Love this article via Grist.org on why everyday use of the wrong products (and food with junk in it!) is bad for your health. For your spring cleaning this year, why not kick one toxic product to the curb?
Archives for category: You Should Know
It’s to be expected that we’re hearing all about the commodification of “green” on this 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Using eco-minded marketing to sell products and services that aren’t so eco-friendly, known as “greenwashing,” is rampant these days. I admit, I’m often sold on a product just because it says it’s “natural,” thinking it has to be better than the alternative.
But now that even P&G is trying to tout its products as environmentally conscious (seen their “future-friendly” TV ads? if not, click here for the website for the campaign), I need to put my foot down. Making detergent that’s concentrated or works well in cold water is a positive step (if a simple one for a corporate behemoth), but what about the crap that’s actually IN the detergent? (In truth, I don’t know it’s crap, I’m just making an assumption. By the way, if you’re P&G free and want to pledge it, see the boycott info here, on the website for Not Just a Pretty Face, the Silent Spring of books about toxins in skin care.)
However, links between business the environment aren’t all bad. As this Boston Globe interview with Emotional Intelligence author Daniel Goleman points out, a new consciousness is emerging called “industrial ecology,” which sets out to uncover the truth about how “green” a product really is. That’s where websites like GoodGuide.com come in (they also have an awesome iPhone app that I need to use more often). GoodGuide.com tells you not only the environmental impact of the products you’re buying, but the social impact as well, as in how they treat their employees and the vendors they source from. The eventual goal, Goleman says in the piece, will be that “doing the right thing will be aligned with doing the thing that makes money.”
Goleman also admits in the article that he’s now a skeptic when he’s told something is “green.” I’m certainly trying more to be. I will say that in my research for this blog, I’ve looked at well-known “eco-friendly” lines that are sold not just in drugstores, but in my favorite socialist supermarket, and supported by pro-green organizations, and I’m appalled by what they contain. For example, non–essential oil fragrance in all the products, even down to eye cream (who needs fragrance in eye cream?), and imidazolidinyl urea, which appears on most “ingredients to avoid” lists. So even in those safe places, you can still be greenwashed.
My advice to you: Shop carefully. Use “ingredients to avoid” lists the next time you stock up on skin care. Think about what you’re spending your hard-earned money on and how it might be affecting you and the world around you. Do you feel good about all of it? Then plunk down your green and show the marketers where your money is. (And yes, that is me actually telling you to shop in celebration of Earth Day. Did someone say “commodification”? Ha ha.)
I probably shouldn’t be bringing this up since it would basically put me out of the esthetician business, but on the radio Thursday morning the host was talking about how she never uses cleanser on her face, just splashes it with hot water and then follows that with a splash of cold. Being a good 21st century gal, I googled this when I got to work and found out there are a ton of people who wash their face with only water (there are many who wash their face with oil, too, but we’ll talk about that another blog entry), some using this exact same method. Many of them said they have super-sensitive skin that always broke out when they use any kind of soap or gel on their face. So they just stopped. I love that people felt comfortable giving this change a try, and I sort of wonder if it will become the new beauty fad, like “no-poo” (what would we call it, though, “no-ser”?).
The truth is, you can over-cleanse and irritate your skin. My friends and clients, you know who you are, with your scrubs and peels and acne treatments every night: It’s too much. Maybe plain water wouldn’t be enough for you (though if it is, more power to you), but a simple regimen, and a consistent one, is the best thing for the skin. I know this all too well since I basically try out everything I can get my hands on, which means there is very little consistency in my routine! Why not challenge yourself to reduce a little in the beauty department and see what happens? My goal for March is to use up all my random samples, get back to my old 2- or 3-step plan, and see what that does for my face. Let me know, dear readers, if you need suggestions on what to cut out: kendralis[@]gmail.com.
The founder of Sonoma’s Sumbody, Deborah Burnes, has written a book called Look Great, Live Green and the SF Chronicle interviewed her this weekend about it and the business. Sumbody sells natural skin care (I picture my fave product of theirs, baby oil) through three stores in the greater Bay Area, two of which have spas. In the piece, Burnes says that when it comes to skin care, you should “play detective” by studying the label for short, pronounceable ingredients. I can’t believe how perfect this advice is, not only because it’s what I tell clients (I also say to look for fewer ingredients overall)… but since my business is called “The Skin Detective” and I’m all about helping you do just that: Investigate what’s in your skin care and substitute products that are less toxic. Burnes offers this service, too, calling it a “chemical-free makeover.” Want to makeover your daily regimen? I’ll talk with you about what your skin conditions are, check out what you’re currently using, and then give you recommendations you can easily buy at stores like Whole Foods. You’ll be hearing more about Deborah soon, since I’ll definitely be attending her book reading in San Francisco and picking up a copy of the book. But until then, consider my offer to revamp your skin care so you can live a little greener, and see the “Green your skin care!” box to make an appointment.
I love this blog entry from The Beauty Brains today so I just had to share it with you all. It’s basically a Q&A from a reader about when to apply facial sunscreen. I get this question all the time and these ladies answer it perfectly. Natural sunscreens, which physically block the sun, go on last, after everything. These include zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Other kinds of sunscreen go on first, because they need to absorb into your skin to work.
Let me add that I hope you use a sunscreen daily and not just the one that’s in your moisturizer or powder, because these are for incidental exposure only, meaning a few minutes on your way from the parking lot into your office. Sun exposure is the main cause of skin aging! If you’re the kind of person who walks to public transit (like me!) or takes lunchtime walks, you should add an extra layer of sunscreen before these activities.
In fact, when it comes to sunscreen, I’m all about layering, starting with a tinted moisturizer that’s SPF 15 then adding mineral powder that’s SPF 25. For midday walks, just before I head out I dust on a powder sunscreen like this one from Colorescience. (This is also a great step at the end of the workday in the summer, when it’s still sunny when you leave the office.) On mornings when I take the train to work, I put a sheer naturally based sunscreen on over my makeup in the morning.
Beware some combo sunscreen/moisturizers if you have sensitive skin. Sunscreen chemicals change when exposed to the sun (that’s how they work) and this can cause reactions. The blog entry also makes a great point about serums. I’ve seen a lot of advice recently about using serums in the morning, but I would concur with The Beauty Brains: serums are for night use. Some of their ingredients are light sensitive and may be less effective (or cause irritation or other side effects, IMHO) with sun exposure.
Photo by Carlo Scherer via SXC Images.
Many of you probably weren’t surprised by the news last week that the Environmental Protection Agency is allowing companies to keep nearly 20% of commercial chemicals a secret—even from them! (If you didn’t read about it in the WaPo, do so here.) But did you realize that the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t protect you when it comes to cosmetics, either? Companies are required to sell safe products, but cosmetics are not subject to approval before sale. (Here’s a great post from one of my favorite blogs that tells you a little more.)
However, if the National Organics Standards Board has its way this year, at least products labeled organic will truly be. They’ve already recommended that all products that want to use the organic name be examined up to the food-grade standards the National Organics Program has set down, and those are pretty stringent when it comes to bath and body products. For now, one way to know what you’re getting is to focus on products that are USDA Organic certified, not just calling themselves “organic.”
There are also a lot of reliable certifications from Europe, such as Ecocert, whose Cosmebio label indicates that a product has the required percentages of naturally derived and organic ingredients. Here, stores are recognizing the demand and helping you shop by carefully reviewing products and even creating their own labeling. Whole Foods Market has special labeling for particular items that are especially pure, and websites like BodySense sell only products that have received low toxicity ratings on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.
Consider reviewing what’s in your medicine cabinet this week on Skin Deep or at GoodGuide, another independent site for evaluating how “green” a product is. If you don’t like what you see, leave me a comment below and I can work with you to create a new regimen that’s effective and less toxic!
Even if you look at the labels on your skin care products (and I hope you do!), chances are you have no idea what many of those ingredients really are. One should ring a little bell, though: polyethylene. If you pick up a scrub with this on the label, put it back. That stuff is plastic, man!
I discovered this “shocker,” on the blog Enviromom.com. The author was reading Alan Weisman’s book The World Without Us and learned that natural ingredients might not be what was scrubbing away in her favorite exfoliant. Instead, those scrubby buddies can be little plastic beads. Hint: Look for the unnatural bright blue or yellow color.
After you’re done scrubbing, these tiny round balls of processed petroleum go right down the drain and out to, you guessed it, our waterways. OK, there are some places we really need plastic. Medicine is safer and healthier for all of us because of it. But you don’t need plastic in the checkout line at the grocery store and you certainly don’t need it in your scrub, either.
I immediately checked the scrub in my shower and saw jojoba wax beads on the ingredients list. Hooray, totally natural! I was so relieved because I really like this product, most of all because it’s super gentle and I can use it daily. Probably because the beads are a little larger and softer than the ones you’d find in a conventional scrub.
So, what’s in your scrub?
