Tis the Season. Educate yourself.

The Holiday Season has officially begun, and we all know what that means. Parties, big events, family gatherings...to put it mildly, a time to look our best. But in the midst of getting all glammed up for that special gala, I wanted to take a moment to spread the word about some worthy, in my opinion, information. Everyday, ladies, we get up and do that fabulous morning routine...shower, brush our teeth, fill our hair full of product, and paint our faces. Men, some of you do or don't shower, shave and hopefully wash your faces, but what if the products we use everyday are harming us more than we think?

 

This used to be my daily, morning routine anyway until I started looking at the ingredients on the back of all those lovely bathroom products. All those ingredient names I couldn't pronounce, I just began looking them up after I read an article in my favorite magazine, Body and Soul, about some toothpastes being toxic. It intrigued me and inspired me to learn more, not just about the toothpaste I was using, but everything I was using. And its actually really sad what I found. Some of my favorite brands such as Kiehls, MAC makeup, Alba shampoo's, all contained chemicals that in the long run can cause things like Cancer and Developmental/reproductive problems. Even my husband's Neutrogena face wash and after shave had these same effects.

Some will argue that since the amounts in products aren't published, there isn't enough of what's harmful in the bottle to actually harm us. I beg to differ. Our skin is the largest organ of the body. The blood that flows through us nourishes it. Whatever we put on our skin enters the body through our bloodstream—even makeup. If you doubt this, rub a clove of garlic on your arm, and within twenty minutes you will taste it in your mouth. Some specialist, I've learned, even say: if you wouldn't eat it, don't put it on your skin.

The moral of the story is this: our society has set a standard for us. That is instead of teaching us about the real hazards of certain chemicals in products, they market and advertise falsely in order to make us think its just the hottest, new product out there. I've bought into it in the past, I'll admit it, but I'm choosing safety over what color my eyelids are from now on.

So educate yourself this Holiday Season and think about what's in your products before you use them. Check out this link and search your bathroom products: http://cosmeticsdatabase.com/   It will give you a breakdown of all the ingredients and harmful side effects. And ladies, if you can't think of any great Christmas gifts you want this year, check out this book: Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry by Stacy Malkan. You can find it at http://www.safecosmetics.org/ and learn more about what companies are fighting for a change in the products all of us use.

Tis the Season, enjoy and be safe.
Brittany

Comments

[Donna]

Thanks Sue and Brittany we really need to think about what products we use on our body and our household products... Yikes lots of harsh chemicals not only are body absords but we breath in. Donna

[Suzan Macco, R.N.]

Yes Donna, the toxins are everywhere. We must try to avoid them whenever we can.