A makeup moodling

My parents recently gave my daughter the heirloom mirror that hung in my bedroom when I was her age, and it brought back memories of the day a sampler of makeup arrived in the mail. I remember standing in front of that mirror to try it all on: 12 shades of eyeshadow, three different blushes, two eyeliners and six tiny lipsticks. All the other girls at school had been wearing makeup since grade seven, and here I was in grade ten with lots of catching up to do! I think I washed my face a dozen times so I could try all the different combinations.

Now I look back at that young woman, smile and shake my head. Sometimes I look at my own daughter the same way. There are days when she leaves the house and I'm thinking, "but you're so much prettier without all that goop on your eyes/face." Of course, my mother probably thought the same of me, but somehow, I doubt she worried at all about the chemical composition of what went on my skin. Back then, it wasn't an issue that anyone would give a second thought.

Lately, however, there have been more than a few news items about personal care/cosmetic products and the lack of attention that has been paid to their ingredients, some of which can possess low levels of toxicity that no one bothers to think about. As someone who subscribes to the David Suzuki Foundation's emails, I received a request to participate in a personal care survey a few months ago. Not having anything really pressing to accomplish that particular rainy day, I rounded up a few cosmetics, shampoos and lotions from our cupboards, and sat at the computer checking the survey boxes that correlated to the ingredient lists on my bottles. For the cosmetics, I had nothing to go on, as the ingredients were listed on long-since-recycled packaging, but I did my own research... and was somewhat appalled at my survey's overall results.

Keep in mind that I'm not the average woman who uses at least twelve personal care products per day. Most days, two (soap, toothpaste), some days, nine (if I decide to wear make up to church or to work, which generally, I don't, as I prefer to go casual, and no one has complained about my lack of cosmetic enhancement yet). If the average number of products used is twelve, then there are lots of people using eight times as much as I do... and when you look at the Suzuki Foundation's list of ingredients of concern and compare it to what is listed on your own products... well, it can be far more frightening than Halloween. Here's a link to the "Dirty Dozen" ingredients that we should try to avoid:

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/dirty-dozen-cosmetic-chemicals/index.php

The thing is, most of the products we use these days aren't necessary, when you really think about it. Our grandmothers got by without them. Yes, we need to keep our bodies clean and our skin from drying out completely in these cold dry prairie winters, but the rest of it?

Primer? Glitter? Moisturizer?
Anti-aging revitalizer?
Balm? Oil? Scrub? Wrap?
Fixer? Exfoliating mask?
Polish? Blush? Gloss? Straightener?
Lipstain? Bronzer? Mousse? Foundation?
Concealer? Powder? Lotion? Primer?
Toner? Firmer? Lifter? Liner?
Mascara? Shadow? Manicure?
Anti perspirant? Pedicure?
Cream? Laquer? Curl enhancer?
And a pondering on the increase in cancer?

I could go on, but I'll let Annie Leonard do it for me in her little video, The Story of Cosmetics.

While Annie isn't terribly scientific and uses more than a few scare tactics that are easily refuted (eg. the amount of lead in lipstick is minscule), she does briefly point out how silly society is for buying into products that supposedly improve us -- without giving a thought to what could be in them. Generally, the less extraneous stuff we have in our lives, the healthier we can be. Living simply is always the better choice.