MNN - Mother Nature Network

Got an eco-beauty regimen? Then bookmark Skin Deep, a cosmetic database that gives you safety ratings on mascara, perfume, shampoo, and other personal care products.

Put together by the eco-nonprofit Environmental Working Group, Skin Deep gives you safety ratings on thousands of personal care products. The score runs from 0 to 10, with high scores being the most dangerous.

Each product also gets a “data gap” score, because many cosmetics ingredients have not been adequately tested to assess potential health risks, making it difficult to put a firm hazard score on products that contain those ingredients. The “data gap” score gives you an idea as to whether the product’s really known to be safe, or whether it just contains many untested ingredients.

Use Skin Deep both to find out if the products you’re currently using are made with safe ingredients — or to research new, safer products to shop for instead. The left-hand column of the Skin Deep product pages even have a “where to buy” link, letting you easily locate the eco-product of your desire.

Image: Courtesy ewg.org