Yep, another hippie rant. It has been a while since I have been dabbling with the idea of eliminating all toxic chemicals completely, even if they have no basis in scientific fact or research.
Call it .. being cautious for cautious sake.
Anyway, it wasn’t until May of 2013 that I took the plunge and really got rid of everything, even my beloved makeup go-tos that did not pass the test.
Afterwards, I read There’s Lead In Your Lipstick (excellent book) and I thought I’d share the few pertinent facts that shocked me while reading it.
(P.S. A little lead in your lipstick is okay because your body discharges lead on a daily basis, as we ingest lead in everything including our tap water.)
The following facts refer to regulations and rules in the U.S.:
The average woman uses a dozen personal care products everyday …with 126 different chemicals which are toxic
Even before we put on our makeup, 126 different chemicals have come into contact with our hair, eyes and skin.
…between 85,000 and 100,000 chemicals are used in the marketplace today; 85 percent of those chemicals have never been tested for human health impacts.
…”safe for human use” simply means that the product didn’t give the test subjects a terrible rash five minutes after they smeared it on.
This one was shocking.. but not that shocking. Canada is not any better, but we are slightly more regulated.
I leave you with the appendix from the book that lists out the top 20 chemicals to avoid, also conveniently listed online by Femme Toxic and seems (at a quick glance) to match up to the information provided in the book: There’s Lead In Your Lipstick (Pages 239 and 240).
