Having lived through five decades, it astounds me how differently we interact with food, drink, and beauty products than we did years ago. When I was a teenager, I never questioned what I was putting into my body or onto my skin. The thought never crossed my mind that, other than the risk of some heart disease much later down the line, these products might actually cause me some serious damage.

Along with millions of others, I’ve been on the health train these past few years, trying to cut out ultra-processed food, and now my attention is turning to other products that I regularly use. These include personal care products such as shampoos and conditioners, as well as creams, sunscreen, and deodorant. Having kids has also made me much more conscious of how my buying choices will affect them in the future, so I have a lot of skin in the game, if you’ll pardon the pun.

The question for me has been, where do you start?’ I’ve spent too much time staring at the back of bottles, scanning through ingredient lists, and Googling the ones that look the most concerning. It’s a minefield that hasn’t produced any results. That’s why I’m indebted to the Think Dirty app that has helped me navigate an increasingly complex world with relative ease.

Scanning products