regulation of cosmetics [not]....

This is a link to today's jezebel.com which talks about how the cosmetics industry gets away with putting bad stuff into cosmetics because the regulations are 70 years old...this includes formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

To try to improve things, Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Tammy Baldwin, (D-WI) have introduced a Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011.

Unfortunately the bill won't cover chemicals like parabens because they're not considered damaging, and the industry won't even admit that they're able to be absorbed through the skin.

Here are some sites to read about parabens:
http://www.gonando.com/parabens.html

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/chemicals-in-your-cosmetics---parabens/ 

http://www.alive.com/6951a17a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=59

http://www.maxgreenalchemy.com/images/ParabenReportDarbre.pdf

deodorants, antiperspirants, parabens and breast cancer

deodorants, antiperspirants, parabens and breast cancer

Here's a very interesting read about the link between sales figures for deodorants and breast cancer....in particular, cancer in the UOQ [upper outer quadrant] of the breast.

In a nutshell, parabens mimic oestrogen in the body, so when they're absorbed into the breast, the tumors that are sensitive to oestrogen levels will thrive.

another link to substances we should avoid in our skin care products...includes parabens & fragrance

So great to see these types of articles coming out.
http://ecosalon.com/11_toxic_cosmetic_ingredients_you_must_avoid/

I'll add it again...laundry detergent is part of our skin care products...

our face is on a pillow case for up to 1/3 of our day [if we're lucky!].
I didn't fix my face rashes around my eyes until I got rid of the old laundry detergent...and... the changeover also, over the months, got rid of skin creases, little veins, hormonal lumps, cherry spots and I don't need a moisturiser. The change is incredible!!!

parabens banned from cosmetics in Japan and Sweden

Here's a site that talks about 6 of the common "nasties" commonly found in cosmetics, and mentions where they're banned. http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/six-makeup-chemicals-avoid
The list of products that contain parabens is enormous...almost everything that can be put on the skin will have some type of paraben. Although there are other nasty chemicals in cosmetics, for me I narrowed it down to parabens that were causing the rash around my eyes[ late last year].An important additional fact that I want to add here is that these same chemicals are included in laundry detergents.
This may not sound important, but from my own personal experience, I know that residues are left in fabrics - and you're resting your face and body against the fabrics for maybe 8 hours of sleep - and then surround your body with clothes for the rest of the day. The exposure adds up to 24/7!! It wasn't until I started using castille soap as a laundry detergent that the rash on my face disappeared - and remember...it can't contain "fragrance." [the industry's buzz word for including anything they want without telling you what it is].

Ciao!

Parabens - why you should avoid them

...don't even be fooled by "natural" or "organic"...we have to read for everything. And remember, if it lists "fragrance," don't go near it, because that's where the producer can hide all the nasties [see blog below].
I enjoyed looking around this site today, and in particular the way they talk about methyl paraben.
...but first, a photo....

http://www.thegoodhuman.com/2007/06/21/what-are-parabens-and-why-should-you-avoid-them/

                                                                 

Carcinogens & hormone disruptors in "everything" for the skin and hair : a link to a HuffingtonPost editorial

It's 7 months after my discoveries about how soaps and laundry detergent were causing my veins, "age spots" and wrinkles, and how shampoo and conditioner were causing my hair to fall out.

...and I'm amazed and so pleased that it all seems to be hitting the main stream media now!! Yeh!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/annie-leonard/ithe-story-of-cosmeticsi_b_653866.html

...Although this editorial doesn't mention methyl parabens in the list at the beginning of the article.

Parabens are in "everything" and are known endocrine disruptors, and have been found in breast cancer tumors.

Here's what I replaced everything with [including household cleaners]...Dr Bronner's Pure Castile Soap...and it does a better job on the stove top than the special cooktop cream cleanser did !!
...Ciao!

What is in the smell ??

Be wary of anything that lists fragrance as an ingredient.

It's the legal way of putting nasty things into the cosmetics or soap without telling you what it is....so everything might read well...organic, green, plant extracts, etc, but if the word fragrance is there on the list, the ingredients are proprietary, and are likely to contain parabens .

Here's a link to an amazing site for finding out what's in our cosmetics [and a cute picture to cheer you up before you go there...]

I'll introduce you to it by copying in an email letter I received from Ken Cook of the EWG organization. EWG does fantastic work.

Dear vicki,
Fragrances are designed to make you smell good, but is that all they are doing? In a recently released study of 17 name-brand fragrances co-authored by EWG and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, we found that they contain secret ingredients, chemicals not listed on the label, with troubling hazardous properties.
We found 38 unlisted chemicals in our testing. The average fragrance tested contained 14 secret chemicals. Among them are chemicals associated with hormone disruption and allergic reactions, and many substances that have not been assessed for safety in personal care products by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the industry's own safety panel.
Click here to see how many secret chemicals popular fragrances like Chanel Coco and Old Spice contain.
In 1973 Congress passed the federal Fair Packaging and Labeling Act. The law, which requires companies to list cosmetics ingredients on the product labels, specifically exempts fragrances. Since then, the vague word "fragrance" is all you'll find on the label. If there's anything to be grateful for in this, "fragrance" is a recognizable word that is easily avoided by label readers.
The FDA has not assessed the vast majority of these secret fragrance chemicals for safety when used in spray-on personal care products such as fragrances. Most have not even been evaluated by the safety review panel of the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) or any other publicly accountable institution.
Of the chemicals that have been tested, there isn't a lot of good news. The vague term "fragrance" covers chemicals that can be linked to reproductive damage, hormone disruption, and can trigger allergic reactions.
Click here to found out about the health effects of chemicals in fragrances.
Fragrances may be designed to make you smell better and feel good about yourself, but here at EWG we don't know how you can feel good when you don't know what you are putting on your body. We hope this new report will help you make better-informed choices about your fragrances.
Sincerely,

Ken Cook