I’m quite careful about what I put on my face. I don’t use a
lot of stuff – but the stuff that I do use is good quality. My two
can’t-live-without staples are Dove soap and Burts Bees lip gloss. Dove was my grandma’s soap, and she had
beautiful skin. Burts Bees is sold at the health food store, so I’m assuming
that it’s not going to kill me.
Paraben Bad! |
My third favorite thing is Keihls Marvelous Mineral Mascara.
I like anything Keihls, and this is hypoallergenic, fragrance free and paraben
free. Parabens, for those who don’t know, are a chemical widely found in
cosmetics, that are also found in breast cancer tumours. Parabens
have also displayed the ability to slightly mimic estrogen. Although
the dosage found in tumours is very very low, parabens have now become quite controversial and I prefer to
avoid them.
But avoiding them may be more difficult than you’d think, as
they are found in lipstick, suntan lotion, moisturizers and toothpaste. Although
they are listed among the ingredients, the font size is so teensy tiny that it would
require Steve Austin’s bionic eye to decipher the letters.
So, yesterday I was doing a little shopping at the excellent
drug store at Mt Sinai Hotel and Spa. Specifically, I was looking for a
non-toxic eye make-up remover that I could carry in my bag. I asked the young
clerk if she had such a product. ‘Yes,’ she chirped, ‘Would you like the
non-stinging kind?’
Really?! Did I hear correctly? I stared at her in disbelief.
I couldn’t even believe that this was a real question, and I wondered how many
people said, ‘No thanks, give me the kind that burns my eyes’. So I just looked at her until I finally
said, ‘Shouldn’t non-stinging be the standard?’ She laughed cheerfully, ‘I
dunno!’
Olive good. |
Sadly ‘I dunno’ seems to be the standard for what we put on
our face. Most people – like me – are often more concerned with how yummy a
product feels rather than what is actually is. So the result is, our teenage
sun tanning years were spent under layers of dangerous chemicals and animal
fat (except for my delicious
sister Sue who only uses olive oil and lemon for anything skin related, which
are the same ingredients she uses for roast chicken).
My mother Violet, who also takes a healthful approach to
cosmetics sent me a link to an excellent website which I’m posting here. Because
the US government are allowed to use almost any chemical they wish, and because they don’t review the safety of
a product before it is sold, this website fills in where they negligently left
off.
On a lighter note – it’s fun, easy (and safe) to use.
Orangedale calling,
ReplyDeleteI have used "Noxzema " all my adult life and have few wrinkles; I don't know whether to credit the "N" or the fact that my cheeks are "chunky" (Too much lobster??)No room for wrinkles!!