Product IngredientsEyeshadow:
May contain: Serecite, Silica, Mica, Iron Oxide
Lip Pots:
May contain: Castor oil, organic coconut oil, sunbleached beeswax, castor wax, soybean oil, candelilla wax, vitamin e, (wheat germ based), organic essential oil of sweet orange. Mica, Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide.
Blushers:
May contain: Serecite, Silica, Mica, Iron Oxide, Zinc Oxide
Foundation:
May contain: Serecite, Micronized Zinc, Mica, Iron Oxide, Silica, Serecite, Titanium Dioxide, Ultramarine blue.
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Good cosmetics ingredients:Go to http://www.biodizionario.it/ for a list of good and bad ingredients. Click on the ingredients first letter to find out if good or bad, the site is only in Italian, but have a huge database of ingredients. Green Good , Red Bad.
Hyaluronic Acid: plays an important role in the way your skin looks, feels, and functions. A natural complex sugar found in all mammals, it's a major component of the connective tissue matrix in the dermis—the dense, inner layer of skin beneath the epidermis. This matrix is made up of hyaluronic acid as well as two connective fibers—collagen and elastin.
By its nature, hyaluronic acid retains water like a sponge, absorbing more than 1,000 times its weight. This helps to attract and maintain water within the extracellular space, hydrating your skin and increasing its volume and density. Hyaluronic acid is also involved with the transport of essential nutrients to the skin's viable cells. Hyaluronic acid provides volume, helping to contribute to the skin's overall appearance.
Green tea: The health benefits of green tea such as acting as an antiviral, contributing to oral health by inhibiting bacterial plaque, acting as an anti-inflammatory, maintaining a healthy, active metabolism and circulatory system, among the few, prove that green tea is indeed a miracle in a cup! The rich tumor-inhibiting green tea polyphenols, which include the antioxidant, epigallocatechin-3-gallae (EGGCG), protect the skin from ultraviolet radiation-induced damage and prevent skin tumor formation. These effects appeared to be mediated via interleukin (IL)-12, which was previously shown to induce DNA repair. |
Bad cosmetics ingredientsParabens:
Check your product labels for these terms: Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Benzyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid, Methyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid, Ethyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid, Propyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid, Butyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid, Parahydroxybenzoic acid and Parahydroxybenzoate. They are all forms of parabens. If possible, get rid of everything in your house with those ingredients.
This article focuses on the use of parabens in cosmetics only. This family of chemicals has been raising red flags to many health researchers because of some evidence of problems on several levels. Because parabens have been proven to penetrate the skin and can be traced in the blood minutes after application, it is theorized that they may have adverse effects on the body. One study found parabens present in the breast tissue of 18 out of the 20 breast cancer patients studied.<Actinic:Variable Name = 'i'/> Because presence does not prove causality, the researcher called for more studies to be done in this regard. It is thought that the parabens entered through the skin by the application of paraben-containing anti-perspirants. Because the cosmetic use involves penetration into body tissues without going through the digestive process, the chemicals remain intact in the tissue. It is not known how this affects the surrounding tissue, so it is an area for further study.
This chemical family has also been studied in regard to allergic reactions. While some people have had such reactions, it has not been found that this is a large enough group to raise concerns.
Parabens have displayed estrogenic activity in several tests. In other words, these chemicals mimic the body’s own hormones and can thus disrupt endocrine functions in virtually every system in the body.
Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has raised concerns about the continuous introduction of such chemicals into sewage treatment systems and directly to recreational waters from the skin of swimmers. There may be a risk to aquatic organisms. Studies in Europe found other endocrine-disrupting body care chemicals in the tissues of fish and in human breast milk, so it is thought that the same thing could be true of parabens.<Actinic:Variable Name = 'iv'/>
The second major issue raised by parabens and other dangerous chemicals is that the FDA has no ability to regulate the ingredients in cosmetics. They can publish lists of additives they consider harmful and rely on the manufacturers to make changes themselves. The only group that looks into problematic ingredients is the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) which is comprised of manufacturers. The FDA participates but has no vote in this group. So we have a self-policing situation with no accountability to anyone other than the informed consumer.
It was just such a group of consumers who campaigned for the removal of toxic chemicals from cosmetics. From this drive by Women's Voices for the Earth, an environmental justice group based in Montana(www.womenandenvironment.org), emerged a coalition of environmental and public health groups. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (www.safecosmetics.org) pressures the health and beauty industry to phase out the use of chemicals that are known or suspected carcinogens, mutagens, or reproductive toxins. The European Union (EU) has led the way, banning the use of these chemicals in 2003. Recently, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics invited U.S. cosmetics companies to sign the "Compact for the Global Production of Safer Health and Beauty Care Products" and commit themselves to comply with the EU regulations. To date, 600 companies have signed, but many industry leaders have not. Consumers can also visit the webpage of the Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) and research “Skin Deep”, a safety assessment of the ingredients in personal care products.
One more piece of the puzzle is the question of the necessity of using these parabens at all. According to some organic cosmetic manufacturers, parabens are indeed unnecessary, as tinctures made from high quality organic herbs and organic grain alcohol are shelf-stable for approximately two to three years. For example, a 100% organic moisturizing body oil made from organic oils derived from sunflowers, cocoa butter, coconuts, peppermint and spearmint can have a shelf-life of up to 18 months.<Actinic:Variable Name = 'v'/> Studies still need to be done to see if this claim can be proved.
In the end, it is the consumer who must decide. Failure to do the research and make up one’s mind may be a choice to remain a guinea pig at the mercy of the cosmetic industry.
Lead Found in Lipsticks Lead accumulates in human body over years of exposure. Lead is especially dangerous to babies and fetuses.
Lead and lead compounds, proven neurotoxins, are prohibited ingredients in cosmetics in Canada, but lead can contaminate the raw materials during the manufacturing process. Colour additives to synthetic pigments also contain lead.
Most of placenta-based products are labeled as natural, but as always, such claims have little base, for these products are usually loaded with preservatives and penetration enhancers.
However, same extracts when used cosmetics give the body a tremendous surge in hormones. Environmental Working Group says that the amount of hormones supplied by placenta extracts “may be enough to spur breast growth in toddlers, according to a few recent case studies.”
Placenta is very rich in hormones. It produces progesterone, somatomammotropin (also known as placental lactogen), as well as estrogen, relaxin, and beta human chorionic gonadotrophin (beta-hCG). The reported cosmetic benefits are most likely caused by high concentrations of amino acid glycine, which is contained in placenta. There are many other perfectly safe plant-derived sources of glycine - and you don’t need to rub someone’s birth aftermath into your face. In 1998, several girls in Texas developed astonishingly prematurely following the use of placenta-based hair care products, most likely conditioners and shampoos. (Premature sexual development in children following the use of estrogen- or placenta-containing hair products. Tiwary CM. Clinical Pediatrics (Phila). 1998 Dec;37(12):733-9.)
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