Are you concerned about cancer-causing chemicals in your cosmetics and skin care products … but hate to read labels?
Announcing … the quickest, simplest, easiest way to choose safe and healthy, natural and organic cosmetics, skin care and personal care products NOW … without ever having to read a single ingredients list!
I know you want to use safe and healthy, natural and organic skin care and body care products because you’re reading this page.
Choosing the safest and healthiest products just got easier.
You may be among the many people who are frustrated with reading ingredients lists, or just choose not to. Or maybe you just want a little easier way to pick your products.
Now you don’t have to read ingredients lists when you want to buy natural or organic products for your skin care. You don’t have to wonder any more if the products contain cancer-causing contaminants. That work has already been done for you.
Dying To Look Good “Best Brands“ lists the safest and healthiest natural and organic cosmetics, skin care, body care and personal care products on the market. They have been thoroughly researched to make sure their ingredients are truly pure, natural, safe and healthy.
It’s a 3-month membership program. You’ll receive weekly product lists, every week for 12 weeks. Each week, you’ll also get information on one company whose entire product line is exceptional. In fact, there are more than 12 companies that have been identified as having superior healthy and safe products. So, there will be bonus “Company Spotlights” coming to you every once in a while, between your regular weekly product lists.
Many companies in this program are offering discounts to Dying To Look Good “Best Brands” members. And the best part, many of the discounts can be used more than once and some will even be in effect after your membership expires.
Learn more about how you can make choosing healthy, organic and natural skin care products for yourself and your family quicker and easier, and how you can save money in the process.
Why it’s important to choose your natural cosmetics and skin care products carefully
I’ve been researching the safety of ingredients in food, cosmetics and skin care products since 1991. My research turned to identifying healthy, natural and organic cosmetics and skin care brands in about 1999.
While some of my research has been done in stores, copying ingredients from product labels, most has been done online. The reason, frankly, is because most of the best products are available only online and some products that are potentially good are not available in stores in my area.
That said, another factor to take into consideration, which I’ve mentioned many times before, but which was just blatantly demonstrated to me yesterday, is to make sure you buy from companies committed to producing safe and healthy products.
There are a number of companies on the market who are committed to the ultimate in purity and safety. A great many of them are USDA certified organic. There are some who are just as committed who don’t have the certification. These are the companies I search out.
There are other companies, probably most of them, who are in it for the profit. They claim to be natural and organic and some even get marginal organic certifications even though they don’t really qualify to be certified organic by “true” organic standards.
So, what happened yesterday?
I got an e-mail from a DyingToLookGood.com member who had just purchased Zuzu Luxe mascara, which is a brand I recommended in Dying To Look Good. I just finished researching mascara for the new Dying To Look Good Best Brands project that I’m working on right now. I checked the Zuzu Luxe ingredients online just the other day. They were perfectly fine, so it was my intention to include them in the new program.
However, I was asked by this member about the ingredients in this product because the ingredients label on the product she bought contained titanium dioxide, which I do not recommend.
I asked her to send me the list of ingredients on the label for the Zuzu Luxe mascara she bought…
It looked like two totally different products.
Here’s the list of ingredients that were on the actual label:
Whether you know what these ingredients mean or not, I’m sure you’ll agree that these two sets of ingredients don’t look like they are for the same product.
Bottom line. Know the companies that you purchase products from. Make sure they are truly committed to producing safe and healthy products AND they operate with honesty and integrity. The mainstream companies starting to create organic lines to get a piece of the organic pie are NOT going to give you the quality of product that the truly committed companies will.
I’ve been chastised by some for being too strict about the way I check ingredients and evaluate products. However, not only does this experience confirm my committment to the best, safest and healthiest natural skin care products and ingredients, I may just tighten the reigns a bit more here.
Zuzu Luxe, you are OUT!
Yours in health,
Christine H. Farlow, D.C.
The Ingredients Investigator
Protecting you from harmful ingredients www.dyingtolookgood.com
From what I could find, MAC does not claim to be a natural skin care line. They do claim to be cruelty free. However, since I received a call asking me about the ingredients in the MAC Cosmetics, I will review one product here and provide the link to the ingredients for the rest of their products.
Finding the ingredients for this product line was not easy. Below I have listed the ingredients for one of their skin care items. The ingredients in red are the objectionable ingredients and the reason why I do not recommend MAC Cosmetics.
What you put on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream. So you want to make sure that your skin care products are truly natural, preferably organic. The skin care products you use should feed and and nourish your skin with the same kind of healthy ingredients you would find in your kitchen. The best natural skin care products are made from food-grade organic ingredients and are certified by the USDA National Organic Program.
Earth Day is a great time to remind ourselves that we need to take of our earth if we want it to be inhabitable for future generations. What are you doing to help protect Mother Earth? Here are five things you can do to make a difference.
Use baking soda and vinegar for household cleaning or choose products that are made from safe, non-toxic ingredients and are biodegradable. Don’t fall for the “green” ads by companies promoting environmentally friendly packaging for their chemical-rich toxic products.
Read ingredient labels on all the food, personal care and household products you purchase for your family and your home. Not all products that say natural or organic on the label really meet true natural and organic standards.
Reuse or recycle your containers and packaging. Don’t throw away materials that can be put to another use. Take your own reusable bags when you shop.
When we each do our part, it will make a huge difference for the environment and the world our children, our children’s children and all future generations to come will live in.
More natural skin care tips for dry hands and feet
Coconut Oil - Pure, certified organic, unrefined, non-hydrogenated, unbleached, unfermented, undeodorized coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils to use, both internally and for natural skin care. It’s anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal.
Coconut oil does not have to be refrigerated. In fact, it’s a solid at room temperature and will start to melt around 76 degrees F.
To apply it to your hands, feet or other parts of your body, just scrape a small amount with a butter knife or spoon and let it melt in your hands, then rub it in where you want it. I find it leaves a little oily feel on my hands, so I generally use it on clean feet, morning and night and then put socks on.
Since the health of your skin is affected not only by what you put on your skin, but also what you put into your body, I also recommend using one to three tablespoons a day internally. You can melt it and use on your salad with a little lime juice or raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar and Celtic Sea Salt. It’s also the best oil to cook with and makes great stir-fry veggies. Some people just eat it by the tablespoon too!
Besides being good for your skin, unrefined coconut oil is good for your heart, helps improve thyroid function, revs up your metabolism, increases your energy and helps you to lose weight. Yes, it is a fat, and yes it does help you to lose weight.
Are your hands or feet dry? Does it seem that no matter how often you put on lotions or creams, they’re still dry?
Here are some natural skin care products that really work to help you eliminate stubborn dryness.
Rejuvenessence Facial Serum – Even though this organic, natural skin care product is intended for your facial area, it works really great on other parts of your body. I use it on the backs of my hands when they get that dry look that just won’t go away, even after using lotion.
Place just a drop or two on the back of your hands. Rub the backs of your hands together. Wait a minute or two and the oils are completely absorbed into your skin. Your skin looks and feels soft and smooth, without feeling greasy. Use at night before retiring.
Use your favorite lotion, or try one of these certified organic natural skin care products during the day:
If using Rejuvenessence once a day isn’t enough. Use it again in the morning. Once or twice a day will make a huge difference.
Sensatia Botanicals Anti-Wrinkle Therapy – like Rejuvenessence, this organic natural skin care product is intended for the face area, but I have found that it works wonders on dry hands as well. Use it the same as you would use the Rejuvenessence on your hands. The difference with the Sensatia products is that they come in four different varieties to suit your skin’s age, from 20+ to 50+.
If you don’t have a favorite cream or lotion for daytime use, try one of Sensatia Botanicals creams or butters:
Get a 5% discount on any of these Sensatia Botanicals natural skin care therapies when youuse thepromotion code: DYTLGin your shopping cart before you complete your check out.
Two more natural skin care tips for dry hands and feet coming next time…
It’s vitally important to use the purest organic and natural skin care products on your babies and children because they are more susceptible to harm from dangerous ingredients in their skin care products than adults.
“Through its review of 23 peer-reviewed studies of cancer incidence from the past 50 years, EPA has determined that infants up to age two are, on average, ten times more vulnerable to carcinogenic chemicals than adults, and for some cancer-causing agents are up to 65 times more vulnerable. The Agency also found that children from age two to 15 are three times more vulnerable to carcinogens than adults.”
In addition, “…the new risk assessment methods show that children accumulate up to 50 percent of their lifetime cancer risk by their second birthday.” Source: Environmental Working Group.
With the increasing incidence of childhood cancers, it’s very wise to make sure you’re doing everything possible to protect your young ones from unnecessary exposure to cancer-causing chemicals.
This month Miessence is making your shopping for the best certified organic and natural skin care for your babies and children easy. Just purchase one Mother and Baby Range Pack, you will get one complete pack FREE. A Pack includes one of each baby product Miessence offers.
To make sure you get your FREE pack, remember to enter the special babypromo code when you check out.
You can find descriptions for each of the products here.
Product Review – Victoria’s Secret Pink Body Natural, Organic Skin and Body Care Products
If you recall in post #46, I commented on the challenging time I was having obtaining the ingredients for Victoria’s Secret new Pink Body line of natural and organic skin and body care products. Well, I finally made it to the mall so I could actually read the ingredients list on the product labels. What I found is that the ingredients were not listed on the back of the product. They were on a tiny stick-on label attached to the bottom of the product in a print so tiny it was almost unreadable.
I did manage to write the ingredients for three products while the sales clerk kept walking by and asking me if I needed help.
These products are advertised as green, natural, organic and 100% vegan.
The ingredients lists are very long, so I’ll just list the ingredients for one product here. The most objectionable ingredients are in red with a number after them. The numbers at the bottom of the post explain why these ingredients are undesirable in natural and organic skin and body care products.
2. Possible source of cancer-causing contaminant 1,4-dioxane.
3. Manufacturers not required to disclose ingredients; potential source of hazardous chemicals.
4. Irritant, allergen, possible immunotoxin, neurotoxin.
5. Non-organic corn, soy, canola, cotton ingredients may be genetically engineered.
While this product contains some natural ingredients, it contains many ingredients that are prohibited under the Natural Products Association Natural Standard for Personal Care Products. In addition, it is advertised as natural and organic. However, none of the ingredients were identified as organic on the ingredients list.
Do you know how to tell if your natural skin care products contain genetically engineered (GE) ingredients?
Technically, the question should be if they “potentially” contain GE ingredients. The reason is that in the U.S. GE ingredients are not required to be identified on the label of organic, natural or any skin care products. In fact, they’re not required to be identified on any label of any product, whether skin care, body care, cosmetics or food.
But there are ways to identify ingredients that may be potentially genetically engineered.
The most common GE crops grown are soy, cotton, canola, corn and Hawaiian papaya. If the products you use contain any ingredients that are derived from these items, they can possibly be genetically engineered.
Ingredients like soy oil, soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, corn starch are just a few of the ingredients that you might find in a natural skin care product that could be derived from GE crops. However, not all ingredients from these crops are GE.
So how can you tell the difference?
Besides calling the manufacturer, the only real way to be sure that the ingredients in your natural and organic skin and body care products are NOT GE is to make certain that those ingredients are organic. The best organic and natural skin care products are those certified by the USDA Organic Program.
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.
