The THINK DIRTY App . My New Bible For Non-toxic Beauty Upgrades
BIG THANKS to my best friend Lauren who introduced me to the Think Dirty app. I've been mentioning it a lot on Insta so I wanted to dive into the 5 Ws (yes - I will pretend I'm back in in Kindergarten) for anyone who's wondering why I use this app and/or wants to make some non-toxic upgrades of their own.
- Who - the app is called Think Dirty (that was easy)
- What - Think Dirty is an app where you scan and/or search your cosmetic and beauty products to see how they are ranked on the "Dirty" meter. Products are ranked for 3 categories (Carcinogenicity, Developmental & Reproductive Toxicity, Allergies & Immunotoxicities) based on their ingredients. EVEN BETTER, they list out the ingredients and rank them individually so you can see what ingredients are the dirtiest (or cleanest). Finally, they provide recommendations for approved clean products. The Dirty Meter is color coded so you know that a 1-3 (green) means you're in the clear, a 4-7 (mustardy yellow) means the product has potential moderate long term health effects, and a 8-10 (code red) means the ingredients have potential serious negative long term health effects.
- Where - you can download Think Dirty from the iTunes App Store for free here (on your phone of course)
- When - when did this app come out or when do I use it? I'm gonna go with when do I use it. ALL THE TIME. It's actually an obsession. I never thought I had an obsessive personality but apparently I do. Right now I'm going overboard because I feel like I just discovered this amazing source with so much information and am learning a lot about how bad the products I do have and have been using actually are. So yes, right now I'm using it all the time. I'm starting with my bathroom (personal care products first such as shampoo, conditioner, lotion and body soap). Next I will move on to makeup. After that will be cleaning products. Once you start to become knowledgeable on the toxins in your products and see 9s and 10s pop up as their rating (THE WORST), you will become obsessed too and want to make some "clean" updates ASAP.
- Why - I'm doing this to avoid long term health effects that my beauty products could potentially be causing. My mentality is this - the skin is the largest organ on the body and absorbing everything you put into it so body soap is a priority especially since it's covering your whole body (sometimes twice a day depending on my gym sched). Shampoo and conditioner is also a priority because it's going on your scalp and absorbing into your head! As for makeup, this is where it gets a little more difficult. I'm making these upgrades one product at a time. It's definitely harder to say goodbye to your mascara that you've been loyal to since the 90s, especially when mascara in particular doesn't seem to have many comparable approved brands (that I've discovered so far at least). But at the same time, I do want to put my health first and find products that I am satisfied with and can use, at least majority of the time in my daily routine.
After scanning, the app shows you where the product ranks on the Dirty Meter for each of the 3 categories. This "all natural" conditioner that I purchased is rated a 9 (BAD) on the scale from 0-10. Going in the garbage!
They also provide you with recommendations for approved products that are similar to the one you scanned, but ranked lower (in order from 0s and then up). I usually check how many likes the recommended products have and look into purchasing one with more likes.
