You may repeatedly hear that we are being way too paranoid about the absorption of cosmetic ingredients and skin care ingredients through skin. While I personally do not believe that using products laden with chemicals on occasion, can do harm, I certainly believe that they are absorbed through the skin and years of use along with the sheer amount of products used daily can cause harm to those who may be predisposed to certain skin sensitivities and cancers.

I am no doctor, this is my opinion. Yet it is so obvious, especially with the promotion of nicotine patches for one and the administering of medication though patches for another that skin care ingredients and cosmetic ingredients are most definately absorbed through skin. From the Ecovoice.com website:

Today, the administration of drugs and medicines is often through transdermal skin patches. This has been shown to be up to 95% more effective than oral medication. However, cosmetic manufacturers are not supposed to claim that the skin absorbs their products. If they did the products would be labeled a drug and governed by much stricter regulations.

This is both good and bad for us. Good because it means our skin can be fed, nourished and treated from the outside with some wonderful substances.

Bad because it means we can absorb commonly used cosmetic ingredients that would never be allowed to be taken orally as a food or drug, through our skin.

While I am a voice against chemicals in all personal care products, it is far more important for me to get the word out about so, so, many alternatives.

Why does the consumer continue to purchase products with dangerous cosmetic ingredients at local pharmacy and department stores when natural organic skin care is available everywhere?

While poking around in my local pharmacy store recently, I found the following label on a very popular body lotion. The label boasts “incredibly soft skin with jojoba oil and vitamin E.” Sounds yummy. I would love to slather my body with jojoba oil! Sounds like natural skin care to me. Don’t be fooled. Here is the list of ingredients:

Water, myristyl alcohol, glycerin, mineral oil, butylenes glycol, alcohol denat, stearic acid, petrolatum, myristyl myristate, glyceryl stearate, hydrogenated coco-glycerides, dimethicone, simondsia chinensis seed oil (jojoba), tocopheryl  acetate, polygyceryl-2 caprate, Phenoxyethanol, lanolin alcohol, fragrance, sodium hydroxide, methylparaben, ethylparaban, proylparaben, butylparaben, isobutylparaben.

What the heck?? There are three alcohols, five of the nasty parabens (which have the potential to cause cancer), and tocopheryl acetate which is a synthetic vitamin E and not the natural vitamin E. Read the rest of this entry…

Here’s another handy dandy shopping card to keep with you, this one listing safe nail polish.

Over the last several years, scientists and researchers have found direct links to health related problems among nail salon workers and three chemical ingredients in nail polish. There is a reason that they wear those masks, so why don’t we?

The “toxic trio” that are of most concern are toluene, which can cause simple headaches and eye, ear, nose and throat irritation to nervous system disorders and damage to the liver and kidneys, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate which studies have linked to underdeveloped genitals and other reproductive system problems in newborn boys.

So why is DPT banned from cosmetics in Europe but not here in the U.S. even though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found DBP and other toxic phthalates in the bloodstreams of every person they tested?

Even though most companies have agreed to remove these three dangerous ingredients, nail polish in general is laden with chemicals. It may be wiser to purchase safe nail polish at natural health and beauty supply stores. The following is a partial list of companies who offer chemical free nail products for purchase online:

Honeybee Gardens

Jerrie

Visage Naturel

Sante

It’s important to choose better healthy skin care products free of chemical ingredients that harm your health and the environment. Unfortunately companies continue to use chemical ingredients regardless of potential risks as cosmetic products do not require verifiable, mandatory compliance (such as FDA approval) before they can be marketed.

Cosmetic companies are responsible for substantiating the safety of their own products and ingredients. Claims on packaging such as organic, natural, hypoallergenic, animal cruelty free, and fragrance free may mean nothing. Read the rest of this entry…

It amazes me how many women are attracted to Aveda makeup and skin care products. I think at one time, I was too, however at that time, I am sure that I could not afford it. Aveda products are known throughout the beauty industry and popular among salons and beauty schools. The products range from makeup and skincare to hair care products.

The impressions we have formed of Aveda makeup, skin care and haircare products are primarily from the services we received over the years in beauty salons such as facials, manicures, pedicures, and hair colorings. And why wouldn’t we form a positive, natural impression? The Aveda name sounds healthy. Aveda products smell wonderful. We look great! We feel great!

When you visit the Aveda website, you are immediately seeing big, bold, clean water ads, and organic farming ads, “Farming is the #1 polluter of US waterways. Organic farming keeps them free of pesticides and chemicals.”

And yet, they continue to dump toxic chemicals into the Aveda line. As many of you know from reading this blog, parabens seep into skin tissue and have been linked to cancer. The Aveda makeup and skincare line uses several of these parabens in much of the cosmetic line, mostly methylparaben.

Phenylenediamine, resorcinol, along with fragrance, slicylic acid, and ethyl lactate which causes skin, eye, or lung irritation are some of the not so natural ingredients in Aveda products.

It is nearly impossible to get exact ingredients in each of their products by visiting the website. They have a general “ingredients list” on the Aveda website. Natural? Sure. The ingredients they list are natural. But why are they not listing the rest? On the website….”Aveda products show that what you put on your body should be as healthy and natural as what you’d put into it.”

So how did we come to love Aveda makeup? How did we become so obsessed with Aveda skin care? It started with the beauty schools, and on to the beauty salons. The products smell sooo good. They are used in the most expensive, relaxing services we look forward to now and again. We were under the impression that they were natural. We were brainwashed.

Author’s note: many companies are now removing ingredients based on progressive research and or customer demand so it is important to check the ingredients list on the package before ditching your favorite products.

How dangerous are your cosmetics?