Why your beauty products are making you sick

We all know the skin is our biggest organ in the body and it makes sense to understand what effects beauty products can have on our health.

There are many peer review articles and unbiased research available through many different forums which conclude the long-term use of products containing toxic ingredients leads to high levels of toxicity in the body resulting in many ongoing health concerns.

We only have to ask the simple question of why out of all the species that live on the planet today are homo sapiens experiencing an epidemic of disease? I believe it is a result of our environment, the toxins we consume and the chemicals we are exposed too.

When we reflect on our average day and think about all the foods we consume, products that are applied to our skin and the chemicals we are exposed to in our environment, it’s a wonder we are living longer. A research article posted by Flinders University 2016 reported the following facts.

• Our skin absorbs approximately 60% of the chemical ingredients and sends them into the bloodstream, where they can reach every organ in the body seconds after absorption.

• Women using a lot of cosmetics are thought their skin will absorb up to 2 kg of chemicals from cosmetic ingredients each year.

• Government reports in the US and EU indicate that about 90% of the ingredients used in cosmetics are not safe for people in the long-term.

 

And what makes it much scarier, is when you think about the layered effect all these products have on our endocrine system it’s a wonder we are alive at all. Carcinogens in beauty products have a greater cancer riss than toxins in food, industrial carcinogens or pesticides because chemicals ingested into the body are absorbed by the intestines and pass into the blood which is transported to the liver for detoxification. However, carcinogens absorbed by the skin bypass the liver and circulate through the bloodstream reaching every organ in the body.

So given we have this information at hand, what can we do about it?

CHANGE – 3 steps to improving your health

 

• Make small changes. About six years ago, when I first discovered this information, I slowly started to change my buying habits. I researched which ingredients were the most harmful, compiled a list and carried it around on my phone. From there I began to replace every item with a natural alternative until finally, I had a new range of natural toxin free products in my beauty draw. Eventually you will train your brain to recognise the nasty ingredients without referring to a list.

• Support Ethical Companies. Beware of false claims and miss use of the words and language used by marketers to buy their products, “ organic”  “no added”.  Generally, I have found that companies that are providing a product because they believe in a purpose driven organisation over a profit driven one, will develop ethical, sustainable natural products.

• Education. There is nothing more powerful than the ongoing commitment to education. The more you read and ask questions the better placed you will position yourself in making informative decisions. Sometimes the information can be conflicting or overwhelming, but I always try to break it down into small bits to process and evaluate. And of course, share what you have found and discuss it with your family, friends and mentors.

The Nasties – which ingredients to avoid

• Parabens. …
• Synthetic colours. …
• Fragrance. …
• Phthalates. …
• Triclosan. …
• Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) / Sodium Laureth sulphate (SLES). …
• Formaldehyde. …
• Toluene.

 

I hope you find this post informative, I would love to receive your feedback.

Anna x

Loving Life, Always

 

Reference
Alnuqaydan AM, Sanderson BJ (2016) Toxicity and Genotoxicity of Beauty Products on Human Skin Cells In Vitro. J Clin Toxicol 6: 315. doi:10.4172/2161-0495.1000315