Product Information Product Overview Chiral Glossary Liquid Crystals Fullerenes Spin Trap How to Use Kyra How to Care for Kyra Chiral References The Sleeping Giant What Makes Us Buy? Beauty & the Beasts Why Kyra Works

Beauty & the Beasts

If you follow any sort of personal care or beauty product regime everyday, the odds are excellent that you have exposed yourself to 200 different chemicals before you step out of the door to go to work!

However, as an American consumer, you probably have every confidence that someone in a government lab coat has checked out these products you use and the substances in them. Right? Well, not exactly.

"You know more about the ingredients in your dog's flea collar than you know about the toxicity of whatever you're putting on your skin," argues David Wallinga, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C.

Do Hairdressers Glow in the Dark . . .?

A study done at Cornell University and published in the Journal of Toxicology & Environmental Health, maintains that cosmetologists are two times more apt to have mutagens in their urine than are dental workers, who handle mercury and other toxic chemicals every day!

Donald Lisk, study leader, Cornell Professor and head of their Toxic Chemicals Laboratory discovered that almost 40% of the group studied had what were identified as MUTAGENS in their urine. Lisk feels that many of the cosmetic chemicals to which cosmetologists and their clients are exposed to, are a very serious threat!

And What About Us . . .?

The law governing cosmetics says that they may not contain "harmful substances." But how the tests for such substances are conducted is left up to the companies. There are no standards set by the FDA for proper safety testing - and no requirements that companies do testing at all.

With the exception of a handful of banned chemicals, manufacturers can add almost any ingredients to those revitalizing eye creams, vitamin-stuffed conditioners, wrinkle-removing lotions, and kiss-resistant lipsticks. If questions arise about their safety, the burden is on the government to prove the product is unsafe.

One must be aware that the cosmetic division of the FDA, which has only 1% of the total FDA budget and just 30 employees - rarely challenges a product.

Consumers must be made aware of the real danger that arises from the many potentially harmful chemicals used in beauty products, because they do have a molecular weight that is low enough that they can penetrate the internal systems of the body. How much do you really know about your products?

The Top Cosmetic Chemistry Beasts

UREA (IMIDAZOLIDINYL) & DMDM HYDANTOIN

This substance is one of many preservatives that release formaldehyde. According to the Mayo Clinic, formaldehyde can irritate the respiratory system, cause skin reactions and trigger heart palpitations. Exposure to formaldehyde may cause joint pain, allergies, depression, headaches, chest pains, ear infections, chronic fatigue, dizziness and loss of sleep. It can also aggravate coughs and colds and trigger asthma. Serious side effects include weakening the immune system and cancer.

Formaldehyde releasing ingredients are very common in nearly all store brands of skin, body and hair care, antiperspirants, and nail polish.

MINERAL OIL

Baby oil is 100% Mineral Oil. Mineral oils have been found to be probably the single greatest cause of breakouts in women who use a new product. Manufactured from crude oil, mineral oil is basically a mixture of liquid hydrocarbon separated from petroleum. Dr. T.G. Randolph, an allergist, has found that this and many other cosmetic chemicals cause petrochemical hypersensitivity.

Used in many skin care products, this ingredient actually coats the skin just like plastic wrap, disrupting the skin's natural immune barrier and inhibiting its ability to breathe and absorb the Natural Moisture Factor (moisture and nutrition). As the body's largest organ of elimination, it is vital that the skin be free to release toxins. However, mineral oil impedes this process, allowing toxins to accumulate, which can promote acne and other disorders. It also slows down skin function and normal cell development, resulting in premature aging of the skin.

The allergic reactions can become quite serious over time leading to arthritis, migraines, hyperkinesis, epilepsy and diabetes. Mineral oil has a tendency to dissolve the skins' own natural oil, increasing dehydration, and should be avoided entirely.

CHLORINE

Even though you will not see Chlorine on personal care product labels, it is important for you to be aware of the need to protect your skin when bathing and washing your hair. Use products which remove chlorine from your skin and hair during cleansing.

According to Doris J. Rapp, M.D., author of Is This Your child's World?, exposure to chlorine in tap water, showers, pools, laundry products, cleaning agents, food processing (fruit, flour, meat, fish, vegetables), sewage systems and many others, can affect health by contributing to asthma, hay fever, anemia, bronchitis, circulatory collapse, confusion, delirium, diabetes, dizziness, irritation of the eye, mouth, nose, throat, lung, skin, and stomach, heart disease, high blood pressure, and nausea. It is also a possible cause of cancer.

FRAGRANCE

Fragrance goes straight into the limbic system of the brain. Their have been scans done of people's brains before and after being exposed to fragrance. Perfumes and fragrances are actually made of 5,000 hydrocarbons, which are all synthetics. There are no roses pressed into that beautiful bottle.

When a person's body begins to break down, the first thing that happens is they become sensitive to perfumes, room sprays, laundry detergents, etc. We are actually absorbing and breathing these in, and the Environmental Protection Agency lists them as causing nervous disorders and brain disorders, and they are investigating a connection between fragrance and multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Anything that a person is breathing in should be absolutely natural, and if you are using essential oils you must make sure that they have not been processed with some type of chemical solvent like propylene glycol or benzene.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL

Propylene glycol is used extensively for industrial and commercial purposes ranging from antifreeze in cars, dairies and breweries, to automatic brake fluids, to production of varnishes and synthetic resins.

The industry uses it to break down protein and cellular structure (what the skin is made of), yet it is found in most forms of make-up, hair products, lotions, after-shave, deodorants, mouthwashes, toothpaste, and is even in food processing.

Due to its ability to quickly penetrate the skin, The EPA requires workers to wear protective gloves, clothing and goggles when working with this toxic substance. PG's Material Safety Data Sheets warn against skin contact because PG has systemic consequences such as brain, liver and kidney abnormalities.

SODIUM LAURYL SULPHATE (SLS) & SODIUM LAURETH SULPHATE (SLES)

Used as detergents and surfactants, these closely related compounds are founds in car wash soaps, garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers - yet they are even more widely used as major ingredients in cosmetics, toothpaste, hair conditioner and about 90% of all shampoos and products that foam.

Mark Fearer, in an article "Dangerous Beauty", shares that "In tests, animals that were exposed to SLS experienced eye damage, along with depression, labored breathing, diarrhea, severe skin irritation and corrosion and even death ... according to the American College of Toxicology.”

"Studies indicate SLS kept young eyes from developing properly by possibly denaturing (dissolving) the proteins and not allowing for proper structural formation. This damage was permanent." Still other research has indicated SLS may be damaging to the immune system, especially within the skin. "Skin layers may separate and inflame due to its protein denaturing properties."

XENO-ESTROGENS

Women today have so many problems with their hormones being out of balance with PMS and menopausal symptoms, and this shouldn't be because it doesn't occur in Third World countries, China or Japan. Menopause is a North American disease and it may just be that we have created it through cosmetic use. We have a major problem with hormone mimickers like xeno-estrogens affecting our endocrine systems. A xeno-estrogen communicates with our cells as if it were an estrogen. Many ingredients in cosmetics have the ability to be a xeno-estrogen. If found in a shampoo, it can lower the sperm count in men! And any exposure between the ages of birth to about six years old can definitely alter a child's hormones. So I always say "Mothers if you want your boys to grow up to be cowboys don't put them in a bubble bath!"- Beauty to Die For: the Cosmetic Consequence - By Judi Vance.

AND . . . ADD THESE TO YOUR LIST AS WELL