Although there’s been a lot of bad news about safe cosmetics, it’s not all bad.

We’ve written extensively about dangerous ingredients in cosmetics and skin care products, and also about the importance of using natural skin care products that don’t contain dangerous ingredients.

And we’ve highlighted some of the studies done which show such problems with cosmetics and skin care products like lead in lipsticks and phthalates in personal and beauty and body care products. And also about parabens in skin care products and cosmetics.

From time to time come good news comes along and today is such a day. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has alerted us today that they have detected a decline in the levels of phthalates in some products. In particular they point to the perfume Poison.

They found 4 different phthalates in Poison during the last test, but this time they have tested Poison and found it to be - less poisonous. No phthalates at all. This is great news and means, it appears, that the body care and cosmetics and perfume companies are starting to take notice of the fact that the public don’t want poisonous ingredients in their cosmetics and skin care products.

It would seem obvious wouldn’t it?

But a small step is an important one nevertheless. And the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics says it isn’t confined just to Poison, but there are signs that some of the bigger companies are slowly removing poisonous ingredients like phthalates from their products this has to be good. More on Good News On Safe Cosmetics.

Get the finest (and safest) organic and natural skin care products on the planet. HERE

Written by - Natural Health

(And make sure you read our page about Natural Skin Care, it's quite an eye opener about modern skin care products.)

This is how you tell if a cosmetics or skin care company has a commitment to product safety.

We’ve talked elsewhere about the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics. It’s an organization set up to monitor the ingredients used in the cosmetics and skin care products and anti aging products and all those other beauty and personal care products that you, and just about everyone else, uses every day.

It’s a sad indictment that there is any need for an organization like the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics. Surely we should expect that any product that we put on or into our bodies must automatically be safe for us to use. But sadly that’s not the case, and there are many instances of products containing ingredients that are known to be hazardous to human use.

Like the lead found in many of the big brand name lipsticks recently tested. Or the new Environmental Working Group report, just a month old, finding hormone disrupting chemicals in many cosmetics and body care products, and then finding that many of our teenage girls had up to 16 of these toxic chemicals in their bodies.

So the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics has a “Compact For Safe Cosmetics” (there’s a bit of a pun there) for cosmetics, skincare and personal and beauty care product manufacturers to evidence their commitment to product safety.

How does it work? Well any company that produces a line of cosmetics or other products and is prepared to sign the Compact can do so, and by doing so it commits itself to the following:

That all of the cosmetics and personal care products made by our company anywhere in the world meet the formulation standards and deadlines set by the European Union Directive 76/768/EEC to be free of chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, mutation or birth defects. To implement substitution plans that replace hazardous materials with safer alternatives within three years. We will accomplish this by: * Conducting an inventory of potential chemicals of concern in our products (or byproducts) to determine their toxicity to living things, their persistence in the environment, their ability to increase in concentration in the food chain, their contamination of our bodies, or qualities they possess that pose hazards including carcinogens, endocrine disrupters, sensitizers, mutagens, reproductive toxins, developmental toxins and neurotoxins * Developing an aggressive substitution plan and timeline: to move to safer materials, prioritizing for substitution those compounds internationally recognized as most toxic; to provide for an ongoing review of safer materials and chemicals as effective, cost-competitive alternatives are available, and; to work with upstream suppliers to provide toxicity data on chemicals in products. * Publicly reporting on progress to meet these goals.

Oh, and the European directive is basically this. Whilst the US has done very little to attempt to control the use of dangerous chemicals in cosmetics and skincare products and body care products the European Union has, and has a directive banning “the use of chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of causing cancer, mutation or birth defects.”

There are many companies that have signed the Compact For Safe Cosmetics, including Xtend Life who, we believe, make the best, and safest skin care products in the world. And Ferro Cosmetics who make a wonderful line of safe, effective cosmetics.

Both wonderful manufacturers of safe, effective products that you and your daughters can use with confidence. More on How Does The Compact For Safe Cosmetics Work?

Get the finest (and safest) organic and natural skin care products on the planet. HERE

Written by - Natural Health

(And make sure you read our page about Natural Skin Care, it's quite an eye opener about modern skin care products.)

We’ve talked about dangerous skin care products. Are cosmetics safe?

In a word, no.

Unfortunately you’d expect that our cosmetics would be safe, just as you’d expect that our skin care products would be safe. But you’d be wrong.

Dangerous cosmetics sit there on the shelves of our department stores just like dangerous skin care products sit there on the shelves. Manufactured by big brand name companies like Christian Dior, Revlon, Proctor and Gamble and L’Oreal.

That’s why the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics exists. To try and put pressure on our government and our cosmetics and skin care companies to make cosmetics and skin care products that don’t contain harmful ingredients.

Companies like those we’ve listed above.

So, sadly, when you apply that mascara, or lipstick, or blush, or eye shadow, or bronzer, or blush or foundation or mask or face cream you are, if you’re using mainstream big brand name cosmetics, taking a risk with your health.

Here’s just a few examples of dangerous cosmetics:

1. In 2007 the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics commissioned tests by an independent laboratory on some of our biggest names of lipstick. These included those from Christian Dior, Revlon and L’Oreal.

The results were frightening. Over 50% (52 out of 72 tested) contained lead, including

L’Oreal Colour Riche “True Red”
Christian Dior Addict “Positive Red”
Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor “Maximum Red”

And we’re sure we don’t need to tell you why you don’t want lead sitting on your skin all day.

Finally in May 2007 the California senate voted in Senate Bill 1712 to ban lead in lipstick saying :

“In the absence of federal regulations requiring safe cosmetics, some companies are making very poor decisions about product safety.’

2. In 2002 another study of common household cosmetic and beauty products, including such common products as toothpastes and shampoos as well as cosmetics, found Phthalates in over 70% of them. Phthalates are industrial chemicals that are linked to birth defects, amongst other things.

And there’s more, but we’re sure you get the picture. Our government and the major cosmetics companies are failing to protect the health of the public by allowing dangerous cosmetics onto the cosmetic shelves of our major department stores.

What do you do about it? Buy safe cosmetics.

Many cosmetic companies have signed the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics pledge to use only safe ingredients in their products. Our pick is Ferro Cosmetics, a small niche company making safe cosmetics which has signed the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics pledge, and which makes a niche range of SAFE cosmetics.

But you won’t find Ferro Cosmetics products on the shelves, you’ll have to buy direct from Ferro, and you’ve probably  never heard of them. They don’t have the budget to compete on TV against big names like L’Oreal, but they  make high quality safe cosmetics. More on Surely My Cosmetics Are Safe To Use? No.

Get the finest (and safest) organic and natural skin care products on the planet. HERE

Written by - Natural Health

(And make sure you read our page about Natural Skin Care, it's quite an eye opener about modern skin care products.)

More about the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics.

If you’re looking for great skin care products then you want to know 2 things. Firstly they work. Secondly they’re safe. Not all work. Not all are safe. (For the best, and safest, skin care products, click here.)

We wrote recently about the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. I talked about the fact that there are suspect or even known dangerous ingredients in our skin care and anti aging products and cosmetics.

And that there is a way to tell if your skin care or cosmetics company is committed to the safety of it’s products. If it has signed the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics pact it is committed to the safety of it’s products to it’s customers.

But I wanted to write a bit more about the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and what it is and where it came from.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics started in 2002 following the release of a report entitled Not Too Pretty: Phthalates, Beauty Products and the FDA.

In this report a group of environmental and public health organizations gathered together and commissioned a test by a major US laboratory of 72 well known brand name beauty products. They tested for the presence of a substance, or specifically a group of substances, called Pthalates.

Pthalates are industrial chemicals linked to, amongst other things, birth defects.

The tests found that there were Pthalates in roughly three quarters of the products tested, including deodorants, hair gels, mouses, hair sprays and body lotions.

In particular it found Pthalates in ALL fragrances tested. You would have read elsewhere here that we suggest that when you buy skin care or anti aging products you avoid any with fragrances in them. You see why.

There is much more in the report than that, but that’s the basics. If you want to read it the link is above.

So the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics was started. It’s a “coalition of women’s, public health, labor, environmental health and consumer-rights groups” that seeks to “protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out the use of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems, and replace them with safer alternatives”.

A very worthwhile goal.

It has a pact that cosmetics and skincare companies can sign to commit themselves to producing safe products, and so if you want to use skin care products that are safe use products from a company that has signed the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics pact.

It’s been busy and in 2007 released a report into lead found in many of the major brands of lipsticks, including some of the biggest names in the business.

Personally we firmly believe that the best skin care products are made by a company called Xtend Life. It is a signatory to the compact and makes stunningly effective, safe and cost effective skin care and anti aging products. More on The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics. Trying To Protect Us From Dangerous Cosmetics.

Get the finest (and safest) organic and natural skin care products on the planet. HERE

Written by - Natural Health

(And make sure you read our page about Natural Skin Care, it's quite an eye opener about modern skin care products.)