Your Precious Skin

I love The Environmental Working Group. I have found that their research is impeccable and they do not resort to simple scare tactics. But they also don’t shy away from the truth. I turn to them for a lot of information.

This month, as spring springs, we think skin. We want to reveal a dewy lush complexion as we face sunny days and fewer clothes, but it’s important to take care of our largest breathing organ and to know what is in the product we are slathering all over our precious skin.

So I turned to EWG’s site Skin Deep: “It’s our mission at Environmental Working Group to use the power of information to protect human health and the environment. EWG’s Skin Deep database gives you practical solutions to protect yourself and your family from everyday exposures to chemicals. We launched Skin Deep in 2004 to create online safety profiles for cosmetics and personal care products. Our aim is to fill in where industry and government leave off. Companies are allowed to use almost any ingredient they wish. The U.S. government doesn’t review the safety of products before they’re sold. Our staff scientists compare the ingredients on personal care product labels and websites to information in nearly 60 toxicity and regulatory databases. Now in its eighth year, EWG’s Skin Deep database provides you with easy-to-navigate safety ratings for a wide range of products and ingredients on the market.”

Their database is amazing. Here’s some interesting information I took right from their site.

“Myth – If it’s for sale at a supermarket, drugstore or department store cosmetics counter, it must be safe.
Fact – The Food and Drug Administration has no authority to require companies to test cosmetics products for safety. The agency does not review or approve the vast majority of products or ingredients before they go on the market. FDA conducts pre-market reviews only of certain cosmetics color additives and active ingredients that are classified as over-the-counter drugs (FDA 2005, 2010).

Myth – The government prohibits the use of all dangerous chemicals in personal care products, and companies wouldn’t risk using them.
Fact – With the exception of color additives and a few prohibited substances, cosmetics companies may use any ingredient or raw material in their products without government review or approval (FDA 2005). Whereas the European Union has banned more than 1,000 ingredients from use in cosmetics, the FDA has only prohibited the following (FDA 2000).

Bithionol
Chlorofluorocarbon propellants
Chloroform
Halogenated salicylanilides (di-, tri-, metabromsalan and tetrachlorosalicylanilide)
Methylene chloride
Vinyl chloride
Zirconium-containing complexes
Prohibited cattle materials (including material from non-ambulatory cattle, material from cattle not inspected and passed and mechanically separated beef).

Myth – The cosmetics industry effectively polices itself, making sure that all ingredients meet a strict standard of safety.
Fact – Since FDA does little to regulate ingredient safety, it has authorized the cosmetics industry to police itself through its Cosmetics Ingredient Review panel. In its more than 30-year history, the industry panel has declared only 11 ingredients or chemical groups to be unsafe (CIR 2012). Its recommendations on restricting ingredients are not binding on companies (FDA 2012).

Myth – Cosmetic ingredients are applied to the skin and rarely get into the body. When they do, the amounts are too low to matter.
Fact – People are exposed to cosmetics ingredients in many ways: breathing in sprays and powders, swallowing chemicals on the lips or hands or absorbing them through the skin. Biomonitoring studies have found that cosmetics ingredients – such as phthalate plasticizers, paraben preservatives, the pesticide triclosan, synthetic musks and sunscreen ingredients – are common pollutants in the bodies of men, women and children. Many of these chemicals are potential hormone disruptors (Gray 1986, Schreurs 2004, Gomez 2005, Veldhoen 2006). Cosmetics frequently contain enhancers that allow ingredients to penetrate deeper into the skin. Studies have found health problems in people exposed to common fragrance and sunscreen ingredients, including increased risk of sperm damage, feminization of the male reproductive system and low birth weight in girls (Duty 2003, Hauser 2007, Swan 2005, Wolff 2008).

Myth – Products made for children or bearing claims like “hypoallergenic” are safer choices.
Fact – Most cosmetic marketing claims are unregulated, and companies are rarely, if ever, required to back them up, even for children’s products. The FDA says descriptions such as “hypoallergenic” or “natural” can “mean anything or nothing at all,” and while most of these terms “have considerable market value in promoting cosmetic products to consumers… dermatologists say they have very little medical meaning” (FDA 2000b).

Myth – Natural and organic products are always safer.
Fact – Products labeled natural or organic often contain synthetic chemicals, and even truly natural or organic ingredients are not necessarily risk-free. The global market for organic personal care products was valued at more than $7 billion in 2012, capturing the attention of consumers who prefer more natural or plant-based products (Cosmetics Design 2013). Products labeled “organic” or “natural” can contain petrochemicals, and those certified as organic can contain as little as 10 percent organic ingredients by weight or volume (Certech 2008). FDA tried to establish an official definition for the term “natural,” but this initiative was overturned in court (FDA 1998).

Myth – FDA promptly recalls any product that injures people.
Fact – FDA has no authority to require recalls of harmful cosmetics. Furthermore, manufacturers are not required to report cosmetics-related injuries to the agency. FDA relies on companies to report injuries voluntarily (FDA 2005).

Myth – Consumers can read ingredient labels and avoid products with hazardous chemicals.
Fact – Federal law allows companies to leave some chemical ingredients off their product labels, including those considered to be trade secrets, components of fragrance and nanomaterials (FDA 2011). Fragrance may include any number of the industry’s 3,100 stock chemicals (IFRA 2010), none of which is required to be listed on labels. Tests of fragrance ingredients have found an average of 14 hidden compounds per formulation, including ingredients linked to hormone disruption and sperm damage (EWG & CSC 2010).

Myth – Cosmetics safety is a concern for women only.
Fact – An EWG 2004 consumer survey showed that while on average women use 12 personal care products daily, men use an average of six a day, exposing themselves to more than 80 unique ingredients.”

Head to this link where you can plug in by product and category to discover if your personal care product is good for your health: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/top-tips-for-safer-products/

So now let’s get personal. I am often asked about skincare. i admit to being obsessed with taking care of my skin. Sure, i want to age gracefully. i I want to put my best face forward for as long as possible. But more important is to take care of my largest breathing organ as well as I do the rest of my parts. I am brand loyal as long as the brands I choose are loyal to me…and keep their promises when it comes to the quality of their ingredients. I’ve searched high and low for the best products I can find and my choices are quite…limited, you might say. I adore S.anctum skincare. It’s pure, vegan and cruelty-free. It’s effective and the products feel luxurious, without luxury price tags.

I am not sure I could live without their Body Polish or Hy-C Intensive Repair Cream. Their eye gels make me look refreshed even after the longest day and night of writing. The Purifying Foam Cleanser leaves my skin feeling fresh, clean and supple. People often ask me about my skin and my answer is Sanctum.

And as a devoted gym rat, I have to say that I love their deodorant (so does everyone I work out with). After a sweaty workout, I sure don’t smell as fresh as a daisy, but I don’t clear a room either!

My loves, ya gotta feed your skin!

https://www.christinacooks.com/blog/lifestyle/love-skin-youre-baby