Grade School Science Experiment
If you have two healthy plants and you water one with soda and one with water, obviously the soda-watered plant will slowly die. This analogy shows just how important it is to make good choices about everything we put into and onto our bodies. It is time to re-invent the wheel, so to speak, in the skin care industry. We don't think children's skin should be used for the industry's science experiments. Remember back in the day smoking cigarettes used to be considered as "good" for us, but people had suspicions that proved otherwise and as we found out, smoking kills. Since the FDA does not monitor many chemicals that go into products that are on the market we must take our children's health into our own hands by educating ourselves about the potentially harmful ingredients we use in our daily skin care products.
One ingredient that has created a lot of buzz is Parabens and other preservatives. After doing some research we noticed that there was a great deal of negative information. Much of this information comes from toxicology reports, and while none of these reports can definitively state that Paraben causes cancer, many reports do state that more testing needs to be done. They also state that the absence of toxicology reports does not necessarily mean absence of toxins.
Many scientists and toxicologists speculate that Parabens could be the new "tobacco". For many years people used tobacco, without really knowing that it posed many risks for their health. Please know this. Tobacco is also not definitively going to CAUSE cancer; however, its use is linked to cancer.
Remembering certain ingredients is close to impossible since most can barely pronounce these ingredients let alone memorize them! So we have created this sheet of Toxic Bad Guys for you to take to the store. Keep it in your purse, or where you keep your coupons, so you don't forget it! Trust us it's worth it!
The following ingredients have been linked to one or more of the following: cancer, neuro-damage, and developmental/reproductive toxicity. (NOTE: The following ingredients are in no particular order.)
1. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)-Can be found in 90% of products that lather
2. Avobenzone- Can be found in sunscreen
3. PABA and PABA esters- Can be found in lipstick; products with SPF; lip balm; skin fading/lightener; conditioner; facial moisturizer/treatment; moisturizer; styling gel/lotion
4. Cinnamates, also seen as Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) - Can be found in sunscreen
5. Diethanolamine and triethanolamine- Can be found in foundation; sunscreen SPF 15 and above; hair color and bleaching; moisturizer
6. Paraben preservatives, (Methyl, Propyl, Butyl, ethyl, isobutyl)- Can be found in facial moisturizer/treatment; anti-aging moisturizer; facial cleanser, sunscreen SPF 15 and above; conditioner; eye shadow; hair color and bleaching; foundation; shampoo
7. Polyethylene glycol (also listed as PEG)- Can be found in facial moisturizer/treatment; hair color and bleaching; anti-aging moisturizer; face wash; conditioner; shampoo; styling gel/lotion; body wash /cleanser; antiperspirant/deodorant
8. Phthalates (listed under fragrance, if not named) - Can be found in nail polish, nail treatment, cuticle treatment.
9. Benzophone, more commonly known as oxybenzone- Can be found in Sunscreen
10. Formaldehyde derivatives- can be found in nail polishes and treatments
Note: Did you know with all of the personal care products you use every day, you could be putting toxins into your body up to 25 times a day!
Thank you to Cosmeticsdatabase.com for the above information.
