What May Be Hiding In Your Cosmetics?

 "Modern cosmetics contain a host of dubious ingredients which would be more at home in a test tube than on our faces. These synthetic ingredients are inexpensive, stable and have a long shelf life. Manufacturers love them, but the results from long-term use could be deadly."  Dr. Kim Erickson

A few years ago I was an owner operator of a small but thriving hair studio in New Zealand.  For several years I enjoyed it, it provided me with a full-time income while being a full-time mother.  But then allergies in different forms became part of my daily existence, and that's on top of recurrent migraine and dermatitis that I became accustomed to.  But the worst was the one day I woke up to have my regular early morning shower only to find myself freaking out.  As I lathered the expensive shampoo on my hair, my fingertips felt my scalp instead of hair!  Alopecia areata;  it's physical effect alone was devastatingly enough for me to deal with but the emotional turmoil that came with it was even worse.  I was advising women how to look after their head of hair while I was doing everything I can to hide the big bald spot on my head that seemed to grow bigger every single day.

Nothing helped; the expensive visits to specialist hardly did anything to help my hair re-grow.  I took the allergy test my GP advised me to take but apparently I was not allergic to any of the ones (mainly food) I was tested against.  My face was by that time full of blemishes and cracks especially on the side of my nose and my mouth.  So bad that it oozed and  it bled all day and my skin flaked like that of a flaky crust.  The combination of emotional stress my body was getting from my not so ideal marriage and the physical and  psychological effects of chronic exposures to chemicals and cosmetics brought me down to tears one day.

To cut the story short; I left my marriage, completely gave up hairdressing and the result was hair growing of my bald spot within three months time; my facial skin rashes and cracks totally gone in six months time. Although the effect of the stress and the lengthy exposure to chemicals might have cause my susceptibility to systemic candidiasis; I have managed to learn from all these.

In the book "Drop Dead Gorgeous" by Kim Erickson; she teaches men and women about the hidden dangers of cosmetics.  In there, she has suggested that we take a closer look at what we are really buying. She urges us to read ingredients of products that we buy, to be aware of what's safe and what's not in cosmetics.  Here below are her nine deadly ingredients, please find time to google them if you are unsure of what they are and what they can or cannot do to you:

1. Coal Tar - poisonous in its pure state and potentially carcinogenic
2. Formaldehyde - found in nail polish and nail hardeners, soap, shampoo and hair growth preparations
3. Lead - in any form is poisonous and it can be found in some hair dyes and lipsticks.  Lead because it is readily absorbed in the skin, can accumulate in human bones and can be released months or even years later.
4. Nitrosamines - are cautionary chemicals because they are not a primary ingredient in cosmetics.  It is carcinogenicn and can contaminate shampoos or other products.
5. Phenylenediamine - found in permanent dyes  (in oxidizing agents); it can result into photosensitivity, can cause eczema, bronchial asthma, gastritis, skin irritations and even death.
6. Propylene Glycol: an anti-freeze ingredients which is also an ingredient of of brake-fluid.  It is considered as a neuro-toxin.
7. Quaternary Ammonium compounds: used as preservatives, a surfactant and a germicide in beauty products.
8. SLS  (Sodium Laurel Sulfate) - found in most shampoos, creams and some toothpaste, SLS is a detergent or surfactant used as a foaming agents in home and personal care products.
9. Talc - on the surface this ingredient seems benign but underneath the silky smooth feeling lies a potentially deadly substance.