Phthalates are one of the 400 ingredients that Brandless bans from its personal care products. This piqued my interest because I have heard some rumblings about phthalates before. These chemicals are used in lots of products, ranging from plastic toys to shampoos. I decided to dig into the research and see what I could find. According to the FDA, three types of phthalates appear in cosmetic products:

Shave gels are one of the most interesting personal care products on the market—particularly the ones marketed to men. They have to simultaneously achieve the purpose of soothing the skin after it’s been freshly shaven with a sharp (or sometimes dull) razor, they have to make men feel pampered (which is usually achieved through some combination of fragrance and a velvety texture), and they have to make sure they don’t damage the integrity of razors by clogging or dulling the blades.…

Now that fall is upon us, I’m starting to feel nostalgic for the summer heat. But I’m excited to breathe crisp, cool air when I run outdoors. Fall is the best time of year for outdoor running, after all. A while ago, I wrote about NO-AD Sport Sunscreen SPF 50 as the best-value sunscreen for summer. But I discovered a problem with that formula: It would start to flake off toward the end of the day, which of course makes me think that it’s not all that effective (especially if I…