Are you using all natural and organic skin care products with only safe and healthy ingredients yet? Or have you been struggling to find the healthy products and make the transition?
Here’s a program to help you focus on making the transition and actually doing it.
Now, having a goal isn’t enough to be successful at transitioning to using all healthy and safe cosmetics and skin care products. You need to know what products are safe to use and how to get them.
If you need help determining which products are safe and healthy to use, Dying To Look Good “Best Brands” has done all the leg work for you. Every one of the products listed in this program - from more than 20 different, prescreened companies - are guaranteed to be safe and healthy.
So, here you have a winning combination. Set your goals. Choose your pre-screened, safe and healthy products. And protect your health and that of your family.
Yours in health,
Christine H. Farlow, D.C.
The Ingredients Investigator
Protecting you from harmful ingredients www.dyingtolookgood.com
Do you know how to determine if the ingredients in your natural and organic skin care products are safe?
Here are two valuable resources you can use to make sure the skin care and personal care products you buy contain only healthy ingredients.
The Environmental Working Group has developed the Skin Deep database to help you choose safe and healthy products. But you have to know how to use it properly to get accurate information.
If you search for safety information for organic and natural skin care products and their ingredients in the Skin Deep database and you’re not taking into consideration all the information on the page, you may be making assumptions of safety that just aren’t there.
For example, just looking at the number rating without understanding what the number means, you may very well be assuming certain ingredients are safe or pose a low hazard, when in fact there’s not enough information to actually determine the safety of the ingredient.
Let’s look at carrageenan as an example. Carrageenan is sometimes found in organic and natural skin care and body care productsas well as mainstream personal care products. Many people assume it’s safe because it’s derived from seaweed.
Here are several of the listings for carrageenan that come up in ewg’s Skin Care database:
If you look at just the number scores indicating a low hazard, you may believe the ingredient is safe and doesn’t impose any risk. However, you’re not getting the whole picture. You must also look at the data gap. It tells you how much is actually known about the safety of the ingredient. The concerns tell you possible safety issues you should take into consideration in making your decision to use the products with these ingredients.
A low hazard of 0 with a 100% data gap means there is no information about the ingredient. So, a 0 rating for such an ingredient has no meaning because the safety is totally unknown. The concerns for this ingredient are the lack of information.
A low hazard of 1 with an 85% data gap means there is very little known about this ingredient. The concern that cancer may be a safety factor is important to take note of and factor into your decision to purchase the product.
A low hazard of 2 with a 76% data gap indicates that there is not much known about the ingredient. The concerns of cancer, contamination, organ system toxicity, neurotoxicity, data gaps are important to pay attention to when deciding to purchase a product with this ingredient.
The ewg, on the Skin Deep site explains that “…some ingredients may appear to have low hazards, but this may be due to the fact that they have not have been studied or assessed completely. Other ingredients may appear to have low hazards and have been thoroughly studied or assessed. This score helps differentiate between ingredients and products that have been studied to different degrees.”
So, when using the Skin Deep database, it’s important to pay attention to all the information for each ingredient because just looking at the hazard number can be very misleading and cause you to believe that an ingredient is safe when there are serious concerns and a great lack of information about safety.
Another excellent source of ingredient safety information for natural, organic and all your skin care products is the book, Dying To Look Good. It rates ingredients a little differently than in the Skin Deep database. The rating system, in a nutshell, is:
S – no known toxicity, the additive appears to be safe
A – may cause allergic reactions
C – caution advised, may be unsafe, poorly tested or used in too many products we use on a regular basis
X – unsafe or very poorly tested.
Carrageenan is rated C with the explanation that it is extracted from red seaweed with powerful alkali solvents; possible carcinogen; native or undegraded carrageenan is IARC Group 3; degraded carrageenan is IARC Group 2B; not adequately tested.
IARC Group 2B means it is a possible carcinogen.
IARC Group 3 means it cannot be determined to be carcinogenic to humans. This can be for various reasons. In this case, it’s because the research hasn’t been done to make the determination.
IARC is the International Agency for Research on Cancer. They review studies that have been done to determine the carcinogenic status of different chemicals. They don’t do the research themselves. The IARC classifications are explained in Dying To Look Good.
Dying To Look Good also has a website, DyingToLookGood.com, that supplements the information in the book.
Both ewg’s Skin Deep database and Dying To Look Good are valuable resources to have in determining the safety of products and ingredients in the organic and natural skin care products, or any personal care products you buy.
The skin Deep database is a computer program with a huge amount of information that is formatted to fit the program. It provides a tremendous amount of valuable information. However, you need to be certain to take into consideration all the important information presented to make sure you’re making an accurate assessment of the safety of the ingredient or the product.
Dying To Look Good is not computerized. Every ingredient is hand researched and hand entered into the book. Important points and explanations about individual ingredients are added when it is a significant aspect to be taken into consideration when you’re deciding if you want to use a product with that particular ingredient. In addition, the book is an easy-to-use quick reference that’s convenient to carry with you when you shop.
The Skin Deep database and Dying To Look Good are some of the best tools you can use to protect yourself from harmful ingredients in not only natural and organic skincare and body care products, but all cosmetics and personal care items, for all members of your family.
Finding the ingredients lists for natural skin care products
Beware of natural skin care product lines that don’t list all their ingredients on their website. If a skin care product line that claims to be natural or organic lists only “key” ingredients or only names a few natural or herbal ingredients, then it’s very likely that theyhave something to hide.
Most truly natural skin care companies, who really believe that all their ingredients are safe and healthy, will provide the complete ingredients list on their website.
At worst, at least until today, an e-mail to the company will generally get the ingredients list or a link to where it can be found.
However, I was sent on a wild goose chase yesterday and today when I tried to get the ingredients in the new “Pink Body” line by Victoria’s Secret. They claim the ingredients in their new skin care products are natural, organic and 100% vegan. If you try to locate the ingredients on their website, all you will find is two or three ingredients listed in a brief description of each product.
When I see a skin care company that claims such high standards for the ingredients in their supposedly natural and organic skin care products on top of alleging they are also “green,” I want to check them out!
Because I didn’t find complete ingredients lists on their website, I did the usual and sent them an e-mail. The response I got back mentioned the same few ingredients they list on their website and they directed me back to the website. When I replied and said I wanted the COMPLETE ingredients lists for their products, they sent me the phone number for the lab that does their MSDS’s (manufacturers safety data sheets). I called and spoke with a very helpful gentleman who then told me that the MSDS’s don’t contain ALL the ingredients in each product. He then gave me the corporate phone number for Victoria’s Secret and a lab that actually manufactures some of the products.
I wasn’t about to waste any more time trying to chase down all the ingredients in these supposedly organic, natural and vegan skin care products. If they put that much effort into making the ingredients unavailable to the consumer, I can only assume that they have something to hide.
Now it is up to Victoria’s Secret to come forward with full disclosure! I dare them!
In the meantime, make sure you can read the entire ingredients list and all the ingredients are safe for any skin care product you intend to buy. Dying To Look Good will help you decipher the safety of ingredients you find on the labels when you shop.
Nuvo Cosmetics all natural skin care - how natural are they?
NuvoCosmetics.com, located in Wisconsin, claims to be “a leading online retailer of quality natural skin care and cosmetic products manufactured in the European Union under Nuvo Cosmetics brand name.” According to the company website, their primary goal is “to offer consumers firsthand natural, environmentally- friendly, European skin care and cosmetic products.”
They claim to have “the highest quality blends of natural and pure ingredients that are good for you: essential oils, botanical extracts, powerful nutrients, vitamins, and vital antioxidants.”
Do they live up to all this, and are they really, as they say, “the essential step towards naturally beautiful skin?”
Let’s take a look at some of the ingredients in their products. While, it’s true that these products do contain some healthy ingredients like sweet almond oil, avocado oil, aloe vera, jojobaand wheat germ oil, most also contain some objectionable ingredients that I do not recommend.
The majority of these products contain phenoxyethanol and benzyl alcohol.
Phenoxyethanol is a naturally-occurring solvent that can be derived synthetically. It is an eye and skin irritant and can cause contact dermatitis. It is harmful if absorbed through the skin. There is evidence that it may cause neurotoxicity, immune system toxicity and endocrine disruption.
Benzyl alcohol is a synthetic ingredient, derived form petroleum or coal tar. It is an eye, skin and mucous membrane irritant. There is strong evidence that it is toxic to the nervous system. It is classified as harmful by the European Union. It has also been shown to disrupt the endocrine system.
Some of the other ingredients in the Nuvo products, that should be avoided, are
Kojic Acid
Butylene Glycol
Methylparaben
Laureth-7
Disodium EDTA
Triethanolamine
Benzalkonium Chloride
Parfum
DC Red #33
Trideceth-9
PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
Propylene Glycol
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Hydrolyzed silk
Hydrolyzed keratin
Hydrolyzed Soy Protein
Despite their philosophy “to create high quality, natural European skin care products, using natural benefit rich botanicals for a flawless, beautiful skin” and incorporating, as they say, “the best of science, combined with the most effective ingredients the nature has to offer, and hundreds of years of knowledge to deliver gentle but effective skin care products,” their so-called all natural skin care products leave a bit to be desired.
Their website claims they “only use natural and/or organic ingredients,” however, the objectionable ingredients listed above are neither natural nor organic.
These are only some of the harmful ingredients in skin care products on the market today. Make sure you read the ingredients list on every product you buy to make sure the ingredients are safe. Dying To Look Good is a handy book you can take with you when you shop if you need help understanding the safety of the ingredients listed on the package.
You can also find truly natural and organic skin care products at DyingToLookGood.com.
Just because an herbal skin care product claims to be natural doesn’t mean it is. It may contain a few herbs along with synthetic ingredients, contaminants that cause cancer or chemicals that cause some type of harmful effects.
Not all plant derived skin care ingredients are natural. If the label says an ingredient was derived from coconut, it may or may not be natural, depending on the extent and type of processing. Many plant-derived ingredients are so heavily processed they don’t come close to resembling the plant from which they were derived.
A manufacturer of skin care products may claim that their products are natural or organic, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. The cosmetic, skin care and personal care products industry is highly unregulated. There’s a lot of misinformation presented by the companies in this industry. You can’t believe the advertising or the product labels. The truth is in the ingredients list.
If you don’t want to read the ingredients list on all the natural and organic skin care products you buy, make sure that you choose skin care products that were certified organic by the USDA National Organic Program. Other organic certifying organizations allow ingredients that should not be in organic products.
Another favorite organic, all natural skin care product line …
… is Sensatia Botanicals. You might find their all natural skin care ingredients in your mother’s kitchen. Every ingredient that goes into their all natural organic skin care products is always fresh, wholesome, gentle, and good for you.
Sensatia Botanicals is not just another organic natural skin care manufacturer. They are a business with a mission … to make a difference in the lives of the people of Bali.
A profit-sharing co-operative company, Sensatia Botanicalsemploys local people and sources many of its ingredients from local farming operations. It has made a positive difference in the economy, the environment and the quality of life of the people on the island. Sensatia Botanicals has succeeded in developing & supporting a local economic structure in a paradise that is in need of aid.
One of the top natural skin care lines worldwide, Sensatia Botancals has a lot to offer. Their products are impeccably pure and they offer an extensive range of skin care items to meet a wide variety of needs – from cleansers, toners, creams and moisturizers (hydrates) to anti-wrinkle therapy formulated to meet the needs of the various different age groups.
Before you click through to the website, READ THIS…
SPECIAL OFFER from Sensatia Botanicals: Use the discount code BONSC when you check out and receive a 5% discount on your entire purchase.
