I am currently in a class at UVM entitled Women’s Health and the Environment. One of the most recent topic we've explored is the crazy and dangerous world of cosmetics.

We've been reading Not Just a Pretty Face by Stacy Malkan, which explores the highly unregulated, highly toxic cosmetic industry. Many hazardous chemicals are found in popular consumer cosmetics and beauty care products. Look no further than the Skin Deep Database to see what is hiding in your favorite foundation, shampoo, lotion and more.

As a part of the class, and also as a personal challenge, I am attempting to alter my beauty regime for the better. Recognizing that price can be an obstacle to some of the safer, natural alternatives, a group of classmates and myself are seeking solutions in the kitchen. That’s right; we’re using food as personal care products. Affordable, effective, easy, safe and fun; These are the guiding principles of our quest. We also vow not to put anything on our bodies that we wouldn't personally eat. Check out this article on the new  trend. of turning food into cosmetics. 

To break myself in easily I’m starting with the basics: shampoo, conditioner and lotion. These are daily musts. Here are some recipes I've tried:

Shampoo

1 tablespoon baking soda to 1 cup warm water: mix together and rinse through hair.

Conditioner

1 tablespoon Apple-cider vinegar to 1 cup warm water: mix together and rinse through hair.

Lotion: Coconut Oil.

That’s it? That’s all? Seems too simple, right? I was doubtful as well, but I had committed and I’m seeing it through. It has been two weeks on the regime and I'm okay! My hair feels the same amount of clean, and the apple cider vinegar is very softening.  I’m even using the coconut oil on my face and there is no excessive oily residue. I’m kicking myself thinking of the money I could have saved over the years.

For those who enjoy a good experiment there are many recipes out there to make your own home beauty products that are safe, fun and edible. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics lists some DIY recipes on their website as well as many other sites like this blog, Pink of Perfection. Take an afternoon or an hour, grab a friend and try out a recipe.

My next task is making the best face wash (we made one up with almond milk, oats and salt, not bad!). Think of it as an investment in your health, beauty and bank account.

My friends and I take Halloween very seriously. Each year we have a “group theme,” and work on our costumes for weeks leading up to the big day. 

Although we consider ourselves Halloween experts, we were in the dark about how horrifically toxic this holiday can be. Lead in children’s face paints, phthalates in masks, and costumes made from PVC are just a few of the ghastly truths I unveiled in my research. Luckily, thanks to several informative blogs and websites, there are ways to have a Green Halloween.

Some tips:

1. Avoid face paint. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetic’s Report Pretty Scary revealed children’s face paints contain lead, nickel, cobalt and/or chromium, among other unidentified ingredients like “fragrance.” If you need to paint your face, check out some of these home-made face paint recipes.
2. Ditch the Colored Hair Sprays. They contain toxic chemicals and shouldn’t be sprayed around eyes, mouth, nose, and definitely shouldn’t be inhaled! As that is pretty much impossible to avoid, opt for a wig instead.
3. Buy PVC-Free Masks & Costumes. Community Mama reports many Halloween masks and costumes are made from PVC (the poison plastic) which can leach harmful gender-bending phthalates. If you can’t avoid them, look for ones that are marked “PVC-Free,” or make your own from what you have at home.
4. Avoid Phthalates in Masks & Teeth. The reason those false teeth and masks are so flexible is because they’re made with endocrine-disrupting phthalates. Try making your own mask instead, or painting your face with homemade face paint.
5. Steer Clear of Traditional Nail Polish. Most contain formaldehyde, tolulene, and acetone. Get Green Be Well recommends Hopscotch Kids or Piggy Paint as a safer alternative.
6. Decorate Naturally. Opt for pumpkins, gourds, and cornstalks, instead of plastic decorations. You won’t be harming your guests, and it will look a lot less cheesy.
7. Light Soy Candles.  Planet Green reports traditional candles are made from petroleum-based paraffin, carcinogens, neurotoxins, and reproductive toxins. Soy candles are safer, renewable, and biodegradable.
8. Hand out organic, or natural treats. Organic chocolate is pesticide-free and lead-free.  It’s also full of powerful antioxidants. 

Debbie Robins has written an insightful piece on the possible dangers lurking in feminine hygiene products for the Huffington Post.  She not only addresses the pesticide residue in tampons and the dioxin used to bleach them, but gives some astounding facts about the amount of chemicals we could prevent from entering the environment with even a small change in consumption behavior.

If we are so careful about what we eat, shouldn't we be holding everything we put in our bodies to the highest of standards?

While you check out letstalkperiod for more information, I am going to clean out the medicine cabinet.

I brush my teeth 2-3 times a day.  That is nearly 1000 times per year. I also blackmail bribe ensure that my three children brush at least twice a day (with varying degrees of success).  I am clearly a busy woman, so I don't want to have to think about toothpaste every time this event happens in my house.  Dental health needs to be a no brainer.

Until recently, my dental care was focused, naively, on teeth.

Toothpaste, though developed for use in the mouth, is full of "stuff" we have no business ingesting. Even if you are not swallowing dental products, the mucus membranes in the mouth are a fast delivery system into the bloodstream.  This begs the question: what exactly is in toothpaste?

Inactive ingredients, which bestow a product with taste, texture and color, top the list of toxicity.  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) are common foaming agents in shampoo, soap and toothpaste.  A little research, and it turns out they are also used "as surfactants in engine degreaser and in car wash soaps."

This does not begin to cover the food dyes that give toothpaste the fancy racer stripes or pretty aqua colors, or the artificial flavors that make us feel all minty fresh.  Children's toothpaste does not fare any better.

Fortunately, there are many alternatives.  A perusal of the Skindeep database revealed some reasonably priced options readily available in most co-ops or high-end grocery stores:  Jason, Peelu, and Tom's of Maine all offer a wide range of products that don't rank above a "2" on the Skindeep scoring system (10 being horrific).

With my family of 5 brushing nearly 4000 times per year (some of us more than others), I am grateful for the peace of mind that a "good" toothpaste offers.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 20 years, you should have heard by now how terrible tanning is for you (Attention Rock Dwellers—read this article by the International Agency for Research on Cancer). Yet, ironically, our culture continues to idolize bronze bodies.

What sort of alternatives do you have if the sun damaged, wrinkled raisin look isn’t for you?

If you can’t live without some color, try a safe bronzer (safe being the operative word here). We recommend Afterglow’s Organic Bronzer for it’s low hazard score on EWG’s Skin Deep Database.

Get back to the basics. If you have to be out in the sun for a long period of time, wear sunscreen, sunglasses, a sunhat, and bring along a sun umbrella.

Bottom line, we live in northern New England. No one expects you to be tan. In fact, you may ridiculed if you show up to work or school five shades darker. My advice, if I may quote Olay, “Love the Skin You’re In.” There are way more important things to worry about in life…like looking like this:

Several weeks ago, we answered a sexual health question on our Consensual Text blog: a college-age woman had inquired about the risks of scented tampons.

This prompted a bumpy ride on the web that included all shades of scary:  tampon processing and manufacturing are rumored to include everything from dioxin to asbestos.  Much of this information is false or unproven, but Estronaut summed up the main concerns:

"Most tampons are made of rayon. Rayon is made of cellulose and fibers of wood.  The processing includes chlorine bleaching, which is known to produce dioxin.  The makers say they wash it all away.  Critics say they don't."

There is some suspicion that organochlorines, like dioxin, mimic sex hormones, therefore causing sex-related health issues, cancer and decreased fertility. A tampon serves as an immediate delivery system to your reproductive organs, as vaginal walls easily absorb substances.

While there is an immense amount of research being done, many questions remain unanswered. Until there is conclusive data, it may be wise to minimize exposure to unnecessary contaminants, especially with many alternatives available. As we mentioned in a previous post, the Diva Cup is a viable option, as are tampons manufactured by Seventh Generation and other companies.

Seventh Generation is also encouraging good reproductive health by donating $1 per sign up at Let's Talk Period to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund today.  Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women.

Something that is actually inserted into your body, probably deserves the highest level scrutiny.

I’m pretty sensitive to smells, especially when it comes to perfume. The fragrance section in a department store is a guaranteed trip down Migraine Lane, leaving me no choice but to pop copious amounts of ibuprofen, draw the blinds and don a cold wash cloth for the rest of the night. Until recently, I chalked this phenomenon up to a weak stomach, weird DNA, whatever—all I knew was that perfume was not for me.

After doing some research, I learned there are plenty of reasons why perfume makes people sick.

95% of scented products on the market are made largely or entirely of synthetic chemicals, usually derived from petroleum or coal tar [1].

These synthetic chemicals can cause asthma, headaches (hello, department store!), dizziness, allergic skin reactions and nausea [2]. They can disrupt the endocrine system, instrumental in regulating hormones, growth, development and puberty. Some perfumes contain carcinogenic compounds that can cause birth defects and cancer.

Which perfumes are the worst culprits? Unfortunately, most of the top sellers. The EWG’s (Environmental Working group) Skin Deep cosmetic safety database rated Ralph Lauren’s Romance an 8 out of 10 for health hazard (10 being the most dangerous); Lancome’s Attraction a 9, and Diesel’s Fuel for Life a 10 (maybe that stuff really does contain diesel?).

Does it mean we should never wear perfume again? Perhaps we just need to be more cautious when choosing a scent.

Look up your scent. If it doesn’t score well, consider switching to something less harmful, especially if you have been experiencing any of the mentioned symptoms. There are plenty of alternatives free of harsh chemicals. Some even have samples for less than $3!

Please post recommendations!

8/27/2009: Update from our friend Swallowfield.  Apparently Indie Fixx offers a good do-it-yourself perfume alternative.

[1 & 2] Neurotoxins at Home and In The Workplace. Report 99-827. Committee on Science and Technology September 16, 1986.

Three out of five women admit to changing their color--highlights, complete color changes or "roots".

If hair dying is on the list of “do NOT do’s” during pregnancy for a woman, what is the affect on the body when not pregnant?

According to Planet Green, dyed hair is not pretty:

"... 22 potentially carcinogenic hair-dye chemicals that have been banned in the European Union are still used in some U.S. formulations, including Acid Orange 24 and 2,3-Naphthalenediol. (If you use a home dye-kit, check the back of the box to avoid these ingredients; if you go to the salons for treatment, you may be at the mercy of your stylist.) Other common chemicals in hair dyes include coal tar colors, which can be identified by the ingredients "F,D,&C," "D&C,"  and "P-phenylenediamine" on labels. All are considered carcinogenic."

Permanent hair dyes have been proven to contain petrochemicals like coal and tar. The Independent recently reported on some research:

“Researchers at the University of Southern California, who studied 1,500 people with bladder cancer, found women who had used permanent hair dyes at least once a month were at two to three times greater risk of developing the cancer.”

Studies state dark hair dyes contain the strongest chemicals, decreasing the risk with lighter colors. Natural hair dyes contain non-harmful ingredients like cranberry juice, henna and cinnamon—these dyes are more common now than ever before.

For alternatives, we recommend this excellent article from Treehugger on natural hair dyes.

I’ve known for a while that conventional deodorants — which often contain triclosan and/or aluminum — do more than stop sweat in its tracks. Unfortunately, many of the deodorants and antiperspirants on the market are also linked to adverse health effects, such as problems with sweat glands after years of use, discoloration in the skin, and possibly even Alzheimer's and breast cancer.

Whether or not the research is conclusive, there’s enough evidence to warrant a switch. But at what cost?

I recently traveled to Ames, IA, with eight kids between the ages of 8 1/2 and 12. (It’s a long story, but only two of them “belonged” to me...) Long before reaching our final destination, my all-natural deodorant up and died. While the preteens I was traveling with didn’t seem to notice, I was mortified every time I had to raise my arms to stow luggage in the overhead bins. So, what’s a girl to do?

Given my sweat-inducing situation, I opted for an antiperspirant/ deodorant with a natural-sounding cucumber and green tea scent for the return trip. Knowing that you can’t judge a book by its cover — or MOST personal care products by their label — I visited Skin Deep, an online safety guide created by the Environmental Working Group. WORRIERS BEWARE: You’ll never be able to look at those benign-looking tubes, jars, and bottles the same way! According to their database, the product I’d chosen earned a “hazard score” of 5 (with 10 corresponding to highest concern). Not horrible, but 61% of antiperspirant/deodorants have lower concerns. With so much to choose from, I’m hopeful that I can find an effective, healthier alternative — without breaking a sweat. Please feel free to send suggestions!