Toxic Schmoxic

Have you ever wondered what chemicals were hiding in your beauty products?  I hadn't either.  I try desperately not to be an alarmist or super neurotic about much in life.  In fact, before having a child, I could honestly say that I was about as carefree as a human could be.  My husband would quickly tell you that "it's no big deal" was my mantra whether I had missed my flight home from London so my connection through Toronto was cancelled and I stayed in a hotel with a random teacher.  Or if I had happened to ram my parents van into a stranger's house during an icy storm, their son answered the door with a shotgun and then I stayed the night because the weather was bad.  Or if I had come back to my college campus the day before school started to find my apartment and chose some random strangers to live with for the next year (Love you, Krista!).  Or when my husband lost his wedding ring and I was all, seriously, it's just metal and let's be honest, it's all going to burn in the end.  I'm not worried about it, man.  It'll all work out.  Everything will be fine.  Don't worry.

And then you become a mother and BAM!  Everything in regards to safety IS a BIG DEAL.  What is the #1 thing that is important in our existence?  Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - it's pretty clear that after our basic physiological needs are met then there is safety.  Like every mother, my child's safety and well being are my top priority.  But then, of course, I start to take better care of myself because I want to be healthy to be able to provide for my child.  A few of my peers have recently been diagnosed with cancer and let me tell you, THAT is alarming.  Cancer in your 30s as a mother!?  WHAT.THE.ACTUAL.EFF.  I thought we were supposed to be worrying about our husband getting home from work late or missing our child's Spanish "show off" ... not possibly missing out on their lives entirely because of cancer.  I mean, let's be honest, nobody makes it out of this place alive and we shouldn't worry about when we go but we all want to be there for our kids.  PS. If you really are going through a lot of anxiety and worry right now, here's a great message about worry.

That being said, maybe correlation doesn't always imply causation.  But other times, maybe there is some causation behind all of the chemicals in our environment and cancer at younger ages.  Or the toxins we unknowingly put on our body and the link between hormone disrupters and all of the infertility or breast and ovarian cancer.  I don't know.  Maybe I don't want to know.  But I do know that I do not want my little one to be exposed to hormone disrupters as her little body is growing and developing.  I mean, I'm not going to go all "wood toys" and zero plastics like Jessica Biel's new restaurant with child care, Au Fudge.  But I'm also not going to microwave any of my child's food in plastic because deep inside even if I'm making this up in my head, that damn plastic could be leaching into her food and causing her ovaries to go all ape shit.  I mean, they even considered banning saran wrap/ plastic wrap because of that very fact.  Damnit, plastic wrap, I thought we had a good thing going.  How is anyone supposed to know!?  And what about the people who don't know and live until they're 178 and they ate bacon wrapped in marshmallows while wearing toxic lipstick.  What!?  Whatever.  Once you know, you know, man.  

That being said, there's an APP FOR THAT when it comes to what is in our bathroom cabinets.  We can scan our beauty products and find out what kind of garbage is inside.  Awesome and scary.  This little app is exactly why I went ahead and signed up for BEAUTYCOUNTER.  Now that I know how dirty our products are, if friends and family ask me what we use, I will reactively tell them.  BUT, if you don't want to know, hakuna matata, sista!  I don't want to know either.

Here is the app to check the safety of the items in your make up bag and under your sink.

THINK DIRTY.
photos taken from the THINK DIRTY app info page.

   

  

And for those of you who are interested in learning more about BEAUTYCOUNTER, check out their site.

www.beautycounter.com/debperry

Finally, here is a letter from the founder of BEAUTYCOUNTER.  She started Beautycounter to provide safer alternatives for families.  I really can't believe how much garbage is hidden in our beauty products.  


Quote taken from BEAUTYCOUNTER site.

OUR FOUNDER

Like many of you, I'm a wife and mom—and like many of you, I didn't know what I didn't know. As I applied sunscreen, lotion, and any number of beauty products on myself and my kids, I never thought for a second they might not be safe: After all, I thought, we live in a country that regulates everything. So imagine my surprise when I learned that when it comes to the personal care industry, that's simply not the case. Companies are allowed to use known toxins—ingredients that have been linked to cancer, reproductive issues, hormone disruption—without telling us.

As I learned more—1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women in the US will be diagnosed with cancer—I had to do something. So I started Beautycounter, a company devoted to progress. You'll find a wealth of empowering information about ways we can all make the world healthier, along with products you can trust are safe. Because we all deserve better. Our vision is bold—real answers are never timid. Help us put truth back in beauty. xx gregg