🌸 Toxins Around Us: Why Black Women Are at Risk

Every day, we use many products to care for our hair, skin, and homes. But many of these products contain toxins — harmful chemicals that can slowly affect our health.

For Black women, this is an even bigger concern, as many beauty and hair care products made for us contain higher toxin levels than others. Over time, these toxins can affect our hormones, skin, and overall well-being.

💇🏾‍♀️ Toxins in Hair Products

Many shampoos, conditioners, relaxers, wigs, weaves, and dyes are made with strong chemicals.These can be absorbed through the scalp and enter our bloodstream, disrupting our natural hormone balance.

Common effects include:

• Hair breakage or thinning

• Scalp irritation

• Hormonal imbalance

Switching to natural, organic hair care can help restore scalp health and prevent hormone disruption.

🧴 Toxins on Our Skin and Clothing

Our skin is our largest organ — it absorbs what we put on it and even what we wear.We take in toxins from:

• Laundry gels and fabric softeners

• Shower gels, lotions, and handwash

• Roll-ons, perfumes, and body sprays

• Bleached or fragranced pads, tampons, panty liners, and underwear

Even when we sleep, we breathe in the fragrance chemicals from our bedding — washed with scented softeners. At night, our bodies should rest and heal, but these toxins make our system work harder, affecting our sleep and hormone repair.

💧 Toxins in Water

Sometimes, it’s not only about products — it’s also about the water we use daily.Tap water can contain chlorine and other chemicals that make skin itchy or cause hair breakage.

🩵 My Experience

When I started using filtered water for drinking and added a shower filter for bathing, everything changed.

• My skin became softer and less itchy

• My hair stopped breaking and started growing again

• The water felt gentler, softer, and more natural

Filtering our water has helped our family a lot — it’s one of the simplest ways to reduce toxins.

🥗 Toxins in Food and Drinks

We also eat toxins without realising it. They come from:

• Fast foods and ready meals

• Plastic bottles, containers, and packaging

• White rice, white flour, and bleached foods

• Fruits and vegetables sprayed with pesticides

• Tap water stored in plastic bottles

These toxins build up and can cause tiredness, mood swings, and hormonal changes.

🌬️ Toxins in the Air

We breathe in toxins every day when we:

• Use strong cleaning sprays or air fresheners

• Spray perfumes or deodorants

• Burn incense

• Drive or are around smoke, bleach or other poisonous gasses.

Over time, these can affect our lungs, mood, and hormones.

⚖️ How Toxins Affect Our Hormones

Hormones are tiny messengers in our body that control mood, sleep, energy, and even periods.When toxins enter our system, they can act like fake hormones and confuse our body.

This can cause:

• Tiredness and mood swings

• Weight gain

• Trouble sleeping

• Hot flashes

During menopause, toxins make symptoms worse — hot flashes, night sweats, and mood swings become stronger because our natural hormones are already lower.

If you are struggling with hormonal odour and not sure what to do, covering yourself in additional perfumes and other toxins that may countain up to 4000 chemicals is not always the solution. We currently live in a society where these products are heavily marketed that we want them to be part of our body care routine. Well, the only issue is, it solves one problem and starts another. Have a read of this blog to find out some home remedies that I've found to be a winner: https://siphealthandnutrit.wixsite.com/siphealth/post/managing-hormonal-odour-during-menopause

🍲 Toxin-Free Cooking and Kitchen Tips

Toxins can also come from our cookware. Here’s how to make your kitchen safer — one step at a time:

🧡 Start Small You don’t need to spend a fortune. Replace items slowly until your kitchen is as toxin-free as possible.

Try using:

• Cast iron pots – strong, long-lasting, and add iron to food

• Stainless steel, titanium, or glass cookware

• Stainless steel baking trays and cake tins

• Glass storage boxes for leftovers

• Glass or stainless steel bottles and blenders

• Wooden cutting board

• Lead free plates. So far i have seen a brand called Fable, they claim to have Portuguese dinnerware is free of lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals, and is compliant with GCGR, FDA, and Prop 65 regulations. Have a look at their selection here: https://uk.fable.com/collections/dinnerware

At the moment, stainless steel is my go-to — it’s easy to find and durable. Glass is also a great, affordable start for families.

As the saying goes: “If you buy cheap, you buy twice.”Start small, invest wisely, and build a kitchen that supports your health.

🍴 Wooden Spoons

Use wooden spoons, like we do in Africa. They last a long time, don’t scratch pots, and are a healthy, traditional option.

🌿 Products I Personally Use (Not Paid Links)

If you are not sure whether the products you have are safe or not, you can download this app called Yuka. Manufacturers are very misleading by labelling unsafe products as 'safe', 'natural', 'hypoallergenic', organic' and to be honest, noone really checks if what is in there is actually there. So, this app helps me when Im out shopping to see if that products is safe and also provides otehr safer alternatives which is good because it does not leave me puzzled in the shop and guessing what next. So, give it a go, I'd love to know what products you found high in toxic/poor that you did not expect.

These are some non-toxic products I’ve tried and love.They are not affiliate links — I don’t get paid if you buy them.

Makeup and hair Products

• ILIA Beauty | Clean Makeup, Cosmetics, & Skincare

• 100% PURE: Organic & Natural Beauty Products

• Dosso Beauty – Non-Toxic Braiding Hair + Organic Hair Care Products:

Pads and Liners

• Natracare Organic Cotton Maxi Pads – Super (Pack of 12)

• TOTM Natural Pads

Panty Liners

• Natracare Organic Cotton Curved Panty Liners – Pack of 30 (£2)

Diffusers

• To keep my home smelling fresh, I try by all means to use auto room sprays, instead, I open the windows for about 10 minutes everyday and I run the essential oil diffuser. These are goods ones I have found out there. Let me know which on you end up buying.

• Nikura Misti Waterless Diffuser

• Scandiscents Waterless Diffuser – The UK’s #1 Waterless Diffuser

• Nebula Waterless Diffuser – Aluxury® Collection

Air Purifiers

• I've been using this purifier for our bedroom and when i started using it, all my allergies went away. I stopped coughing and sneezing every time I went to bed. It was like a miracle really (lol): LEVOIT Air Purifier for Bedroom Home, CADR 187 m³/h, 80m², with HEPA & Carbon Filters removes Pollen Allergies Dust Smoke, Air Cleaner with Timer, Quiet 24dB Sleep Mode, Core 300 https://amzn.eu/d/3cNtso4 If you want you can you a brand you can afford. If you can afford something more expensive..why not!!

Roll On

• I use the sanex alcohol and aluminium free, i even recommended it to my mom. When budget permits, I go for the Salt of the Earth Natural Deodorant Stick or the The Natural Deodorant Co Active Deodorant Balm Orange & Bergamot 55g from Holland& Barret. It might be worth paying them a visit and find out what might work better for you.

Water filter:

• My water filter, I use the Japanese Black Stick Wood. If you see it in a water tank, hope you now know what it is.

• My shower filter I bought it from Temu.

Cleaning Products:

• I used to buy some cheap over-marketed products and I thought it is all the same, but nope! It was until we bought a certain brand of laungry gel and we were all sneezing when I hung it up to dry. My kids could not sleep because the scent was so strong and their skin got itchy.

• Also, when I washed the dishes, I noticed that I would spend more time rinsing the dishes because the soap was not coming off. I hated seeing soapy water in my cup or soapy milk when preparing cereal. Sometimes I would taste perfume in my sadza or my stews...eeww!

• Even with dishwasher tablet, I noticed some had perfume after each cycle and that took away the joy I usually got when I could smell the food I was eating. So, I had to switch it up!

• There are so many good brands out there but the one I have seen that is affordable and easy to buy anywhere is the Ecover. I usually buy mine from the main supermarkets, on their website here: https://uk.ecover.com/ or on amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Ecover/page/6943FBCA-3218-45C2-A627-C5369400694A?lp_asin=B009DGDR4S&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_ast_store_XB3635S7D6HH6ZN5V690

Removing Pesticides from Fresh Produce:

• Wash fruits and vegetables under running water, scrubbing firm produce with a brush and soaking soft produce.

• For a more thorough cleaning, soak produce in a solution of baking soda and water or a vinegar and water solution before rinsing thoroughly.

• I don't usually recommend peeling and trimming the outer layers because the skin is rich in fibre and other nutrients, but, can also an effective way to reduce pesticide residue. 

🌺 Final Thoughts

As Black women, we face higher toxin exposure because of the beauty, hair, and cleaning products made for us.These toxins can upset our hormones, make menopause symptoms worse, and harm our long-term health. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!! Take small, steady steps — like filtering our water, choosing glass and stainless steel, using natural skincare, and being mindful of our air and bedding — we can protect our health and that of our families. Our bodies deserve better.Let’s choose products that help us heal, not harm.

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