What Your Mama Never Told You and Big Pharma Never Will
Somewhere between the age of fetus and three I developed a keen interest in make-up and all of the accoutrements afforded to the female gender. In my estimation I have likely spent more time "getting ready" for stuff then actually doing the "stuff" I'm getting ready for. The way I see it, though, it's like preparing a great meal - preparation can take hours, eating only minutes. Or like sex - foreplay can (should) take hours, orgasm only minutes.
But with all of the efforts I've made over the years to build healthy meals and encourage healthy foreplay, I've only recently realized the need to take a cold, hard look at healthy skin care. Yeah, sure, I moisturize, cleanse and exfoliate away the crusty outer snake skin. The problem, though, is not the means, its the product. Somewhere, in the course of my internet-cruising-self-betterment-or-bust moments, I began to discover the reality of the components that make up my make-up (and skin care et al).
Have you ever tried to read the ingredients list on your skin care products? It's like trying to interpret ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Like trying to read the chicken scratch on your doctor's prescription pad. And that's if your product containers even list the ingredients. Right now in North America there are NO LAWS governing the ingredients in your skin and hair products. No FDA big brother to set the ground rules. They don't, by law, even need to tell you what kind of crap is being pumped into the bottles and pushed through your skin and hair follicles. Go and check your products - many of them don't.
According to the David Suzuki Foundation, "one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors. Many products include plasticizers (chemicals that keep concrete soft), degreasers (used to get grime off auto parts), and surfactants (they reduce surface tension in water, like in paint and inks). Imagine what that does to your skin, and to the environment."
For a list of the "dirty dozen" worst offenders in personal care products check out this website:
Most, if not all, of the dirty dozen are currently banned in the European Union. Our government has turned a blind eye. Doctors and Big Pharma are reaping the benefits of our ignorance.
Considering just the carcinogens (cancer causing agents) alone in our products, the gamble for the sought after "bouncy hair" and "look-30-years-younger" skin products is a big one. Did you know:
- Since 1971 the United States has invested over $200 billion on cancer research; that total includes money invested by public and private sectors and foundations. Despite this substantial investment, the country has seen a five percent decrease in the cancer death rate.
- Only five to ten percent of cancers are entirely hereditary.
- Well over 1.5 million new cases of cancer are expected to arise in the U.S. in 2013.
(Canadian stats seem to be harder to pin down but are likely much the same per capita).
The good news is we have options, and like a pilgrim in search of Mecca I set out on an "I'm-mad-as-hell-and-don't-have-to-take-it-anymore" mission. My search brought me to my own little Mecca. Natural skin care is readily available without having to traverse through the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia. I found it in my own backyard.
Pure Anada has a full line of skin care and make up products that are natural, without chemicals, synthetic dyes or perfumes. The best part is they are made in Morden, Manitoba - a company founded by a woman on her own personal mission for safe, ethical ways of bringing out the "bombshell" in all of us. Right now they are available at Anya's Hair Salon and online. (I am receiving no royalties for this endorsement). The second best thing - they are affordable.
Being the "all or nothing" diva that I am, I purged my medicine cabinet and make up basket replacing what I could with safer options. Pure Anada is not the only company out there. Another hair salon in my home town carries a product from Hungary called Eminence, taking the fully organic approach. According to the lovely esthetician at Refuge Hair & Body, "you could spread this stuff on your toast and eat it." Hmm, maybe I'll pass on that.
I didn't pass, although, on the organic shampoo & conditioner she carries. And, after a number of lather and rinse sessions, I'm duly impressed. (Beats vinegar and egg white).
I'd love to hear from those of you on a similar quest. What kinds of safer products have you discovered? Can we beat Big Pharma and the skin care companies built on "hidden ingredients" and "profit at the consumers expense"? And when I'm 99 and still dancing the Rhumba, I'll be glad I tried!
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