Skin Deep... How Safe Are You Really?

I received an email from Credo Mobile today.  It's this wicked cool mobile company that is not just a network; it's a movement.

I clicked on an interesting link that talked about personal product safety.  Wanting to know more, I cruised on over to Environmental Work Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database.

I looked over some of the personal products my family currently uses. {Note:  We are still transitioning into the holistic lifestyle, and personal products are still very much part of that transition.}

I used to love Pantene.  I can't believe this is what I was putting on my hair.

Ingredients in this product are linked to:
	Cancer
	Developmental/reproductive toxicity
	Violations, restrictions & warnings
	Allergies/immunotoxicity
	Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Neurotoxicity, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Occupational hazards

I also can't believe that they test on animals.

Another interesting bit o' info I found was the fact the Mercury has been found in mascara.

Now, I don't wear the stuff anymore, but you have to understand how ticked off I am for knowing that for YEARS I was slathering this toxic crap all over my lashes.

Being poisoned was not part of my plan to have ridiculously long and super thick lashes!

But Mercury isn't the only thing you should be freaking out about.

Are you using products made from placenta?

Extracts from human and cow placenta can condition skin and hair. Vital to a growing baby in the womb, these same extracts in cosmetics give the body a slug of hormones that may be enough to spur breast growth in toddlers according to a few recent case studies.

Animal parts?

If fat scraped from the back of the hide of mink and emu isn't something you'd like to smear on your skin, you may want to avoid mink and emu oil, conditioning agents in sunscreen, shaving cream, hair spray and more. These are just two of many ingredients made from animal parts —

Lead?

When scientists recognized that lead harms the developing brain of a child, the government demanded its removal from gasoline and house paint — but not hair dye. This pernicious neurotoxin is in Grecian Formula 16 and other black hair dyes for men. It's hard to keep all the lead on your hair — studies find residues on door knobs and cabinets. Don't expose yourself or your children to this one.

Want lighter skin?  Using products containing hydroquinone?

This skin bleaching chemical can cause a skin disease called ochronosis, with "disfiguring and irreversible" blue-black lesions that in the worst cases become permanent, intensively black bumps the size of caviar all over the skin.

Petroleum Byproducts?

These ingredients include carcinogens in baby shampoo (see new research on 1,4-dioxane) and petrochemical waste called coal tar in scalp treatment shampoos.

Trying to defy your age by using products that contain nanoparticles?

These untested ingredients can slide up the optic nerve to the brain or burrow inside red blood cells.

Tossed most of your plastic because of the Phthalates?  Did you toss your nail products too?

These little plasticizer chemicals pack a punch to male sex organs. Whether it's sperm damage, feminization of baby boys, or infertility, a growing number of studies link phthalates to problems in men and boys. Pregnant women should avoid it in nail polish ("dibutyl phathalate") and everyone should avoid products with "fragrance" on the label, chemical mixtures where phthalates often hide.

Do right by your family.  Be an informed shopper, and stop putting toxins on your skin!

Vaccines shouldn't be the only thing we should want cleaned up.

Check out this list of What Not To... Buy!