Many people are now concerned about exactly what they are putting into and on their bodies.
Now, a professor of environmental and labour policy at the University of California, Berkeley, Dara O'Rourke has created a website and an application for the iPhone that those that are concerned about what is contained in their lotions and potions can use to find out more about a product.
The idea came to him when he realised that he did not know anything about the sunscreen that he was applying to his daughter's face.
Upon further investigation, it was found that it discovered two skin irritants and that one of her brand-named toys was made with lead.
The New York Times has highlighted the new application in an article on its website entitled On Web and iPhone, a Tool to Aid Careful Shopping.
"What we're trying to do is flip the whole marketing world on its head," Mr O'Rourke said.
"Instead of companies telling you what you believe, customers are making the statements to the marketers about what they care about."
The product review website, allows shoppers to look at more details about the products they purchase by looking into its health, social and environmental impacts by simply typing in the name.
Two deodorants reviewed by the website, Tom's of Maine and Arrid XX both get very different scores when entered and reveals issues behind the production of toxic waste or whether the company in question faces lawsuits.
In total, the San Francisco-based website employs 24 people, who have scored a total of 75,000 products from 200 sources.
Having only started in September, Mr O'Rourke said he was encouraged by figures showing that the amount of visitors was increasing by 25 per cent a month.
Initially he faced difficulty in getting his start-up off the ground, although he eventually raised $3.7 million from the New Enterprise Associates and Draper Fisher Jurveston.
There are no advertisements on the site, which currently only makes a small fee through links on shopping website Amazon.
Daniel Goleman, the author of Ecological Intelligence, admitted that he switched deodorants and shampoos thanks to the website.
He claimed GoodGuide could have a "revolutionary effect on industry and commerce".
Already Apple has seen the potential of the application as it was recently featured in an advertisement for the iPhone.
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