I love my lipstick, but I love myself more.

Society as a whole has elevated itself to a higher standard of living. We now care if our food is organic, or whether or not it has high fructose corn syrup. We try to drink eight glasses of water a day and take a daily supplement, not to mention the occasional wheatgrass shot. We are very conscious of what we put into our bodies. Why, then, do we not apply the same insistence about what we put on our bodies?

An estimated two kilograms of toxic chemicals are absorbed into our bodies each year through the products we use. Think about that for a minute. In your daily routine what do you use? Toothpaste, body wash, face wash, shampoo, conditioner, lotions, self tanners, sunscreens, foundation, mascara, lipstick... and the list goes on and on. Each product is exposed to the largest organ of the body- your skin! Less than one tenth of an inch thick, our skin is very permeable. What we put on our skin is absorbed into our bodies, sometimes more so than what we put into our mouths. This is because toxins applied to the skin are absorbed without going through the filtration process provided by our liver. Scary stuff!

Dr. Samuel Epstein thinks so too, and decided it was time to breakdown the farce that all beauty products are truly created with your best interest in mind. Likened to the tobacco industry, the beauty industry has gotten away with murder- literally. The toxins and carcinogens found in our every day products are building up in our bodies and contributing to our "body burden"- the amount of synthetic chemicals we carry within our bodies during the course of our lifetime. In his new book, Toxic Beauty, Dr. Epstein provides a scientific base for his fight against the hundreds of thousands of products out there that are chock full of hazardous ingredients having a direct adverse affect on human health.

The book is quite brilliant. Dr. Epstein gives an overview of the industry and how the products within it are impostors that we willingly apply each and every day. He also gives the classification of what these toxic ingredients are- listing them in varying degrees of harmfulness: "frank" toxins, "hidden" ones, hormone disrupters, penetration enhancers and common allergens. A geeky girl like me eats this up!

Luckily, if you're not that keen on chemistry you can navigate your way through the toxin charts to the ones clearly outlining what not to use in each product heading, ie: toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, make-up, hair dye, etc. Conversely, you can jump right to the lists at the end of each chapter outlining the organic and "Dr. Epstein certified safe" product lists. If you have products you are unsure of, he suggests you make use of the "Skin Deep" website, www.cosmeticdatabase.com, to search products' hazard levels.

"Given that we are exposed to hundreds of chemical pollutants every day in air, water, and food, you may wonder why we should focus on cosmetic and personal-care products. The answer is that, in contrast to pollutants in the air and water, over which we have little or no control, we can exercise considerable control over what we put on our skin through personal choice," states Dr. Epstein. He is right, and we want to help you get the resources to make informed decisions.

Thanks to a new Canadian organization - Green Beauty, we can easily purchase toxic free cosmetics that really work! Lead by Donna Bishop, Green Beauty is unique in that 100% of the products available have been tried and tested by her team of top stylists. We often hear complaints that the eco-friendly alternatives don't hold up to their conventional counterparts. So we love that every product available on Green Beauty is at least as good, or better, in terms of coverage, durability and overall quality.

FTA Promotion: Subscribe to our monthly newsletter before August 31st, and you will be entered to win a copy of Toxic Beauty along with a Pure+Simple lip gloss and an eco-friendly mini Kiss Me mascara courtesy of Green Beauty!

Coming up next: Up close & personal with eco model, activist and author Summer Rayne Oakes.

Comments

Angela

0

 

 

OMG it's really scary! I did not know we consume so much toxines through skin every day. I usually look for some information on similar topics at http://www.torrentbasket.com/ but your website is really a good source of information.

Thursday 17 June 2010, 02:21

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