The more I learn about common makeup and personal care products the more upset I get. Many people are unaware of just how toxic these products can be or the danger they are causing. This post will be my first in a series of everyday toxins to avoid. This post will share information on the toxins in Makeup and Personal Care Products and the best ways to avoid them.
How Safe Are Your Products?
There are over 1300 toxic ingredients banned in Europe versus only 11 in the United States. That to me was a very disturbing statistic. Here is another scary one for you: What was the last year a law passed regulating cosmetics and personal care products in the U.S? Wait for it…………..1938. I was floored when I learned this information. I knew that there was some shady ingredients in personal and cosmetic products, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. There is very minimal regulation on personal and cosmetic products and most ingredients don’t even need to be listed by companies because the recipes are considered “Trade Secrets”. That is why ingredients such as lighter fluid (propylene glycol) can make it’s way into your makeup. Oh and that ingredient is usually listed because it’s not illegal to use in personal and cosmetic products! Disgusting isn’t it?
Did You Know……
Environmental Defense tested different makeup products and found high levels of heavy metal contamination in almost all of the products! The metals include:
- lead
- arsenic
- cadmium
- beryllium
- thallium
These heavy metals are banned, and are not listed in the ingredients, so how can their be such high levels present? This occurs due to the heavy metals begin apart of the raw ingredients used to make the products or formed as byproducts of the manufacturing process. Here are 6 facts you may not know about makeup.
Most commercial makeup products and lotions also contain large amounts of endocrine disrupting phthalates or parabens and sadly many green products are guilty. Other ingredients that are toxic include: Mineral Oil, Retinol, Glycol, Formaldehyde, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Triclosan just to name a few. The problem with these ingredients is that our skin is the largest organ of our body and very permeable which means that everything that comes in contact with our skin makes its way into our bodies. These toxins accumulate and are being linked to minor health problems and even major diseases.
Common Problems Caused by Toxins in Makeup and Personal Care Products:
- Headaches
- Reproductive Disorders
- Mood Swings
- Skin Problems
- Memory Loss
- Neurological Problems
- Cancer
With many of these health problems on the rise it is important to bring awareness to the everyday toxins war are exposed to daily and learn how to better protect ourselves and our family. It is important to me to try to find the best companies and products to use in my household. It has become a passion of mine to learn how to make my own personal products as much as possible and find companies I trust for everything else.
What I Recommend:
I haven’t used lotion in years and have significantly reduced the personal products I buy. I try and make my own personal products as often as possible and when I do purchase products I do so from a source I trust. It is too common for many corporations to use dangerous ingredients without seeming to be concerned with their consumers health and wellbeing. I would rather take the extra time to make my own (which really, it’s SOOOOOO easy!)
Here is a list of some of my Personal Care Recipes:
- Personal Lubricant
- Edible Whipped Love Butter
- Antioxidant Facial Serum
- Daytime Facial Serum
- Skin Brightening Facial Mask
For personal products I don’t make or makeup I make sure to buy from companies I trust across the board, which unfortunately are far and few between. The companies I trust for my family and order from regularly is Young Living.
About Young Living
When I was searching for essential oils to use for Therapeutic purposes for my family I did extensive research which company, and trust me, there is a lot out there. After a couple months of researching I found Young Living was the right fit for my family. Young Living started in 1993 when Gary Young developed his first organic herb farm and distillation operation. Gary had already discovered the incredible power of essential oils, but because the quality of available oils varied so greatly, he’d been unable to fully harness their potential. Gary knew that pure essential oils had the ability to produce spectacular results, he found that the many chemically altered or adulterated oils were on the market and were often ineffective and even harmful. Since then Young Living has grown to become the world leader in essential oils and wellness solutions. I chose them for my Essential Oils company because they are currently the only Essential Oils company to own their own farms worldwide to ensure that the plants can grow in their native environment. The company has developed the groundbreaking Seed to Seal® process, which preserves the integrity and potency of essential oils. They make healthy living so easy because they have lots of chemical free products from supplements, makeup, personal products and essential oils. If you are interested to learn more about ordering from Young Living you can click here.
