Toxins in makeup?
No one wants toxins in makeup. ICK. We tend to pay close attention to what we are putting IN our body. But, do you stop to think about what you’re putting ON your body? Like most women, I used to think, I just want what works and makes me feel and look good!
Paying attention to both the IN and the ON is significant for women throughout their lifetime. This awareness should be top of mind in perimenopause and menopause.
Toxic Skincare and Makeup Mistakes
Let’s cover the basics here. You interact with hundreds of products in any given week. Let’s look at these products you put ON your body. Our beauty lineup: make up, lipstick, skincare, cleanser, moisturizer, and perfume.
Think about all the products you’ve put on your skin over time. Do you remember, the experiments with your mama’s makeup when you were a little girl? Or, your adventures in developing your signature “style” in high school? Let’s recall, the fresh-faced young woman (maybe with too much makeup) when you showed up for your first job. And you’ve had other evolution along the way. Let’s not think about how many toxins were in those bottles, tubes and jars…eeek, it’s too painful. But there’s hope.
Chemicals to Avoid
- Lead – a proven neurotoxin, linked to miscarriage, reduced fertility and delays in the onset of puberty in women.
- Parabens – the European Commission on Endocrine Disruption lists parabens as Category 1 priority substances because of evidence they interfere with hormone function. Parabens can mimic estrogen. They have been detected in human breast cancer tissue.
Alternatives
- *AnnMarie Gianni skincare and makeup has beautiful, organic and effective products. I love and use many of them daily. Here is the link – go look around. You won’t be disappointed.
- Or, when you make it, you know what’s in it. Here is a quick DIY lip balm to try.
DIY Tinted Lip Balm
Ingredients
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp beeswax
1 tbsp shea butter
1/2 teaspoon red or rose mica powder (can find in natural food store or on http://amazon.com)
Optional: 2-4 drops of lavender, vanilla, lemon or peppermint essential oil
How to Make
On the stove top, in a glass jar sitting inside of a low simmering pot, melt the coconut oil, beeswax, shea buter by stirring gently until they melt. Don’t get any water in this mixture or it will ruin it. When melted, carefully add the essential oils if using and the mica (if you want color). Once mixed, use a dropper to transfer your creation into a little tin or a clean lip balm container. You just made your own lip balm!
Skincare, Cleanser, Moisturizer and Specialty Products
After applying make-up (even when it is natural and non-toxic) removing dead skins cells and these products from your skin is essential for skin health. Look out for these nasties which may have made their way into your skincare regiment without you knowing:
- Aluminum – research illustrates that aluminum is capable of causing DNA changes that could play a role in causing cancer.
- Tetrasodium EDTA – cytotoxic (toxic to living cells!) and genotoxic (damaging to DNA!)
- Dioxins – According to the EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database dioxins are strongly linked to cancer, and toxic to organ systems and human development.
Alternatives
- *Ann Marie Gianni
- Not to sound like a broken record here, but this skincare is by far the BEST STUFF I’ve ever found.
- DIY Cleanser
Ingredients
1 cup coconut oil
1 tbsp baking soda
5 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops frankincense essential oil
5 drops lemon essential oil
*If adult acne is a challenge, try replacing lemon and frankincense oil with tea tree essential oil (10 drops)
Directions
On the stovetop (over low heat) or in the microwave, melt coconut oil. Once the coconut oil melts, remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients. Transfer mixture into a clean, airtight glass jar. Store in a cool place.
Perfumes
Don’t you just love to find that perfect scent? I sure do. But, the surprising toxic ingredients in some perfumes may inspire you to pitch even the most expensive perfume in your scent stash. Here’s what I mean:
- Alcohol – drying to the skin;
- Synthetic fragrances – potentially carry a wide range of risk, since the ingredients do not have to be disclosed;
- Phthalates – used in many cosmetic and personal care products like fragrances are considered to be endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). A note of warning here, they are not required to be listed in the ingredient list, and can often be disguised under the term “fragrance”. Some harmful effects of phthalates include infertility, breast cancer, endometriosis, ovarian cancer and allergies.
Alternatives
- Mountain Rose Herbs has a wonderful product, Herb Aroma Spray
Essential Oil Perfume
There are a lot of ideas for essential oil perfume but this site has good step-by-step and some great recipes. Check it out.
http://crunchybetty.com/handmade-solid-perfume
Ultimate Resource
What do you do if you want a quick verifiable source to check out what’s in your bathroom cabinet? Go to the source!
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has an amazing database for your personal research. Here’s the link.
Currently they have information on over 64,000 products and over 2,000 brands. The database launched in 2004 to protect you and your family from everyday exposure to chemicals. Their mission is to fill in where industry and government leave off. Their staff scientists compare the ingredients on personal care product labels and websites to information in 60 toxicity and regulatory databases.
Action Steps
- Simple awareness about the dangers of toxins in makeup and skin care products makes you a savvy shopper.
- Pick 3-5 of your current beauty go-to items and plug them into the EWG website and see where they rank on the toxicity scale (low, moderate or high hazard).
- Consider truly natural products like AnnMarie Skincare and Cosmetics. The ladies of RhondaNP are kind of obsessed with this stuff. It is luxurious, smells heavenly and most importantly won’t cause endocrine disruption!
Sources
https://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/whats-in-my-products
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/site/about.php
*RhondaNP is an affiliate of AnnMarie Skincare
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