GoodGuide Body Wash and Cleanser Ratings

Chances are you’ve got plenty of products in the shower—soap, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, face wash, shaving cream, and maybe some bubble bath. Anytime you use these products, the chemical ingredients you don’t swallow (hopefully that’s all of them) are washing down the drain, where they sometimes find their way out into the environment. Look especially for bath, shower, and soap products that don’t contain triclosan, a common antibacterial chemical ingredients that accumulates in animals, is unsafe for marine life, and could lead to drug-resistant “super-bug” bacteria. (more)

Among potential health concerns in bath and shower products, the primary ingredient to watch out for is “fragrance”, a catch-all term for a trade-secret blend of unsafe chemical ingredients that could be concealing toxic phthalates that are linked to allergies and immune system toxicity.

Many shower gels and body wash products contain some form of sun protection, which often means the use of oxybenzone, a common sunscreen ingredient that’s banned for cosmetics use in Japan because of concerns about its health and environmental effects.

Other common ingredients in bath and shower products—shampoos, conditioners, and soaps especially—are preservatives like DMDM hydantoin, a form of formaldehyde that’s an immune system toxin and skin irritant, and the pH balancer triethanolamine, also a skin irritant and immune system toxin.

You can keep your shower as clean as possible by checking the ingredients section of our bath, shower, and soap product ratings for those unsafe chemicals, or by browsing through our reviews for products with high health and safety scores. Many bath, shower, and soap products with strong chemicals have been animal-tested—You can check the Product Certifications and Listings section on each product page to see if it’s manufacturer has been no-animal-testing certified by PETA or Leaping Bunny.