Books!

I just finished Stacy Malkan's new book called Not Just a Pretty Face. It was quick and easy and remained an enjoyable read somehow considering all the facts and figures and quotes that would make your stomach turn. This book cemented and made more urgent the stuff I already knew about the cosmetics industry, the chemical industry, and our personal and environmental health. I strongly recommend that everyone read it. You can find it in bookstores, health food stores, and online retailers like Amazon.



I just received my next read today and it looks like a good one! It's called Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano. It's all about greening various aspects of your life with a huge emphasis on beauty and personal care. If you're into eco fashion and beauty, you need this book! Also, the author will be appearing with Julia Roberts on OPRAH tomorrow (Tuesday April 22, 2008) to promote her book. Check it out if you get a chance, it's an Earth Day show devoted to going green!

It's been far too long...

I have been neglecting this blog! A lot has happened in the past five months i guess. But after a stern talking to from a new friend in London, I am resuming activity on this blog. There's certainly plenty to blog about. I've got a bunch of products to write about, but first is the latest about ingredient safety.

In March a study was conducted on many products (check out the list as you may be using some) to test for 1,4 Dioxane. This is not an added or listed ingredient in products. Rather, it is a nasty by-product in the making of certain ingredients that are frequently used in products (even in many "natural" products). Check out the link below for all the details:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/DioxaneRelease08.cfm

If you use products that don't include synthetics and stick to whole botanical and food-grade products, you won't need to worry about 1,4 Dioxane.

To make the switch, check out GratefulBody, Allaffia, Dr. Bronners, and Greenridge Herbals.

I'm totally lagging on the DIY skincare posts, but in the meantime, I found another super clean skincare line! It's called Greenridge Herbals. Of the lines I've mentioned, this makes the top two or three in my opinion. I've tried a few interesting products that I really like. But be warned- the cleanser for oily skin types is waaaaay too strong somehow. I have very oily skin and I can't use it, which is unfortunate because it's got some great ingredients in it. The cleanser for normal to dry skin is probably really nice, and I can't wait to try the eye products. If anyone reads this, and also decides to try Greenridge Herbal products, let me know which products you try and what you think! These are clean and well formulated products and they definitely deserve support as a company.

www.greenridgeherbals.com

Body Burden

It seems like everyone knows at least someone who has a condition, illness, or disease of some sort. I have recently become completely frustrated with the overwhelming numbers of friends and family members who have been diagnosed with something or are reporting that someone close to them has been diagnosed with something. It isn't acceptable for an entire species to just be riddled with illness.

I learned about the "Body Burden" a couple of years ago. This is the build up of chemicals in the body from constant short term exposure and/or exposure to chemicals that are not excreted easily from the body. This appears to have clear effects on our health and is not to be ignored. I can't help but think of this phenomenon that effects us all when I think of all the people who are getting sick with, or inheriting, serious illnesses. There is a really informative website that I recommend checking out: www.chemicalbodyburden.org

Skincare

Our skin is the largest organ in our bodies that has the function of expelling waste and toxins. An important factor in healthy skin is minimizing internal toxins and promoting proper flushing and expulsion. This can be done by eating correctly and drinking plenty of water. But as the skin has the ability to expel from the inside out, it also easily absorbs from the outside in. We should only allow our skin to absorb stuff we'd actually want in our bodies- nutritious stuff. We are already stuck dealing with pollution and treated water and we just have to try to combat those with the healthiest lifestyle possible, but we don’t want to add to this problem by using impure things on our skin.

We would never intentionally eat plastic, chemicals, synthetics, or anything else composed of man-made materials. Ideally, we only want to eat totally natural and healthy organic foods free of chemicals and pesticides. Anything else is at best non-nourishing and at worst, totally poisonous. So why would we hold our skin to different standards and absorb these things from topical application of skincare?

The key to great skin is totally healthy skin and you can’t achieve skin health by feeding it the chemical cocktail that characterizes most skincare products. And price is no indicator of quality. Super expensive products can be full of just as much crap as the drugstore stuff. It still costs only pennies to make such synthetic products, they are just priced higher to appeal to those who still hold the belief that price is always an indicator of quality. But what you are usually paying for is marketing, advertising, celebrity spokespersons, and a brand name.

It is very important to note that in cosmetics and skincare, the words natural and organic and “plant extracts” can be used on labels with no standards to uphold. These terms are not regulated and do not mean that a product really qualifies as natural or organic. So it’s necessary to educate yourself about ingredients. My advice is always to ignore what the front of the bottle says and only read the back. What percentage of the product is actually organic or wild-crafted? Are there ingredients in the product that you can’t eat or make a tea from, or even PRONOUNCE?

I am not even going to go into all the ingredients that are void of nutritional value or the companies that should be avoided because it’s the majority. It will be more efficient to name the products we should be using.

Here are some companies whose prices are what they are because of the cost of the quality ingredients used. Totally and truly natural and organic products cost much more to make, and yet you’ll notice that many of them are still less costly than many “luxury” skincare products on the market that are totally synthetic.

-Alaffia

-GratefulBody

-Benedetta

-Eminence Organics

-Dr. Hauschka

-Jurlique

-Pangea Organics

-Erbaviva

-and maybe John Masters Organics

These are the only companies I’m aware of that can actually be considered skin CARE. They all have a very large range of vegan options as well. Just keep an eye out for beeswax, honey, and occasionally, milk if you are looking for vegan products.

These are often sold among other brands at healthfood stores that are not the same quality. If there are any other brands that you discover, please let me know about them!

And if you don’t want to buy this kind of skincare due to cost concerns, then make your own in your kitchen using organic ingredients. The next several posts will be devoted to DIY skincare…

Cleaner Cosmetic Companies

I have yet to find a line of cosmetics that is totally pure. But there are a few options that drastically minimize the use of impure ingredients. They can’t be found in drug stores or in department stores. In fact, there are few if any products that are truly clean carried in those types of stores. Your best bet is to visit a health food store, green co-op, or little mom and pop natural place if you have one in your area (these places need our support!). But if not, you can find and order what you need online. Here are some companies that are trying to do things right:

Gabriel Cosmetics- The textures and colors are pretty good and these cosmetics are vegan and cruelty-free. These are mostly natural shades without any really vibrant color options. www.gabrielcosmeticsinc.com

ZuZu Luxe- This is a line made by Gabriel Cosmetics that includes some vibrant shades and they make one of the best mascaras I’ve ever used. The line is vegan and cruelty-free. Both Gabriel and ZuZu are best suited for light to medium complexions as they don’t really offer a wide variety of shades for deeper complexions unfortunately.

Jane Iredale- She makes a very popular mineral makeup and a full color line. Look closely at the ingredients because not all of them are 100% vegan. Her line is fairly large and has something for nearly all skin tones and the colors are nice. www.janeiredale.com

Bare Escentuals- This is probably the most popular line that touts healthier ingredients. I use their mineral foundation myself as well as the Rare Minerals. It’s more affordable than Jane Iredale and has a wide variety of shades for skin, eyes, cheeks, and lips. Not all the products are vegan so check out each one before buying. Also, there are still a few ingredients in some of the products that warrant caution. My suggestion is to check the ingredients or the product name on www.cosmeticsdatabase.com first.

Mi Essence- This line has the cleanest ingredient lists I’ve ever seen in a cosmetic line. However they are in Australia so shipping may be costly and not all their products are vegan. But if you order from them, let me know what you think! www.miessence.com

Cosmetic Ingredients

If there is no other motivation to stop using conventional cosmetics, the health risks posed by their ingredients should be. Cosmetic ingredients are not required to be tested for safety and many if not most are not assessed at all for risks to our health. Cosmetic companies will tell you that even if there is some evidence of potentially harmful effects of ingredients used in their products, they are used in such low concentrations that they aren’t a problem. But the average woman uses between 9-17 beauty products on her face, body, hair, etc. each day! So you are getting several applications of these ingredients every single day. Our bodies absorb these chemicals and since our systems have trouble flushing these synthetics out, we store them in our bodies and they wreak havoc on us over time. Below I have listed just a few common ingredients that show up in many cosmetic items like foundations, powders, eyeshadows, liners, mascara, cheek color and lip color. But of course there are countless others that are equally scary. If you want to look up ingredients or specific products to see their safety ratings and details, go to http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php . This website is amazing and so informative. It is the source for the info below and a crucial resource to public health and safety education at this point because the companies making the products aren’t going to tell you this stuff.

Talc- potential carcinogen and a known respiratory toxicant, not tested by industry panel for safety in cosmetic use, some lab tests resulted in skin irritation, possibility of contamination with asbestiform fibers (extremely carcinogenic)

Mineral oil- possible human immune toxicant and potentially cancerous, low to moderate doses in some lab tests resulted in sense organ effects and skin irritation, not assessed for safety in cosmetics by industry panel

Parabens (methylparaben is most common)- Human skin toxicant, one or more lab tests showed organ system effects, positive mutation in mammalian cells in vitro, weak endocrine disruption, brain and nervous system effects, skin irritation, and gene expression interference

Ferric ferrocyanide-Known human respiratory toxicant, one or more lab tests resulted in brain and nervous system effects at moderate doses

BHT-human immune system and skin toxicant, one or more lab studies using low doses show endocrine system disruption, brain and nervous system effects, and skin irritation, reproductive system effects at high doses, and one or more in vitro tests on mammalian cells show positive mutation results

Silica- (finely ground as in loose or pressed powdered products that could be inhaled)- Strong evidence of dust being an immune system toxicant, cancer risk, respiratory toxicant, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and renal toxicant, and bioaccumulative in wildlife and humans

“Lake” colors (various pigments used for color)- Strong evidence of human neurotoxicity and nervous system toxicity, and one or more in vitro tests non-mammalian cells show positive mutation results.

It is possible to wear makeup (if you want to) without using dangerous ingredients. There are a few companies that are making truly safe cosmetics. That’s the next post.