What You Thought You Knew About The Cosmetic Industry, but Didn’t

 

Beauty sleep can only do so much! We use at least nine products for maintenance and upkeep daily. Soaps, lotions, toothpastes, shampoos, conditioners and more. For women we use a heck of a lot more. Think hair style, makeup, skin care…the products I use are literally falling off the shelf, while my husband’s cabinet has plenty of space.

What about product safety? Many of us take for granted that the products we use on a daily basis are safe simply because they for sale in a store somewhere.

“Consumers believe that ‘if it's on the market, it can't hurt me.’ And this belief is sometimes wrong.” – Director of FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors (FDA 1998)

Despite the fact that its explained as clear as day on www.fda.gov, many of us are unaware that the cosmetic industry is self-regulated…

“FDA does not have the legal authority to approve cosmetic products and ingredients (other than color additives) before they go on the market. We also do not have a list of tests required for any particular cosmetic product or ingredient.”

http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ScienceResearch/ProductTesting/default.htm

If that’s not surprising enough…

“FDA encourages cosmetic firms to report product formulations through the VCRP (Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program). The VCRP database provides important information on these cosmetics. However, the companies are not legally required to tell FDA about their products and safety data.” - FDA.gov

That’s right folks, although companies are “responsible” for ensuring their products are safe, they do not have to provide any safety data showing this. Where does that leave the rest of us? Wading through a wide array of products laded with chemicals that are largely untested for safety and there’s even less information on how they interact with each other.

Nearly one-third of all products on the market contain one or more ingredients classified as possible human carcinogens, And 70% of all products on the market contain ingredients that can be contaminated with impurities linked to cancer and other health problems. (Richard DeAndrea – Holistic Living Guide)

Transforming your mindset with this new knowledge must be taken in conjunction by linking wellness with skin care. Skin isn’t just skin as many would love to believe. Our skin is our body’s largest organ, taking up 11 to 17 percent of our body’s weight. The skin has six functions, but the one function that must be considered is absorption. Skin care is absolutely linked to wellness, if you don’t believe this, think about the birth control or nicotine patch that can control your ability to have children and your desires for a cigarette.

Are Cosmetic Products More Important Than Food?

Whatever we put on our skin is absorbed into our bloodstream without the detoxification support of our digestive system. This should give anyone serious pause before lathering on their favorite lotion. Dr. Joseph Mercola decrees that putting chemicals on your skin is actually worse than ingesting them…

“Putting chemicals on your skin or scalp, such as getting a hair dye, may actually be worse than eating them...when you put these chemicals on your skin, they are absorbed straight into your bloodstream without filtering of any kind, going directly to your delicate organs.” - Dr, Joesph Mercola - www.mercola.com

It would be simpler and more sensible to view our skin as a LIVING organ…like our lungs, heart, kidney and treat it as such. In this perception the best rule to follow in choosing products with safe ingredients is not to put anything on our skin that we wouldn’t eat.

Choose Certified Organic When Possible

According to the Sins of Greenwashing report, the number one greenwashing offense is “No Proof”. Whenever possible, choose certified organic products, especially when selecting products for use when pregnant or caring for young children. Why? Since companies are not legally required to provide safety data to the FDA, we should hold them accountable to prove safety to US, the consumer. A way to do that is an independent third party certification that shows a guarantee of an “organic” claim. Companies that are certified organic or sell certified organic products must comply with stringent international standards, showing and proving an organic audit trail from seed, growing, harvesting, storage, transporting and processing right through to the finished product. Even then, a certified organic certification should be carefully considered. Not all certifying agencies are created equal, however, that is a topic for another article, which you’ll find here: http://www.theoliveparent.com/2014/02/label-reading-tips-for-product-safety.html What you should know is that there are two kinds of organic certification; cosmetic and food. Cosmetic standards do allow for some synthetic ingredients, while food grade is much more stricter.

Read “Levels of Organic Certification” for more information

Miessence is the world’s first certified organic skin & body care range, certified to international FOOD grade standards! Learn more here: http://www.theoliveparent.com/p/theoliveparent-organics.html