Earth Day: How Green is Your Makeup?

If you didn't know, Earth Day is almost here! On April 22, 1970, the first earth day motivated over 20 million people to participate. Today, over 500 million people participate. A Democratic politician from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, passed the Earth Day bill after personally seeing the results of The Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969. Senator Nelson passed away on July 3, 2005 at the age of 89.

Earth Day, to me, is about positive change, for earth's environment but also on an individual level. The day should be a time when we stop to evaluate how we are living our lives. Ask yourself, "Do I have a negative impact on the environment?" If you uncover even a small thing you can improve, work toward that goal.

If you are wondering what Earth Day and makeup have in common: it's the perfect time to take a look at the products we use everyday. Both your health and the environment can be improved by tweaking your personal care products. Wearing green makeup is increasing in popularity and for good reason: oftentimes makeup is full of toxic ingredients. One of those toxic ingredients is parabens. If you're a woman looking at the ingredients of your favorite personal care product which lists parabens of any kind, you should either immediately return it to the store shelf or throw it in the trash.

If you can't imagine throwing away a half used container of your favorite product because of parabens, I have two words for you: breast cancer. Parabens are preservatives listed on the label as, methyl paraben, propyl paraben, ethyl paraben, and butyl paraben and they are highly toxic. These parabens can masquerade as Xenoestrogens or 'foreign estrogens', in your body causing hormone disturbances.

Since these foreign estrogens are structurally different from natural estrogen, they are not used by the body in a normal way. They are not flushed out of the body as easily as normal estrogen and they block the effects of a woman's natural estrogen. Xenoestrogens also amplify the carcinogenic effects of radiation.

Applying makeup is a daily routine of the majority of women both young and old. Foundation is literally the foundation of that routine. One obvious way of reducing your exposure to parabens is by examining your foundation. How can you find a foundation that is both safe for the environment and you?

Did you know that the average woman absorbs five pounds of toxic chemicals per year from personal care products and makeup? What happens to those toxins when they enter your body through your skin? They accumulate in your organs. For this reason, before I buy anything that goes on my skin, I head over to Skin Deep for a little research.

Skin Deep is a massive database for women and men who are concerned about cosmetic safety. The website was launched in 2004 and to date it has been searched 104,464,145 times since. The database contains information about: 42,843 products, 8,373 ingredients, 2,163 brands and 1,387 companies.

Products are rated using a score key: 0-2 low hazard (green), 3-6 moderate hazard (yellow) and 7-10 high hazard (red). The two companies at the top of the list with a green, low hazard score, are Coastal Classic Creations and Rejuva Minerals.

Coastal Creations are refreshingly open about the ingredients in their products. "Our research is ongoing as a service to you as part of our continuing the advancement of clean cosmetics for our customers, our communities, and our planet". What more could you ask for from a company?

A list of names we all recognize with a high hazard (7-10) are:

Max Factor
Covergirl
L'Oreal
Elizabeth Arden
Boots
Neutrogena
Estee Lauder
Revlon

Of the 1755 products listed under foundation, the makeup in the 1754th position is: Almay Clear Complexion Makeup, with a score of 10. It lists all the parabens in the ingredients along with others that can cause: cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, violations, restrictions and warnings, allergies/immunotoxicity and many other concerns are listed.

Aveeno is great but you have to be careful which ones you choose, with product scores from zero all the way to ten (like most of them). Aveeno has been working toward lessening their impact on our planet for over sixty years. Aveeno products are packaged with its global impact in mind.

Instead of a traditional foundation, give a tinted moisturizer a try. Aveeno Positively Radiant Tinted Moisturizer with an SPF of 30 at a cost of $17.00 is one of the many.

Or try a powder foundation such as Physicians formula Organic Wear Face Sculpting Trio at a cost of $14.00 at drugstores. This one fits the bill for personal safety:

100% Free of Harsh Chemicals
100% Free of Synthetic Preservatives
100% Free of Parabens
100% Free of GMO's
100% Free of Synthetic Colors
100% Free of Synthetic Fragrances
100% Cruelty Free

Parabens is not the only villain that you need to be on the lookout for but it is a villain that can secretly rob a woman of the happiness she deserves.

Do you know what's in your makeup? If you don't, Earth Day is a nudge in the right direction toward discovering a favorite green makeup.

http://www.fwhc.org/health/xeno.htm
http://www.townsendletter.com/FebMar2006/envirohealth0206.htm
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php