The Ugly Side of Cosmetics by Kimber Renay
My granddaughter is approaching puberty now [too quickly] and like all her friends she has already been lured into wanting to follow the lead of fashion models and movie stars. The quest for beauty seems to pass from one generation to the next with nary a blink of the eye. The Hollywood era set the stage for ‘fake beauty’ and that steamroller has consistently gained momentum as consumerism and waste reach a peak. Our kids have been taught about recycling and the increasingly urgent need to save our environments, yet at the same time they are being subjected to a toxic overload on their own bodies. More and more chemicals are being put into our so-called ‘body care’ products and have already permeated our food and water supplies.
Last year I began experiencing an increase of hair loss after every shampoo with no known medical reason to account for it. Being the ardent researcher that I am I found abundant information about dangerous additives being routinely used in the products we buy. I discovered that a common detergent used in shampoos and other products, called Sodium lauryl sulfate, could account for this and is now recognized as “a suspected liver or gastrointestinal toxicant which can sometimes cause eye and skin irritation, hair loss, and allergic reactions.”
I came across one link called “Shirleys Wellness Café” which offers up the following information: Toxic Environment - Toxic Body
“The amount of toxins in our environment has reached a level where the FDA now has designated “permissible” levels of dioxin and other harmful chemicals in the environment, food and cosmetics. Today we have over 300 chemical toxins including dioxin in the tissues that were not found in any human before 1940.1 These toxins have been shown to bind to receptors, blocking important enzymatic reactions in the body. One of the harmful effects of toxins such as DDT and dioxins is that they mimic hormones in the body causing disruption and confusion in the endocrine system. Processed food and fast foods are depriving us of even more essential nutrients. Many corporations continue activities harmful to our health to increase profits at the cost of our ecosystem and food chain. They do not inform the public about the true extent of the problem created by toxic substances and harmful additives in our foods nor about the environmental pollution generated from their manufacturing plants. Make-up and body care products have been linked to allergic reactions, birth defects, and even cancer. With Certified Organic food rapidly becoming the nutrition of choice by the health conscious amongst us, why would you accept any less for your skin? Check it out through this link.
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/toxic-cosmetics.htm
In another article posted late last year, it was reported that “a first time survey undertaken by the Eastern Union has found that a total of 73 man-made toxins have been found in the blood of grandmothers, mothers and children. Children are absorbing dangerous chemicals into their blood from various sources including,” cosmetics, textiles and electrical appliances.” These toxins will continue to affect generations to come.
Our households have become a toxic chemical dump and yet Joe Average still doesn’t bother to read labels on mass marketed products. And when they are included we can barely pronounce them, let alone know what they are. I have personally become an avid label reader. You might want to check your own products, being especially suspicious about additives such as Parabens, TEA, DEA and MEA which when combined with sodium laurel sulfate can cause the formation of carcinogens.
Parabens have been detected in breast cancer cells. Artificial and synthetic perfumes can cause disruptions to the immune system. Phthalates have been shown to be endocrine disruptions which “fool the body into believing they were natural hormones” and in turn can trigger metabolic changes and weaken our immune systems.
All of these ingredients are a far cry from less harmful products that our generation grew up with. It is important to keep in mind that these toxins are accumulative.
And by the way this is just the tip of the iceberg.
As elders now, we need to be much more aware of the products in use by our daughters and granddaughters these days. We need to be wise to the ways of marketing and consumerism, and really send the message to the generations coming up behind us. We must teach our loved ones how to see past the manufactured world we are currently living in and resist the desire for more and more unnecessary products. Perhaps we also have to resurrect the concept of returning to a more Natural way of living. Otherwise their very health is at very high risk.