just coat fabric so your eyes think things look whiter or brighter. That's more chemicals I don't want on my family's sheets or skin. And if you've got sensitive skin or allergies around the house, this can be a big problem. That's what got my attention about Earth Breeze. It looks like a dryer sheet, but it's actually laundry detergent. You toss one in the washer and that's it. No pouring, no mess, and no heavy plastic jug. Their packaging is lightweight cardboard, which helps reduce plastic waste. And if you choose the fragrance free option, it's gentle, hypoallergenic, non irritating and non sensitizing. I really like how simple it is and how fresh and clean everything comes out without those unnecessary chemicals. Right now you can try Earth Breeze for up to 40% off with free gifts@earthbreeze.com virgin that's earthbreeze.com virgin for up to 40% off plus free gifts on your first order. Hey JJ here. Every year around this time, I get the urge to make my home feel a little extra special. A space that feels just like the holidays. And Wayfair is my go to for that. Think cozy textures, twinkly decor, warm lighting, and all those little touches that make you want to curl up with a good book and a blanket. You'll usually find my book stacked on a great little end table I got from Wayfair, proof that function and style can coexist. Now, whether you're adding last minute hosting essentials, picking out gifts for loved ones, or refreshing your decor for the season, Wayfair makes it easy with beautiful finds, great prices and fast delivery. And when the holidays wind down, Wayfair has everything you need to tuck it all neatly away. Smart storage solutions for every room from the kitchen to the closet. Plus, with free shipping for any order over $35, that's fast delivery and a total peace of mind. It's the perfect mix of joy and order, bringing the holiday spirit in, then storing it all with EAs ready to make your home feel as good as it looks. Get organized, refreshed and ready for the holidays. For way less, head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair Every style, Every home that's W A Y F A I r dot.

Com this episode is brought to you by Buffalo Trace Distillery. Powerful yet smooth contained but never tame. Proudly going their own way but never going alone. This is the spirit inside Buffalo Trace Bourbon made at Buffalo Trace Distillery, the world's most award winning distillery. Buffalo Trace is always perfectly untamed. Distilled, aged and bottled by Buffalo Trace distillery, Franklin County, Kentucky. 90 proof 45% alcohol by volume. Learn more at BuffaloTrace distillery.com Please drink responsibly.

Are All Personal Care Products Safe? This is JJ Virgin, four time New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert, and Fitness hall of Famer. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toughest health questions and now I'm sharing what I found with you. Welcome to Ask the Health Expert Kim H from Facebook for the smart human asks, are personal care products all safe? If not, why not? What are the regulations in the us? What are endocrine disrupting chemicals? Hey, it's JJ and I have the perfect person to answer this. I have Dr. Ailee Cohen with me. She's triple board certified in internal medicine, rheumatology and Integrative medicine and an environmental health specialist. And she's always been ambitious. She was even an EMT in high school. Plus she's a huge animal lover and lives on a farm surrounded by them. She'll be right back with me. Stay tuned.

Hey jj, Virgin here. Okay, real talk. So often the holidays sneak up on me, travel, gifts, hosting, you know, all the things and suddenly it's like, wait, who spent what and where? And I know I'm not the only one who's looked at a bill in January and thought, wow, that escalated quickly. If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch. It's rated the Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025. Monarch is the all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface. On your laptop or on your phone. Monarch lets you link everything and gives you real time visibility so you're not shocked later. Right now, I've been checking the holiday spending category so I don't accidentally start the new year with that dreaded debt hangover. And honestly, just seeing everything laid out is already helping me stay more aware. This season, Monarch does the heavy lifting. It links your accounts in minutes, gives you smart categorization and super clear visuals. Yes, that end of year reset could be a real goal. This time. Don't let financial opportunity Slip through the cracks. Use the code virgin@monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year@monarch.com with the code Virgin.

Some people think nature is like this, but actually it's like this. That's why Columbia engineers everything we make for anything nature can throw at you. Columbia engineered for whatever.

So the first thing people should really think about, which I didn't know myself, is that personal care products in the United States are actually not regulated at all for ingredients. That's right. They're not actually regulated at all for whatever ingredients are, are put into them. So there's a variety of chemicals that have been found in many of the products that we lather onto our skin, we put into our hair, we put onto our children's skin. And there's many resources to figure out which ones are good for you, which ones are not so good for your body, for your skin, and for your immune system. So it turns out that for instance, for fragrance, fragrance that is in everything from laundry detergent and even our makeup and even to our fancy bottles of perfume actually contain chemicals known as phthalates. And phthalates actually are made to keep fragrance lasting longer, to have a longer shelf life. But this particular class of chemicals known as endocrine disrupting chemicals, phthalates are actually able to disrupt the human body's endocrine system in a variety of ways, whether it's at the receptors for hormones which control our physiology throughout our body, be it thyroid function, weight gain or weight loss, insulin use, glucose breakdown, weight gain, blood pressure, and certainly chemicals that can affect risk for endocrine sensitive hormones. So cancers that are affected by the endocrine system. So we really want to think about how to have cleaner personal care products so that we don't put some of these chemicals like phthalates and a variety of other formaldehyde releasing chemicals into or onto our bodies. There's a great resource that I discuss in my book, Non Toxic Guide to Living Healthy in a Chemical World. Some of those resources include environmental working groups, skin deep database where you can actually look up your products that you use and see whether or not there's any harmful contaminants or harmful ingredients and also choose better options. So that's just one resource I discuss in my book. So it's very easy to manage these type of issues and to go through your baby products and your day to day products. Teenagers, by the way, use the most personal care products daily of any demographics. So if you have a teenager definitely consider showing them the vetted app called Healthy Living and also Environmental Working Group's website and help them navigate the world of personal care products. Because we love our stuff, we just have to do it very carefully and safely.

This is JJ with Ask the Health Expert. I do this five times a week, so make sure you never miss a show by going to subscribetojay.com.

Hello listeners, this is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I tag all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately, and I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything, you'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and Visit our website whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com to find out more.