Is your beauty routine harming your health?

This topic was posted by Dr Mercola in October 2009.

Sources:

Organic Consumers Association October 1, 2009

FoodMatters 

Do you enjoy a shampoo with a rich bubbles? A shaving cream that really foams? Relaxing in a tub full of bubbles?

SLS stays in the body up to five days. Other studies show it easily penetrates the skin and enters and maintains residual levels in the heart, liver, the lungs, and the brain. Yet SLS is found in most cleansing, foaming products – and even in some toothpastes.

See safe certified organic products

See related blog ‘Why are there toxins in everyday products

See more ‘About organics’

What did you think of this article? I welcome your feedback

Have a lovely day

Lucie

www.familyhealthbeautyinfo.com

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Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), and their cousins like ammonium lauryl sulfate and sodium myreth sulfate produce a lot of foam very inexpensively. But SLS is so strong that it’s also used to scrub garage floors. And it has been proven to cause cancer in the long run.

Why are there toxins in everyday products?

If personal care products and nutrition with chemicals, toxins and preservative can harm humans and the planet, why would governments and industries produce it, when the scientists know it’s poison?

The reason is simple: profit. Natural ingredients can’t be patented so companies make chemical versions, patent them and then market them. They also use these synthetic versions because they are cheaper to mass-produce. Most people assume that beauty products have been thoroughly tested for safety well before they appear in stores.

You would also think that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be watching the cosmetic industry to ensure the health and safety of consumers. Unfortunately, the FDA has little power to regulate beauty products. In fact, the only people ensuring the safety of personal care products are the very people who govern the industry: the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CTFA)

Scientists paid by the CTFA make up the Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel (CIR) . They regulate the safety of the industry’s products. In 2004, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released findings, comparing about 10,000 ingredients in 7,500 different products against known and suspected chemical health hazards.

• Only 28 had been evaluated for safety by the CIR.
• One in every 120 products contained ingredients certified by the government as known or probable carcinogens.
• Nearly one-third of the products contained ingredients classified as possible carcinogens.
• 54 products violated recommendations for safe use that the CIR had put in place.

These products are still available for sale today. The worst offenders were those containing the cancer-causing ingredients coal tar (found in hair dyes), alpha and beta hydroxy acids (commonly used in products advertised to remove wrinkles, blemishes, blotches and acne scars), and those containing the hormone-disrupting ingredient, phthalate (nail care products).

From website http://www.naturalnews. com/016898.html

See related blog ‘Deodorants and breast cancer’ or watch the video

See more ‘About organics’

See more ‘Toxins and chemicals’

What did you think of this article? I welcome your feedback

Have a lovely day

Lucie

www.familyhealthbeautyinfo.com

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Deodorants and breast cancer

Recently I ran an organic facial workshop and presentation for a group of women who have cancer.

They were incredibly vital, inspiring and full of humour. I had an enormous mind-shift in terms of health. Good health is the most important thing in our life – would you agree?

These 18 wonderful ladies were laughing a lot. When they did their own facials (with my assistance of course J) they talked about chemicals and toxins in beauty products and food. About how challenging it is to find chemical-free products, and how nasty commercial deodorants are.

When I asked them which products they used, the response was unanimous: ‘Certified organic’, with no chemicals or toxins! See my site  for those products.

In addition, did you know this? A toxic ingredient has been found in women with breast cancer. This ingredient may occur in deodorants.

Researchers at Columbia University have found that the breast tissue of women with breast cancer was 2.6 times more likely to contain elevated levels of PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) than the breast tissue of women without breast cancer (Rundle et al. 2000). Reference:  Cosmetics database

Look for deodorants with natural ingredients, such as: 

• Bicarbonate of soda to eliminate odours
• Aloe vera to soothe
• Bergamot – refreshing, uplifting, antiseptic properties
• Ylang ylang essential oil – normalises sebum production.

Get healthy deodorants here

And check out this helpful website

See related blog  ‘The difference between natural and organic ‘   or watch the video

See related topic ‘Understanding product labels’

What did you think of this article? I welcome your feedback

Have a lovely day

Lucie

www.familyhealthbeautyinfo.com

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Choosing ‘the best cream’

Yesterday I met with Juliet and Maria (my friends). Juliet (who has a one-month-old baby) looked great, with glowing skin. She said she was using ‘the best cream’ from England. Maria said, ‘Christian Dior preserves me very well darling, I don’t need organics.’ Juliet said, ‘Lucie, why do you pull that face when I mention my fabulous cream?’

I checked out the ingredients in Juliet’s cream – it was full of names which are listed as not beneficial. So I passed on the web links (see below) to her. Sometimes it’s better if people find out for themselves.

I often hear people say, ‘If chemicals and toxins were harmful to humans, the beauty industry wouldn’t be able to put them on the market.’

So why do most beauty products contain synthetic ingredients?

Reasons could include:

• to make a profit – often synthetics are cheaper
• the chemists creating them have not learned organic chemistry
• manufacturers are not aware of the possible long-term harm.

Here are some web links to information about synthetic ingredients and what they do.

Toxic ingredients

Chemistry

Cosmetics data base

When it comes to choosing products, shouldn’t we be truly educated about both the good and the bad? Then we can make a choice based on proven evidence.

See organic ingredients

Watch the video ‘Choosing the best cream’

See related article ‘The right ingredients for your skin type’ or watch the video

See related blog ‘Ingredients in our skin care’ or watch the video

What did you think of this article? I welcome your feedback

Have a lovely day

Lucie

www.familyhealthbeautyinfo.com

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Organic soap

Jena came to me this morning as we were at the supermarket. She was looking for organic hand soap, but all the soaps have sodium laureth sulfate and mineral oil, which she is not allowed to use. Jena has cancer and said the doctors told her she can’t use any personal/ beauty products with chemicals or toxins. When I asked why, she said it was because they may interfere with chemotherapy.

She got Miessence certified organic hand soap (chemical and toxin free) and went happily to her painting course .

What is your opinion about it? I researched those two ingredients, and they don’t look friendly.

‘Sodium laureth sulfate may be contaminated with toxic impurities many of which are link to cancer.’

‘Mineral oil (look under ‘health’) may cause gastrointestinal irritation with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Aspiration of material into the lungs may cause chemical pneumonitis, which may be fatal.

More toxic ingredients info

See organic ingredients

Look for these ingredients in soap:  Extra virgin coconut, lemon myrtle essential oil, rose oil, guar gum, olive oil.

Watch the video ‘Organic soap’

See related article ‘The right ingredients for your skin type’ or watch the video

What did you think of this article? I welcome your feedback

Have a lovely day

Lucie

www.familyhealthbeautyinfo.com

 Forward to a friend