Be beautiful without chemicals, you're worth it

From the day you were born, you’ve been exposed to countless chemicals  – rash cream, sunscreen, shampoo, plastic residue from baby bottles, milk formula made in China.

Later as a teen, you experimented with cheap hair dye, even cheaper makeup, nail polish and maybe gallons of hair spray.

The average woman might use up to thirteen¹ beauty products on her face each morning, and up to ten²more on her body, hair and in her mouth before she even leaves the house and encounters all the pollution, chemicals in food and other external toxins found in modern life.

According to the Cosmetics Database, we use an average of 126 unique ingredients on our skin daily. Forget for a moment the potential affect on our own health. These chemicals go down the drain, can affect the bodies of other humans, wildlife, get into the food chain and damage rivers and the ocean ecosystems.

Studies in the States show that ingredients found in perfume is linked to the feminization of male babies, parabens used in many different products have been found in breast cancer tissue, and the common ingredient labelled simply as “fragrance” is a cocktail of chemicals, some of which are found to be neuro-toxic.

But surely, this is a regulated industry? Surely the government is taking care of this?

Actually no. The personal care industry is one of the most unregulated. Chemicals that have been approved for use include “carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors, plasticizers, degreasers, and surfactants"³ 

More than ever, you have to take responsibility for what you and your family put into your body, because nobody else will.

The lucrative obsession with cleanliness

Katherine Ashenburg's book The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History, cleanliness has gone in and out of fashion, from the Romans, who would spend hours in the public baths being scrubbed and plucked, to Europe in the 14^th century where it was believed that excessive bathing led to open pores and thus susceptibility to the black plague.

In the last century of course, cleanliness has been taken to a new level, a multi trillion dollar industry, the market leaders of which are Proctor & Gamble and Unilever.

So, the pressure is on for companies to design new and innovative products. Most disturbingly are the

 new versions of  feminine hygiene products like Fem Fresh which are “specially formulated for intimate use” and include such items such as Deodorant Spray for Intimate Use, Intimate Wipes and shower gel, all which play on a woman or young girl’s insecurity around natural odor of her female parts.

The developing world is the next target, and the big companies will seek to usurp often superior natural beauty and health care products to use their expensive, environmentally damaging and chemical cocktails  – all of course in the name of “modern beauty” and “providing choice”, again preying on women’s insecurity.

Perfect examples of this are the prevalence of tanning products in one part of the world, and skin lightening in another – made by the same company, using similar looking models and truly exploiting the “grass is always greener” maxim the world over.

But, let’s focus on you and your beauty cabinet. Let’s look at products that you could easily eliminate now. You may feel a tinge of disappointment, but browse around on the Skin Deep database to see how toxic each product truly is and you will do it gladly.

Nail polish. It looks so pretty, doesn’t it? But the average nail polish contains ingredients that wouldn’t look out of place in an industrial chemical factory, with side effects such as endocrine disruption (hormonal changes that could affect fertility), biochemical or cellular level changes. Hmmm, pretty.

Alternatives: Nothing looks better than clean, buffed nails that are healthy and strong. If yours are weak and brittle, look at your diet rather than painting on harmful chemicals.

Mouthwash. An Australian study has linked mouthwash to mouth cancer⁴ and possible DNA damage.   Popular ingredients such as acetaldehyde, a toxic by product of alcohol are absorbed as it seeps into the lining of your mouth. 

Alternatives: You can find more natural mouthwashes. Look at the label. If you can’t swallow it, why would you put it in your mouth? You can also use natural peppermint oil.

Feminine Care: We very rarely question the use of tampons, despite being used in the “most porous and absorbent parts of a woman's body”⁵, and having a risk (no matter small) and health concerns about dioxin pollution and toxic shock syndrome.

Alternatives: An easy alternative is to switch straight away to organic brands such as Naty or Natracare. You can bypass tampons completely by using a silicone reusable Moon Cup, or a Diva cup. Converts rave about them (and I’m about to trial one this month). You can also buy reusable cotton pads. I know it sounds a bit icky, but healthier and better for the environment, so I’m willing to give it a try.

These are just three products out of thousands in use every day. Products that are polluting the environment, causing untold damage to our health and for who knows how many future unborn generations. 

Don't we deserve better than being poisoned? Get educated, and tell other woman what you know. Write to the Green Queen and we'll share the information. Inspire others. Be the change. 

We're worth it.

What to do next?

Send this to another woman you care about

Read about how I gave up shampoo for six months (and counting)

Read about giving up hair dye and cleanser for one year and counting

Read about plastic pollution in the sea

Killing you softly. The chemicals in every day life

Start writing letters to companies who are poisoning us and the environment. Here are some to get you started.

Great articles by others

Mouthwash and Oral Cancer

Cosmetics Sales in Developing Countries

Pulling The Plug On The Sanitary Protection Industry

Dove’s Parent Company Sells Skin Bleach. So Much for ‘Real Beauty’

 

Video from GMA - lead in lipstick

Feminine Products

http://www.naty.com/  - they make organic feminine care products and nappies too.

http://www.divacup.com

http://www.mooncup.co.uk/

http://www.radpads.com.au/

http://www.natracare.com/

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¹ Cleanser, exfoliator, toner, moisturiser, concealer, foundation, blush, powder, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, eye brow pencil, lipstick – etc.

² Shampoo, conditioner, perfume, body moisturiser, toothpaste, mouthwash, hairspray or other hair product, shower gel, deodorant

³ Environmental Working Group

⁴  Dental Journal of Australia

⁵ http://www.spotsite.org/village.html

Comments

[Corrina Gordon-Barnes]

Fascinating piece - thank you for this!

I didn't get on with a Mooncup so now I use Lunapads which are washable cotton menstrual pads. They're amazing. They're soft, pretty and SO SO good for the world. They seem expensive to start but I haven't had to buy anything else for the last year so they definitely make their cost back.

And interestingly, my horrendous period pain gradually disappeared after starting to use them so now I experience virtually no discomfort. It's as if my body went: "Oh okay, it's not a dirty time of the month where you're meant to hide and throw out the evidence. It's a time to look after yourself and be gentle and soft with yourself". And it stopped hurting.

Keep this conversation going - it's time that we realised we're not dirty beings to be sanitised and perfumed at all costs. Our bodies are beautiful and don't need anywhere near so many props.

Thanks
Corrina