Get The Lead Out!

I hope some of you have been following the recent developments with lipsticks. Over 400 different lipsticks were independently tested and MANY of them contain lead! The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has been very effective in rallying community support across the country for their efforts to change the labeling on our cosmetics to reflect what is REALLY in them. With our concern about lead levels in paints we use, can you imagine how concerned we should be about a product that goes on our lips, potentially into our mouth, and kissing our babies! Throw out those old tubes of lipstick that have been in your cosmetic drawer for years. Think twice about purchasing the "color rich" type lipsticks that are guaranteed to stay on all day. Many of them contain lead, and there is no safe level of lead that has been established for human exposure. Keep following the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. You can go to their website to learn much more about what they are doing to make our personal products healthier and establish a system of governing cosmetic manufacturers that forces them to disclose what is actually in their products and remove the harmful ingredients many of them now contain. Let's make our world a safer place by doing what we can to protect our own health!

Christmas Gifts

Wow - things got really busy there for awhile! Just a quick reminder to pay attention to your Christmas gifts! For women, it's pretty common to receive several scented lotions during the holidays. As kind as it is that someone thought of you and gave you a gift, think really hard about what you want to do with it. Read the labels! If it is full of fragrance and toxic chemicals on the Dirty 30 list, send a thank-you note to the giver, and secretly chuck it! For years, I would have at least 10 different bottles of smelly lotion on hand at any given time, and would end up keeping them for a LONG time because I would alternate which one I used. Toxic chemicals + sitting around for a long time = trouble! Even ingredients that may not start out being harmful over time can turn into a different compound. I actually had one make-up item for 6 years that I got from QVC and it still wasn't empty when I finally threw it away -- yikes! And I had been using it every day. I have no idea what was in that stuff, but it just wouldn't run out. Now that the holidays are over, pay attention to what you are putting in your make-up drawer. Look past the sparkly containers and cutesy labels. Read that teeny, tiny print and make sure you aren't rubbing garbage all over your body and face every day. Check it or chuck it!!! Happy New Year!