A Wake-Up Call

In the United States, we have a growing epidemic of chronic illness and disease. In the coming year, The National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 40+% of men will be diagnosed with cancer and 1 in 8 women will be a victim of breast cancer. Rates of autism, birth defects, diabetes, learning disabilities, and genetic cell abnormalities are on the rise. Everyone seems to know someone who has been diagnosed with some form of cancer or other “illness” which suddenly appeared. Women in the their 20’s are experiencing breast cancer which used to be thought of in women over 50. Many of us are watching loved ones suffer through chemo and radiation. Some of us have lost loved ones to the battle.

Why is this happening?

I have often looked at environmental and other activist groups with pause, wondering if they did their research before taking up a banner to march on their belief or were they just swept up in a cause. That is a mistake we did not want to make in our business pursuit of natural, botanical based skin care. As I continue to research, read and study the work of scientists and educators dedicated to products which are clean, I’ve grown increasingly alarmed at the findings of what is in a typical personal care product. We have been conditioned to trust the giants in the cosmetic world (Estee Lauder, Loreal), ” the feel-good marketing that makes us believe that this “product” will bring us beauty, acceptance and “ageless” skin improvement. It is in our nature to want to trust, want to believe that we are buying the very best because of price, packaging and promotion.

The reality is…. the European Union has banned many ingredients found in cosmetics, however many of these same ingredients to avoid in skincare products are still used in personal care products made in the United States. When major US manufacturers were approached and asked if they would remove these same ingredients from the US market, they took the position that small amounts of hazardous chemicals are safe to use in cosmetics because the exposure is low and poses no threat to human health 1 . There has been zero research on what happens when various products with multiple chemical ingredients are used together and then used repeatedly every day. Safety studies are limited to “does the product cause a rash, swelling or irritation”?. The FDA has little authority to guarantee safety or remove cosmetic products from the marketplace. What many consumers do not realize is that the cosmetic industry is self-regulating through an independent Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel. To date, this panel has reviewed only 11% of cosmetic ingredients 2 used by manufacturers.

With this blog, I am giving you a taste of what “skin care research” can show you and hopefully encourage you to evaluate the products you use in your home seriously. Convenience leads to complacency as we shop for personal items. But we have to break ourselves of this habit and look for products whose ingredients “do no harm”, support manufacturers who at least make an attempt to improve and change.

1 www.NotJustAPrettyFace.org
2 www.EWG.org

To help you on this journey, I’d like to recommend a book I think every single consumer, particularly women, should read. The book is “Not Just a Pretty Face, The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry”. A very affordable read at less than $10 on Amazon written by a credible author with credentials.  It is filled with research based guidance for consumers. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

We are committed to bringing you the best, cleanest products that we can make. In 2018, we will continue evaluating /adjusting our product line to earn your faith and trust. Today, we are leaving you with some excellent resources which will help you detoxify your medicine/cosmetic cabinet on your journey to cleaner living.

Visit:

• SafeCosmetics.org
• GreenLivingNow.com
• LessToxicGuide.ca
• TheNakedTruthProject.org
• Safe-Products.org
• NotTooPretty.org
• www.EWG.org