There's a version of this that starts with a dramatic origin story. This isn't that.
True Essentials exists because finding genuinely non-toxic products is harder than it should be. "Natural," "clean," and "eco-friendly" are marketing terms with no legal definition. Certifications exist, but they're scattered. Ingredient lists are long and technical. Most people don't have time to cross-reference a shampoo bottle against EWG's Skin Deep database before buying it.
This site does that work.
Every product in the directory has been evaluated against a consistent set of criteria: what chemicals it avoids, what materials it uses, and what third-party certifications it carries. That evaluation produces a Non-Toxic Score from 1 to 10. Products that score 8 or above are what we'd actually buy.
How We Select Products
We focus on categories where chemical exposure risk is highest: cookware, food storage, personal care, cleaning products, baby items, and bedding. Within those categories, we look for products that:
A product doesn't need to check all four boxes to be listed — but it needs to be genuinely better than its conventional alternatives, not just marketed as such.
Editorial Independence
We're not affiliated with the brands we cover. We earn a small commission when you click through and purchase — that's how the site stays independent. Our scores and editorial decisions are ours alone.
We have declined to list products that would generate higher commissions but don't meet our standards. We have also listed products with no affiliate program because they scored well and belong in the directory.
Our Non-Toxic Score
Scores are assigned on a 1–10 scale based on chemical avoidance, material safety, certifications held, and ingredient transparency. A detailed methodology is available on the How We Score page.
Read Our Scoring Methodology →Questions or suggestions?
We review all messages and genuinely want to hear about products we may have missed.
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