The Beauty Box

As the story goes, Zeus gave his daughter Pandora a box as his wedding gift to her.  The box (some say it was a jar) was labeled "DO NOT OPEN".  Attached to the note was a key.  Of course, Pandora's curiosity got the better of her, and one day she used the key to open the box.  As she opened it, out flew all of the bad things in the world today, sickness, hate, disease.  Pandora tried to close the lid, but it was too late.........

​As I opened the lid of each of my colorful lotions, creams, soaps, polishes, and powders in my bathroom and makeup case, with the eyes of a newly awakened student of holistic nutrition, I knew that much like discovering the disturbing truths of the food industry, I, like Pandora, was about to uncover other horrors hidden within each  beauty box and container. 

As I dug into the books and internet to seek out the facts, it appeared as though each item contained a multitude of harmful chemicals and other ugly ingredients, that to my horror were contributing to my fatigue, weight gain, hormonal imbalances, and autoimmune symptoms.

Fresh out of high school, I went directly into beauty school, and became a licensed esthetician.  While not the career I longed for, it filled a desire to help others while enjoying all things pretty.  After only a year, I realized that the constant contact with products and smells was altering my moods, giving me headaches, triggering allergic symptoms, and making me tired.  At the time I didn't even realize the full extent to which my job was responsible in making me feel like crap most of the time. My many years of loving perfumes, quality makeup, facial products, and polished toenails, was now turning me off and making me sick.  As a result, my beauty career was short lived, but my love of beauty never faded. 

Over seven years ago, after fully immersing myself in a holistic lifestyle, I did a clean sweep in my home, removing not only foods & cleaning products that were harming my family, but clearing out all of the toxic beauty products littering my bathroom. These products were replaced with cleaner, more natural alternatives.  I was re-schooled, and learned some awful truths about the beauty industry, and the harm we cause ourselves in the effort to look and smell yummy.

A seriously low maintenance gal or dude, may include only 5-10 products in their daily routine, but most average or higher maintenance routines will stack up to fifteen plus products daily.  This may not even seem like a big deal to most, until you realize the hundreds of chemicals you are asking your body to detox.  Some of these ingredients are simply irritating to the skin and lungs, but the majority of them can cause systemic damage which can lead to hormone imbalances, pms, mood disturbances, asthma, acne, eczema, weight gain, autoimmune symptoms, and even cancer. 

You need to know about some of the nasty ingredients lurking in your beauty case, and lingering on your bathroom counters and ledges. 

• BHA/BHT:  These are preservatives created to preserve rubber products in the 1970’s.  They are suspected endocrine disruptors which have the ability to bio-accumulate.
• DEA (diethanolamine): Can react with preservatives found in cosmetics to form nitrosamines, which may cause cancer. Avoid MEA and TEA as well as they can both be contaminated with DEA.
• Formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasing preservatives:  Known human carcinogens, also linked to allergies.  May not be seen on your ingredient list, but can be found in imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, and quaternium-15. 
• Palm Oil (palm or palmate containing products):  A replacement for petrol based ingredients which is not as much a health concern as an ecological concern, responsible for tearing up vast amounts of rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia.
• Proteins:  Proteins and protein isolates are very common ingredients in shampoo and other hair care products, body washes, and other soaps. They can help to give our hair and skin strength, lustre, and flexibility.  However, proteins are either usually labeled as keratin (which is derived from claws, hooves, skin, feather or wool of vertebrates) or wheat or soy protein. Keratin is obviously not a vegan or cruelty free option, and is an unsustainable product. Non-organic wheat and soy production is not just a toxic ecological nightmare, these are 2 very common food allergens.  Meaning, that if you react to it inside, you will likely react to it topically, creating itchy skin and scalp, rashes, or eczema if you are sensitive.  
• Parabens:  Xenoestrogens (estrogen mimicking) group of preservatives, linked with breast cancer and other reproductive cancers and disorders.  May also interfere with fertility
• Parfume/fragrance: Any synthentic fragrance can be a cocktail of over a hundred different chemicals, including hormone disruptors, carcinogens, and allergy and asthma triggering ingredients.  Do not be fooled by the term ‘parfume or fragrance’ on a natural products as they may still be synthetic.  If choosing a natural product and you are not sure, check the label for use of essential oils, a symbol * which may denote organic, or at least make sure it is phthalate free.
• Phthalates:  Usually hidden under the word ‘fragrance’.  Look for the phrase ‘Phthalate Free’.
• Sodium laureth sulphate:  a foaming agent typically contained in toothpaste, soaps and shampoo.  This is often contaminated with carcinogens.  Sodium lauryl sulphate should also be avoided for those with allergies or sensitive skin as it is a known irritant.
• Triclosan/ Tricocarban:  antibacterial agent commonly found in hand soaps, foams and washes.  It is a suspected thyroid hormone disruptor and may contribute to antibiotic resistance.
• Oxybenzone:  and octinoxate.  Two of the worst chemicals present in sunscreens.  It is a potential hormone disruptor tied to lower birth rates in girls as well as allergic reactions.
• Mineral oil:  a mix of hydrocarbons derived from petroleum.  While mineral oil and Vasoline are only considered a low-moderate risk, they have been implicated as immune system toxicants and allergens.  Also, while they give the appearance of moist skin, they are actually drying with long term use, and they prevent proper elimination through the sweat and oil glands.
• Toluene:  commonly found in nail polish.  Toluene is a volatile petrochemical solvent, paint thinner, and potent neurotoxin.  It has been connected with immune system toxicity, allergies, birth defects, and cancer.
• Heavy metals:  lead, antimony, cadmium, mercury, arsenic.  These persistent environmental pollutants are commonly found in colored cosmetics and whitening products.  Being difficult for our body to detoxify, they tend to bio-accumulate, leading to organ system and central nervous toxicity.  Opt for high quality and organic mineral make-options.​

Taking all if this in is pretty heavy, and may take some time for you to come away from old products, habits, and beauty routines that will work with your body and skin type.  Explore the natural beauty world, visit local health food stores, boutique organic skin care shops, and your local farmers markets.  There are many people who are in the know and love putting their alchemy skills into creating products that make you look and feel better without harmful ingredients or effects.

Over time, not only will your body love you for giving up all the crappy chemicals, but the environment does too.  Everything you put on that your skin does not absorb, gets washed off.  Which means that the water and soil supply is soaked in chemicals we have all used to make us pretty.  Harsh but true.

Bottom Line.

If you should not eat it, you should not put it on your body!
You skin absorbs everything.

Environmental Working Group has an online app with an extensive data base, called ‘ Skin Deep’. 

​While knowing what things to avoid are helpful, it does not always tell the whole story of any given product.  That said, I find it best to use ‘Skin Deep’ for all of my body care product sleuthing.