A Winner is Crowned...

Congratulations to Michelle!  A shout out to her site: www.mammatalk.blogspot.com  She is the Grand Prize winner of a 3.5 oz tube of alba un-petroleum Multi-Purpose Jelly valued at $5.99 (in-store) and about $12.00 (online) from our first ever giveaway!

Tune in next week when we review some household items (what we breath in affects our bodies too people!)  Or I might do something for the parents in the house and review some natural baby care items I have come across...so many choices.  If anyone has a preference, let me know.  I will try and gladly accomodate - unless I get requests for both - then it will be dealt with by a steel cage match of course!  

Have a great weekend.

My best, Lynn

Fireworks pic used from bigfoto.com

Tears of Joy!

New reviews every Monday...

Did You Know...

...the FDA is not legally obligated to regulate cosmetics unless they contain color additives?

Huzzah! The day is finally here that I can tell you about my first real treasure of a purchase AND offer this gift to you, my readers, for the low, low, cost of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! 

I know it's been a long, hard road we have traveled together these last few weeks and you have seen the good and the bad (mostly bad) of what this "beauty" industry has to offer. I am here today to tell you that I feel those days of frustration are behind us now and we have truly turned a page.  

After last weeks disdain I showed for Wal-Mart here, I went to the local health food store in our town and a very lovely woman from behind the counter asked me "Is there anything I can help you with?" Already I was sold - actual human contact! Contrast to Wal-Mart,  where if you look @ a person in a navy blue shirt they seem to scatter in 5 different directions like those monsters in pac man after you eat the yellow power ball. So I told her "I'm looking for natural skin care and body care products...I'm not sure if you have any...Wal-Mart didn't..." That last sentence rightfully got me the biggest scowl from her like 'don't you dare say that name in here. Of COURSE you didn't find what you needed there!' Then she walked me over to this wall that was about 6 or 7 shelves high and about 4 or 5 arm lengths across and said 'Do you mean like these?'.........

That's when the tears started welling.  Discreetly though, b/c I didn't want her to think I was a loon. I already had one strike against me for mentioning the big box store a minute ago.  I pretended like I had to sneeze.  But I tell you, it was a thing of beauty.  That moment, I felt bad for my poor husband who will have to get a second job to support my skin care habit.  Just kidding.  I cannot let it get that bad.  All things in moderation. 

Wanna know what I found this week?  Here it is in all its glory and splendor!

alba un-petroleum MULTI-PURPOSE Jelly

Review: I think that this is just great...I say that with a sigh as I am staring @ it on my work desk in front of me.  I put it on my skin a few days ago on the day I bought it. I applied it at 5:22 p.m. and even after going to the restroom and washing my hands my skin still felt and looked hydrated and fresh.  I woke up the next morning and my hands still looked great.  I showered and only then did I have to reapply.  The ingredients are simple enough:

• Castor seed oil
• Coconut oil
• Beeswax (it's natural but for really sensitive it may still irritate - I had no troubles)
• Hydrogenated Castor Oil
• Tocopheryl Acetate and Tocopherol (Vitamin E)

These were all ingredients I could work with. Simple, natural, uncomplicated.  There are no 26 letter chemical compounds to jump hurdles through and around to find out what they are.  The Environmental Working Group had no animal testing results saying nay about any ingredient. All ingredients were cleared.  

Pros:  Effective at alleviating dry skin.  I only used a dollop of the jelly (1/2 a dimes worth) and since it is so thick a little bit really stretched and I really got more than I bargained for. This will last longer than I thought it would.  The bottle states it's made without petrolatum, paraffin, mineral oil, artificial fragrances or parabens.  It goes on thick, but subsided after time and is subtle yet present.  It's hypo-allergenic. 100% vegetarian ingredients and NO ANIMAL TESTING (I know that's important to a lot of you).  Also, it can help prevent chafing and windburn, it gently removes eye makeup, is good for diaper rash and an added bonus - it will sing your baby to sleep afterwards!  (Not really)  Claims it's good for all skin types.  Nice.

which now leads me to the...

Cons: dum, dum, duuuum.....like in the movies.  So the only beef I have with this product is that after you put it on initially - you smell like what I imagine the inside of a hearse to be.  It's strong and musky and mediciny (not a word - it has that red line under it) all in one.  At first, I said 'Ewww...get it off me!' and then life got in the way almost immediately. Someone had to go potty (my kids), dinner had to be made, the night rolled on.  So I put it on at 5:22 remember? Well around 6 something (sorry, I meant to time it) I told my husband 'Doesn't my hand smell? I don't think I like this.'  (He loves when I tell him to smell something I just said eww to - don't we all?) He said, 'I don't smell anything...'.  So I smelt my hand, and sure enough not a smell to be detected.  My hand just smelt like life and my environment, i.e. fried plantains, fresh laundry, but nothing horrible like before.  I tried it the next day and the same thing, initially it could offend a skunk, but give it some time and the smell disappears and all that is left is..............(insert your name) scent.

Price: $5.99 for 3.5 oz (a little goes far though) @ 

Perfect Balance Organics

9264 Cortez Blvd.

Weeki Wachee, FL  34613

352-597-8100                                          

OR               

Order it online @ www.albabotanica.com

Summary:  I recommend it if you can get past the initial scent it's golden after that I promise you. I love it and I give it my 1st ever 5 carrot rating. (There's 5 carrots there)

Oh right...the GIVEAWAY! I was so wrapped up in my love for the product....yeah, yeah, yeah get to it - OKAY!  Alright, so here's how I figured out to do this....to be considered for this giveaway I made it really simple.  Just leave a comment.  Tell me about your day, if you like the site, products you want reviewed, music you want to hear, whatever...just leave a comment. You must leave contact info. also.  An email address or something.  If you are a private person, such as myself (you'd never know it!) then you can leave a comment anonymous-like and email your address to me through the address in my profile.  The winner will be announced LIVE, right here on Friday sometime.  Happy commenting people!  Talk to you Friday.

Music: Jimmy Cliff "I Can See Clearly Now" Great for a Monday!

My seascape photo was the work of Jessica P, my awesome guest photographer for the week. Beautiful work.  Carrots courtesy freedigitalphotos.net

You'll Wanna Be Here Monday!

There are some very exciting things going on here nowadays....  

I have a product that got an actual thumbs up and I can't wait to tell you about it.  I'm practically bursting @ the seams!  My husband can't wait until I post on Monday so my mad scientist ways can finally subside.   

You know why you MUST be here on Monday the 26th?  FREE PRODUCT GIVEAWAY that's why!  You read right - it's time for the first official giveaway.  

I told you.....EXCITING THINGS ARE HAPPENING!

See you Monday, Monday, MONDAY!

No Review. Just Talk.

Did You Know...

...a large majority of the skin care and cosmetic products on the market today have never been evaluated for safety by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) and the CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review) or any other publicly accountable institution.

 

Sorry to disappoint but the product that I was going to review this week was OrganicOptions Calming & Moisturizing shower gel. This product is available at your local Wal-Mart storefor $5.87.  However, for not having a lot of ingredients, it still has some in it that are disagreeable to the skin.  Another example of an overly-advertised as Organic product not being that great for you still.  The packaging says NO ANIMAL TESTING - which is WONDERFUL - but when I went on the website www.dendera.net (wait! don't click on it and waste your time) to get more information about the Co.  the website was unavailable.  Something about that feels shady and a little too fly-by-night for me.  So I'd rather not review it and just...talk.  

Did I tell you that I have run my course with Wal-Mart and I'm done searching for good skin care products there?  Well I have.  I scoured every single shelf and came up short way too many times. Honestly it also gets annoying when you keep on looking up ingredients of stuff that you have worn for years just to realize that it's loaded like a baked potato @ Applebee's - chock-full-of preservatives, additives, and yuck!  

Next week, I will do a review of something that I think will be truly good for us.  I don't want to say the name just yet because of....well, I really don't have a good reason but I want to make sure I like it before I tell everyone else about it.  Hmm...I guess there was a reason!  

So next week it is folks! 

My best, Lynn

Music: Carole King "Beautiful" - a little perspective from this classic woman. Click on the 2nd one.  That's the original. 

*My beautiful sunflower was provided by Susie B on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Uh oh...Did You Know

I realized that I forgot my Did You Know for the week.  For shame! Here it is.

Did You Know...

The FDA has banned or restricted only 9 personal care product ingredients.  For comparison, the European Union has banned 450. (sixwise.com)

bodycology Fresh Waters

So how's ya week been? Good? Good.  Mine, not so much.  2 funerals in one weekend - nuf said. I am going to be honest here this week and tell you I was thinking of discontinuing this whole project.  Yep. Just close up shop and hit the road.  BUT WHY LYNN WHY???  THINK OF THE CHILDREN!! Well I've been down because my 2 friends passed away from cancer and everything I seemed to look up this week had something about cancer in it so... just a little hiatus I took.  That's all.  Also, I was researching things here and there, and came across an ingredient that led me to a site which led me to wikipedia.  The first site said that this ingredient was TERRIBLE and could possibly form an alternate universe if applied and eat your face off (I may be elaborating a bit -okay, a lot).  Well I read that and said 'oh boy! This is so going on my list of 'don't-put-ons.' I clicked on another link to wikipedia just to get the nitty gritty chemical makeup of it and all - wiki has a great database of chemicals.  So I scroll down to the portion that says Cancer and I start reading thinking 'aha! I caught you and I knew you caused cancer!' but as I'm reading, it states: the notion that this chemical causes cancer has been decided by the ACS (American Cancer Society) to be an urban legend. 

(WHAT?)  That you would have to orally ingest this chemical in it's rawest form for a super long period of time for it to really cause cancerous harm to you.  THEN.  It went on to say that (after looking at the ACS link on wiki) a Dr. Samuel Epstein, a founder of a non-profit called the Cancer Prevention Coalition alleged that ACS's motives are economically motivated, and reflect conflicts of interests with the pharmaceutical, pesticide, and mammography (mammograms) industry! 

This week I came across a lot of 'Not enough data to be conclusive'. That's always nice to hear right?

So really, therein lies my troubles and sleepless nights.  I want to put out an accurate report of things but how am I supposed to be able to do this when people - "they"- won't let me?  

I need a break.  My head is starting to swirl again...

Alright.  I've had some time to reason and I realize that I can't fight this behemoth industry alone.  Like H&R Block - I've got people!  There are great people out there trying to spread the word about skin and body care that I feel like I can really trust their input and I will continue to research on my own, thoroughly, and report back to y'all! Now onto the review...

bodycology fresh waters foaming bath & shower gel

I used this one day blindly not looking at any ingredients what-so-ever just to get the whole first impression without anything in my head about it.  Wrong choice.  After I used it I looked at the ingredients and my feelings were hurt.  Out of 24 ingredients, only 6 were cleared as safe. They are in order of Good to Worst Ever as follows:

The Good:  

• Water - of course
• Polyquaternium-10 - static electricity reducer.  Non-irritant.
• Aloe vera leaf juice - natural ingredient, reduces flaking, restores skin suppleness.
• Sweet Almond Oil - easily absorbed leaving skin soft and glowing, used in body massage.
• Honey - natural, helps absorb and retain moisture, hydrates skin and prevents drying.
• Glycol Distearate - non skin irritant, emollient (gives the skin a soft and smooth appearance)

The Bad:

• Dehydroacetic acid - anything that doesn't have a lot of data about it on the INTERNET no less kinda creeps me out.  How come no one's talking about this stuff?  All I could gather is that its a preservative that is anti-fungal and antimicrobial.  It's also used in cleaning products.

The Ugliest:

• Sodium Laureth Sulfate - it's what makes it foam; highly irritating chemical; can lead to skin damage, permanent eye damage in children - mama is that you? - and even liver toxicity.  Usually combined with 1,4-dioxane, which the FDA encouraged manufacturers to remove but they're not required by law to do so yet.
  
• Cocamidopropyl betaine - possible allergen if you are sensitive.
• Fragrance - it has very strong, potent scents to it.  I can handle alot of smell but to me it was a bit overpowering.  (We will talk more about fragrance next week)
• PEG-150 Stearate - possible link to cancer and other health problems (sixwise.com)
• Cocamide MEA - may be a carcinogen.
• Laureth-10 - may contain small amounts of 1,4-dioxane (bad stuff)
• Disodium EDTA - is both cytoxic (toxic to cells) and genotoxic (potentially carcinogenic leading to tumors) in animal lab tests. (wiki.com)
• Phenoxyethanol - as of June 08 FDA issued a consumer warning that this preservative can depress the central nervous system and may cause vomiting and diarrhea.  (fda.gov, truthininaging.com)
• Benzoic acid - natural preservative; 1 or more animal studies show sense organ effects @ very low doses, brain and nervous system effects @ moderate doses. (cosmeticdatabase.com)
• Benzyl benzoate - may cause perfume allergy reaction (wiki.com) Possible human immune system toxicant.  The EU (European Union) classified it as toxic or harmful when used around the mouth or on the lips.  (cosmeticsdatabase.com)
• 2-(4-tert-butylbenzyl) - this one was hard to find b/c it goes by alot of diff't. names.  (Lilial, BMHCA, Butylphenyl Methylpropional)  Only 2 symbols on chemblink.com says it is harmful and hazardous to the environment.  Possilbe human immune system toxicant.  Brain and nervous system effects, respiratory effects and reproductive effects in animal studies. 
• Citronellol - possible human immune system toxicant; 1 or more animal studies show brain and nervous system effects, sense organ effects, skin irritation. (cosmeticsdatabase.com)
• Geraniol - fragrance, known human immune system toxicant.  Brain and nervous system effects, broad systemic effects, skin irritation all on animals.  Has not been tested for safety in cosmetics by industry panel yet.   (cosmeticsdatabase.com) (We'll talk about that next week too)
• Hexyl cinnamal - fragrance; possible human immune system toxicant; brain and nervous system effect, skin irritation, respiratory effect in animal studies (cosmeticsdatabase.com)
• Limonene - fragrance; known skin and respiratory irritants.  Recent study of dermatitis patients, 3% were showing sensitization to limonene.
• Linalool - perfume; allergen to those allergic to perfume.

My summary:  I have gotten to the point where I am tired of going to Wal-Mart and not finding good for me stuff there.  I don't know what I was expecting - but I tell you I wasn't expecting THIS!  Throughout all of those rows and rows of products I can't find a decent, safe one to save my life - LITERALLY!  So I am now going to start looking elsewhere for 'the goods'.  We have a great selection of natural and health food stores in my town so now the search is on like Donkey Kong to find something worthwhile that I won't have to return by the end of the week. I also want to start getting into giving some things away.  Right?? Okay, hopefully next will won't be such a dud.  Hang in there with me folks,  I'll find something someday and when that day arrives - HUHZA!!! - we will all rejoice and aloe plants will fall from the sky.......ouch and nevermind.  I also forgot to tell you how I am rating these things with the carrots - 5 will be the highest of the highest compliments.  One carrot - like last weeks loser - is the 'GIIIIIRL....don't even bother honey child!' (said in the deepest southern drawl you can muster) rating.  Sadly, we must follow in last weeks sad, sad, sad showing and say NO DEAL HOWIE!  - One carrot -

            

 

It's looks so lonely...

*pics this week are from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

*I apologize if this weeks post brought you down.  To turn this day great again play the music to the left of the post.  Just click one.  Go ahead.  Feel free to dance. 

Music: Yael Naim "New Soul"

Jergens Refresh Ingredients

Instead of listing every single ingredient off of the bottle, I will just put on the ones that were flagged*.  That way, you can look for them in your next purchase and hopefully avoid them. 

• Menthol - an alcohol, known for its drying properties in the skin.  It's weird that this is in here because it is counterproductive to all of the conditioning agents that are added to slow the loss of water from the skin such as glyceryl stearate and myristyl myristate.  So for some, it may dehydrate the skin.  It also penetrates the skin and sometimes carry with it other chemical compounds.
• Cyclopentasiloxane - been shown in 1 or more animal test studies to cause tumor formation, endocrine disruption, and skin irritation @ moderate doses.  (cosmeticsdatabase.com)But the silver lining - if any - is that it's what gives the lotion a smooth, silky feel to it!
• Ceteareth-20 - shown in 1 or more animal studies brain and nervous system effects and skin irritation at low doses. (cosmeticsdatabase.com)
• PEG-100 stearate - 1 0r more animal studies show tumor formation @ moderate doses.  Endocrine system disruption @ high doses, reproductive effects @ high doses, skin irritation @ very low doses. 
• Trideceth-9 - 1 0r more animal studies show liver effects @ high doses and also skin irritation. 
• Propylene Glycol - penetrates the skin quickly to retain moisture content.  However, when it does this it weakens the protein and cellular structure of the skin.  EPA warns factory workers to avoid skin contact to prevent brain, liver, and kidney abnormalities.  This can also be found in tire sealant, de-icer, degreaser, and wallpaper stripper.  Known health effects: throat irritation, headache, backache, kidney problems, oedema (swelling).  Found in many skin "firming" lotions.
• Caprylyl glycol - often used as a preservative.  Potentially irritating and harmful to the skin. 
• 1,2-hexanediol - usually used in conjunction with cap..gly...mentioned above.
• Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer - a.k.a. polyacrylic acid, it's used as a thickener.  In it's pure form, it can be flammable and a carcinogen.  It corrodes many metals, injured lungs, livers and kidneys in animals.
• Hydrogenated cottonseed oil - one of the cheapest oils on the market for skincare it is used to save money and it's hydrogenated to prolong shelf life.  This is a stretch, but since it's made from cotton and cotton is a crop sprayed by pesticides, if it's not filtered properly the oil may be full of pesticides too.  Sensitive skin may break out with this ingredient. 
• Sodium hydroxide - very strong chemical, a.k.a. lye and caustic soda. Even diluted solutions of this are caustic (able to burn or corrode organic tissue by chemical action) and can easily burn skin, cause damage to eyes if it comes in contact with them or other mucous membranes.  Can be found in many industrial solvents and cleaners, including flooring stripping products, brick cleaners and cements. 
• Fragrance - gives lotion a pleasant scent but can also cause allergic reaction if your system is sensitive to smells.
• DMDM hydantoin - a preservative that contains formaldehyde.  Which is a known irritant and potential carcinogen (a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue)
• Phenoxyethanol - a synthetic alcohol preservative.  Leading dermatological associations consider them to be the #1 cause of contact dermatitis.
• Ethylhexylglycerin - say it 10 times fast...preservative and known irritant.

So here are just a few ingredients exposed for their insensitivity to our sensitive skins.  There are many, many, more that I am sure we will eventually get around to talking about also.  Just recently, I came across a list that had over 100 harmful ingredients!  My reading list just gets longer and longer as the days go by.  No worries!  Just stay healthy & safe.

* all info. was obtained from cosmeticsdatabase.com, cosmeticsinfo.org and wikipedia.com

Next Review coming Monday the 12th of 2009: bodycology fresh waters foaming bath & shower gel!

                                                        

Music: Israel Kamakawiwo 'Ole Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Beautiful version.  Sadly he died @ age 38 due to weight-related respiratory illness in Hawaii in '97. 769 lbs. on 6'2" frame.