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December 11, 2009

Dangerous Cosmetics and Teenage Girls. Don’t Mix the Two

Filed under: Cosmetics — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 8:14 am

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Many people are not aware that many big name brands of cosmetics contain ingredients that are extremely suspect. Now a new study has warned about dangerous cosmetics and the effects that these products can have on teenage girls.

Unfortunately the cosmetics that so many of us use are loaded with ingredients that we really ought not be putting on our faces. For example a recent study of big brand name lipsticks showed that over 50% of the lipsticks tested contained lead.

Lead? Is it possible that we the public are unknowingly using cosmetics like lipstick that contain lead? Yes it is. It’s a sad fact that the FDA doesn’t regulate cosmetics, or for that matter skin care or anti aging products like it regulates drugs.

And yet for those of us using cosmetics we are putting them into our systems just as if they were drugs. When you apply a cosmetic product like a lipstick or a blush our a rouge some of that products ends up inside of us.

That’s because our skin is porous and what we put onto it soaks in and ends up in our bodies rather than just on our skin. Moisturizers, for example, are rubbed in a disappear. Where do they go but into our system? Ok if they are harmless, but what if they’re not?

And now a recent study has cast doubt on whether it’s safe for our teenage girls to use some cosmetics. I’ll  quote from the website of the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics which summarizes the results clearly.

“Laboratory tests reveal adolescent girls across America are contaminated with chemicals commonly used in cosmetics and body care products.”

That’s scary. It gets worse and makes worrying reading for any parent of a teen who uses cosmetics regularly, and who doesn’t? Most in fact use more than the average woman.

The Environmental Working Group found chemicals from 4 different families of chemicals (phthalates, parabens, triclosan and musks) in the urine of girls between the ages of 14 and 20 who were tested in the study.

Some of these chemicals were found in the urine of every single girl tested.

Adolescence, of course, is a time when the maturing female body is growing fast and dealing with hormonal changes, and girls of this age do not want to be loading their bodies with potentially toxic chemicals.

The chemicals tested for are considered to be hormone altering chemicals, and so it raises some questions about the implications of teenage girls using cosmetics and skin care products and also possibly acne treatments where there is a good chance they could be loading their systems with these chemicals.

No one really knows, we’re entering an unknown area and the implications for the future health and in particular hormonal and reproductive health is completely unknown.

Either way, so we want our children taking these unknown risks with common cosmetics and skincare and other personal and body care products?

It’s a matter of serious concern for anyone. But there are solutions. There are very good companies that have dedicated themselves to making natural cosmetics and natural skin care products that don’t contain dangerous chemicals. They work extremely well and don’t expose our daughters to the risks inherent in mainstream cosmetics.

Unfortunately these companies are small niche companies unable to compete with the big brand names, and they don’t even try to compete. You’ll never find them advertising on TV for example. And you’re unlikely to find their products in the department stores either.

However if you take the time to find them their natural cosmetics and natural skin care products are excellent, and price competitive.

So don’t play Russian Roulette with your daughters health. Find some top shelp natural cosmetics and natural skin care products that don’t contain dangerous chemicals.

Want to know where to find the best Natural Cosmetics? Visit Peter’s Website Natural Health-Natural Skin Care and find out more about Natural Skin Care ProductsNatural Skin Care Products

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December 4, 2009

Lock Up Your Daughters. Dangerous Cosmetics on the Rampage

Filed under: Cosmetics — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 2:07 pm

Teenage girls love looking good, smelling good and feeling good. They love to use cosmetics, skin care and anti acne products, beauty products and personal body care products. And teenage girls use a massive amount of these types of personal products.

What’s wrong with that? Just this. It has been known for quite some time that many of the big name cosmetics, skincare products and personal products that you, (not I) use daily, and that teenage girls use in huge amounts, daily, contain dangerous ingredients.

Ingredients which are, in some cases, known to cause cancer.

Take lipsticks for example. A recent test of big brand name lipsticks found that over 50% contained lead. Lead? Isn’t lead really dangerous? Yes it is, and it’s found in our lipsticks.

One product actually contains a commonly used pesticide.

And a very recent study found that there were hormone disrupting chemicals in many of our cosmetics, and that teenage girls tested had up to 16 of these dangerous hormone disrupting chemicals in their bodies.

It’s scandalous. There are organizations set up to combat this like the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics and Teens Turning Green. And there are searchable databases where you can actually search on product names and company names and find out the chemicals that are contained in the products, the expected risk of those chemicals and a hazard assessment on a scale of 1 ot 10.

In Europe this problem has been recognised for some years and a European Directive prohibits use of dangerous ingredients in cosmetics and skin care and personal use products.

Is there any similar law in the US? No. Doesn’t the FDA protect us from dangerous cosmetics? No.

What can you do about it? You can certainly join some of these consumer organizations like the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics and add your voice to the growing cacophany of protest about this. But of course cosmetics and skin care are huge businesses turning over $billions, so expect a fight. Big business doesn’t have a proud record of protecting consumers by making safe products. Just look at the tobacco industry.

What else can you do for yourself and your teenage daughters? Use safe cosmetics and safe skin care products. There are some excellent manufacturers with a stated commitment to producing safe products, including cosmetics and skin care products, and these are also extremely high quality effective products.

Cosmetics and skin care and personal and beauty care products companies can actually sign what is called the Compact For Safe Cosmetics, and publicly evidence their commitment to product safety. Many companies have done that, and you can find out which ones at the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics. You won’t find the names of the big brand cosmetics and skincare companies listed there.

So there are things you can do. Get involved, or if not then buy safe and effective skin care products and cosmetics. One line of skin care products, from a company that has signed the compact and makes totally safe skin care products, is probably the worlds best and most effective skin care products. And totally safe for teenage girls, or you, to use.

Find out more about buying safe skin care products and safe cosmetics at my website.

Want to find the worlds safest (and best) Skincare Products? Visit Peter’s Website Natural Health-Natural Skin Care and find out more about high quality Safe Cosmetics

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December 3, 2009

Dangerous Cosmetics and Teenage Girls. Don’t Mix the Two

Filed under: Cosmetics — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 3:02 pm

Many people are not aware that many big name brands of cosmetics contain ingredients that are extremely suspect. Now a new study has warned about dangerous cosmetics and the effects that these products can have on teenage girls.

Unfortunately the cosmetics that so many of us use are loaded with ingredients that we really ought not be putting on our faces. For example a recent study of big brand name lipsticks showed that over 50% of the lipsticks tested contained lead.

Lead? Is it possible that we the public are unknowingly using cosmetics like lipstick that contain lead? Yes it is. It’s a sad fact that the FDA doesn’t regulate cosmetics, or for that matter skin care or anti aging products like it regulates drugs.

And yet for those of us using cosmetics we are putting them into our systems just as if they were drugs. When you apply a cosmetic product like a lipstick or a blush our a rouge some of that products ends up inside of us.

That’s because our skin is porous and what we put onto it soaks in and ends up in our bodies rather than just on our skin. Moisturizers, for example, are rubbed in a disappear. Where do they go but into our system? Ok if they are harmless, but what if they’re not?

And now a recent study has cast doubt on whether it’s safe for our teenage girls to use some cosmetics. I’ll  quote from the website of the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics which summarizes the results clearly.

“Laboratory tests reveal adolescent girls across America are contaminated with chemicals commonly used in cosmetics and body care products.”

That’s scary. It gets worse and makes worrying reading for any parent of a teen who uses cosmetics regularly, and who doesn’t? Most in fact use more than the average woman.

The Environmental Working Group found chemicals from 4 different families of chemicals (phthalates, parabens, triclosan and musks) in the urine of girls between the ages of 14 and 20 who were tested in the study.

Some of these chemicals were found in the urine of every single girl tested.

Adolescence, of course, is a time when the maturing female body is growing fast and dealing with hormonal changes, and girls of this age do not want to be loading their bodies with potentially toxic chemicals.

The chemicals tested for are considered to be hormone altering chemicals, and so it raises some questions about the implications of teenage girls using cosmetics and skin care products and also possibly acne treatments where there is a good chance they could be loading their systems with these chemicals.

No one really knows, we’re entering an unknown area and the implications for the future health and in particular hormonal and reproductive health is completely unknown.

Either way, so we want our children taking these unknown risks with common cosmetics and skincare and other personal and body care products?

It’s a matter of serious concern for anyone. But there are solutions. There are very good companies that have dedicated themselves to making natural cosmetics and natural skin care products that don’t contain dangerous chemicals. They work extremely well and don’t expose our daughters to the risks inherent in mainstream cosmetics.

Unfortunately these companies are small niche companies unable to compete with the big brand names, and they don’t even try to compete. You’ll never find them advertising on TV for example. And you’re unlikely to find their products in the department stores either.

However if you take the time to find them their natural cosmetics and natural skin care products are excellent, and price competitive.

So don’t play Russian Roulette with your daughters health. Find some top shelp natural cosmetics and natural skin care products that don’t contain dangerous chemicals.

Want to know where to find the best Natural Cosmetics? Visit Peter’s Website Natural Health-Natural Skin Care and find out more about Natural Skin Care ProductsNatural Skin Care Products

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December 2, 2009

Safe Cosmetics. Find Out if the Cosmetics You Use are Safe, or Dangerous

Filed under: Cosmetics — Tags: , , , — admin @ 9:02 am

If you haven’t read any of my articles before it may come as a surprise to you that the cosmetics that you use may be hazardous to your health. Believe it or not, not all cosmetics are safe. Safe cosmetics are, in fact, hard to find.

How can this be? Why in the world would the cosmetics that you use be dangerous? Surely the FDA regulates anything we use in or on our bodies to make sure that they are safe for us to use?

Sadly, no. Yes drugs are regulated and the drug companies need to conform to certain safety standards, but those standards don’t apply to either companies making cosmetics, or companies making skin care products or personal care products and health and beauty products.

Basically these companies can use any ingredient in their cosmetics, regardless of whether they’ve been shown to be safe for human use. And big multi nationals being what they are, if there is an ingredient that they can use in their products that is cheaper than a safe alternative they’ll use it.

Regardless of whether it results in some risks to users.

Here’s an example. A recent study found lead in over 50% of big brand lipsticks tested. Lead? Are you kidding? In our lipsticks? Sadly again it’s true. Some of the biggest names in lipsticks contain lead.

This prompted the California legislature to legislate against lead in lipsticks.

Regulation on safe cosmetics ingredients is sadly lacking in the US. Standards are much much stricter in Europe. So the cosmetics that you and maybe your daughters use can contain dangerous ingredients.

I have personal experience of this. My then 7 year old daughter was due for her first ballet concert and they used all the normal cosmetics on her and within half an hour she had a terrible rash all over her face. We removed the cosmetics, the rash disappeared and hasn’t reappeared.

We now use safe cosmetics for her ballet concerts.

The problem is so bad that there are now whole organizations set up to promote safe cosmetics and alert the public to the danger of the big brand cosmetics. And do the cosmetics companies change their behavior? Do they use safe ingredients in their cosmetics? Still no. They don’t.

One such organization is called the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics. They attempt to expose as many of the risks of dangerous cosmetics as possible, to try and force our government to regulate the industry and the companies to produce safe cosmetics. And they run a Compact for Safe Cosmetics. Cosmetic companies that are prepared to dedicate themselves to produce only safe cosmetics can sign the compact to evidence their commitment to safe cosmetics.

And there is an organization called Teens Turning Green which helps direct teenagers towards safer cosmetics and other products, amongst their goals.

So how do you find out if the cosmetics you are using now are safe cosmetics or dangerous cosmetics. There is a way. There is a database called the cosmetic safety database, and you can use their database to search either the product that you’re worried about, or the name of the company that makes them.

I just searched the Avon Ultra Moisture Rich Lipstick by way of example. On a scale of hazard from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest hazard, it rates a 9. High hazard. I’m told the ingredients in this lipstick are linked to cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity and a whole host of other hazards including neurotoxicity and more.

Scary isn’t it. However there are cosmetics companies dedicated to making safe cosmetics and personal care products. Dedicated to using such ingredients as certified organic ingredients and natural ingredients that are proven to be safe before they are used. That set their highest goal as producing high quality safe cosmetics and personal care and beauty products, rather than just focussing on profits.

There’s not many, but there is some. And if you’re worried about the safety of the cosmetics that you, or maybe your daughters uses, you need to find them. Now.

Want to know where to find the Best Safe Cosmetics? Visit Peter’s Website Natural Health-Natural Skin Care and find out more about Safe Skin Care Products as well.

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