Your environment affects your physical wellness!

That’s the slogan that pulled  up on the website when I went to dig for household cleaning ingredients on the Melaleuca website.

Melaleuca, also coined ‘The Wellness Company’, is a direct sales company that prides themselves in distributing clean, safe products for the entire family.

If you’ve spent any time on social media, especially Instagram, you might have heard people signing the praises of their wellness box.

The word ‘Wellness’ is shown on the exterior of the shipping box when you place an order from Melaleuca.

The Wellness box is what they are known for. At least, that’s how I became aware of Melaleuca products to begin with.

I was initially intrigued by the marketing of their products.

They are sold by reps who seem, as a whole, very passionate about supporting small & staying away from big box corporations like Target & Walmart.

In my personal experience, the products have been promoted as safe & natural from several natural-minded social media influencers.

When I was first introduced to their products, it was at the height of the 2020 pandemic. People were passionate about voting with their dollars & scrambling to find extra income when they were forced to leave their jobs temporarily. Melaleuca was a solution to this problem – and I get it.

Taking charge of your spending and adding an extra income is all well and good, but the fact of the matter is that this company is an MLM and it’s not exactly supporting small.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no issues with MLM companies or their products.

In fact, I am a rep for a few because I love them. But the truth remains that it’s not a small company.

But, we aren’t here to discuss MLMs and small business. I am strictly here because I have a beef with their product descriptions and the way that they market.

This is what I have a problem with

In nearly every case, we find natural ingredients to be the best, most effective, and healthiest option. Of course, “natural” does not always mean safe or effective. In some cases, man-made compounds have been proven to be more effective or safer than raw, volatile natural sources. In our opinion, only natural ingredients sufficiently proven and documented as safe and effective should be used.

Melaleuca offers a variety of wellness products, including nutrition supplements and healthy snacks, fitness products, personal care products, eco-friendly home cleaning products, cosmetics, and essential oils. As one of the largest online retailers in North America, Melaleuca ships directly to each of its customers.

Along with these descriptions found on their website:

-Innovative products set you on track to a home free of toxins and to living your best life!

– Melaleuca amplifies the power of nature, delivering a holistic approach to wellness.

-Clean Homes. Clean Streams. Clean Conscience. making safer, more effective, eco-friendly, and affordable products you will love.

I am not here to ruffle feathers, but their products are far from clean & eco-friendly.

In fact, most of their cleaning products have a F rating on the EWG website (that’s the worst rating that a product can get by the way).

However, the majority of their products are not even listed on the EWG website.

So I did a tiny bit of digging on my own & I realized something very quick.

Melaleuca is NOT anywhere near safe, natural, and non-toxic.

I did a quick  scan of ingredients while the toddler was busy trying to steal my coffee mug . So, not my best detective work, I admit that. But, you shouldn’t have to DIG in order to see whether or not a product has clean ingredients.

I didn’t need to look very long.

I quickly skimmed and stumbled across ingredients that are NOT safe for people & the planet. Ingredients that are carcinogenic and  have been linked to cancer, allergic reactions, brain degenerative diseases, and hormone disruption.

sodium laureth sulfate – This compound can be contaminated with ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen, and 1,4- dioxane, reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen by the NTP. 1,4 dioxane is a huge health concern for people & the planet.

fragrance – a blanket term that can hide a multitude of harmful chemicals such as phthalates, which are known hormone disruptors and can contribute to respiratory conditions.

aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly – there is conflicting evidence about the connection between aluminum in deodorants is cancer-causing. But, it’s best to be safe than sorry.

Loose titanium dioxide – The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) identifies inhalable titanium dioxide as possibly carcinogenic.

PEGs –Pollutants found in various PEG compounds include ethylene oxide (used to manufacture mustard gas), 1,4-dioxane, polycyclic aromatic compounds, and heavy metals (lead, iron, cobalt, nickel, cadmium, arsenic).

Phenoxyethanol – Infants exposed to phenoxyethanol can experience a depressed central nervous system leading to a decreased appetite, difficulty waking, skin color change, damaged DNA, and limpness of extremities.

Methylisothiazolinone – This widely-used preservative has been associated with allergic reactions. Lab studies on the brain cells of mammals also suggest that methylisothiazolinone may be neurotoxic.

If you’re wondering about SPECIFIC labels, here’s one from a product that is pictured above.

Renew moisturizing lotion ingredients: Deionized water, glycerin USP, Petrolatum USP, Distearyldimonium Chloride, Isopropyl Palmitate, Cetyl alcohol, Dimethicone, allantion, T36-C5 Melaleuca Oil, Benzyl alcohol, fragrance.

I could probably dig up many more ingredients, but you get the idea. Many of these ingredients are on my INGREDIENTS TO AVOID list.

As a whole, Wellness Box products are not natural OR safe.

In my experience, I have been told that their products are the best. But, really??? Come on.

Again, I am not here to stir up trouble.

I am here to call out the claims of these products being safe, natural, non-toxic, and eco-friendly.

And they just aren’t.

A company can toot their natural product horn all day long, but the real truth lies in their ingredients and the way they make their products.

Sadly, Melaleuca does not get my seal of approval.

But, this is just my opinion. You don’t have to agree with me. You can go to their website and look up ingredients for yourself (although, fair warning, they are near impossible to find and many of the photos are hard to read).

I am simply here to say that I cannot define this company as eco-friendly and non-toxic because their ingredients speak for themselves. Even if it’s not every single product in their lineup, the fact that they do indeed use harmful ingredients in some of their products is bothersome. ESPECIALLY when they claim to be a safe choice.

This is not me bashing a company. It’s calling out deceitful marketing.

If you’re not into low-tox living or organic ingredients, then these products might be fine for you. But if you were led to believe that their products are healthy, safe, non-toxic, and eco-friendly (like I was), then I’m sad to say that you fell victim to the green-washing too.

I welcome healthy discussion here. But I do not tolerate toxic behavior and words on MY blog & in my comments section. So feel free to leave a comment, but anything deemed negative or vile will immediately be deleted.

Looking to ditch your current products and switch to safer options?

Check out my product reviews here (more to come!)

Check out Ingredients you should avoid here (continually being updated)

Shop my FAVORITE products here. These are products that I use daily that are much cleaner, safer options.