Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Know Your Ingredients

Yesterday was an amazing day. We had a speaker from Eminence Organics (Warning: their website is crappy, but linking you to it is the responsible thing to do) and she spent over four hours explaining this line's philosophy and sharing product knowledge. Eminence began in Hungary and they use all organic and natural ingredients. No parabens or harsh chemicals. The ingredients are so natural that you can even eat their products (if you are really hungry). The best part is, they boast results. Results AND organic ingredients? Could this be true? I'm not sure yet, but I'm looking into it because this is the most excited I've ever been about a product line to date. I cook with as many organic ingredients as possible. I scrub my sinks and showers with plant based cleaners. Why wouldn't I want to wash my face with natural ingredients? Well, I've always been told that these "natural" products don't produce the results we want. Eminence is saying you can have it both ways. I purchased a couple of products (including a physical sunscreen) and will see how I like those. Updates to come.

The speaker's number one piece of advice was to "know your ingredients." It gives you power. Understanding the ingredients in products will help me to decipher the effective ingredients from the fillers. And that makes sense to me.

If you have a product you want me to research, please send me the name of it and I'll make it this week's exercise. Many companies print the ingredients on the back of their box, so what do you do when you get home and remove the product from it's packaging? You toss the box. You have no idea what the ingredients are unless you can find them online. If you have the ingredients, send them my way. If not, just give me the name of the product and I'll see if I can find out the ingredients on my own.

If no one e-mails me, I'll know I'm typing to the cyberspace gods. If you have 5 minutes, please respond and give me a homework assignment. I can't believe I'm actually asking for homework, but I really want to get better at knowing my ingredients.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Sunscreens accelerating cancer? I really freakin' hope not.

Remember how I said sorting through all the available information out there is confusing? Well, I just read an article about a recently published report stating that many sunscreens on the market may actually be accelerating cancer. Are you kidding me? I just got done preaching the benefits of sunscreen. I still think lathering on the SPF is necessary, but I think you should read the article and proceed with caution. I'll also do my best to summarize the findings on this blog.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) published a report stating that only 8% of the 500 products on the market are considered safe and effective to use. That's 39 of 500 sunscreens. Scary. You can read the press release which does a nice job explaining their findings. It also links you to other important information.

The EWG states that there are exaggerated Sun Protection Factor (SPF) claims out there. EG: SPF 100. Plus, some sunscreens include the ingredients oxybenzone and Vitamin A - now thought to be potentially harmful.

Oxybenzone helps to absorb UVA and UVB rays, ultimately protecting you from the sun's rays. However, it's a is a synthetic form of estrogen and has a hormone-disrupting compound that penetrates the skin and enters the bloodstream. Not good. Not good at all.

What's even scarier is that the FDA is investigating whether a form of Vitamin A, retinyl palmitate (found in 41% of sunscreens) can cause accelerated growth of skin tumors and lesions. The concern is that when it's applied to the skin and then exposed to sunlight, it may be increasing skin damage and elevating our cancer risk. The problem is that Vitamin A is known for it's anti-aging properties, so many companies add it to their products.

People are ticked off at the FDA because sunscreen regulations have never been finalized and it's been an ongoing battle since 1978. New regulations may not be issued for another year and a half, so protect yourself. Find sunscreens that don't include Vitamin A or Oxybenzone. Your best bet is a physical sunscreen which contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. These ingredients work as physical blockers that reflect UV rays and prevent them from striking the skin's surface. For more information about specific brands, you should take a look at the EWG's 2010 sunscreen guide. You can look up your sunscreen to see how potentially harmful it may be as well as see which products they recommend.

I looked up Dermalogica's Solar Booster SPF 30, which is my favorite sunscreen and it was ranked as a 7 on a scale of 10 (10 being the most harmful). It's not my favorite anymore. It's in the "red" category because it contains both potentially harmful ingredients I mention above. I just bought a brand new bottle and am going to try to return it and try something else.

Here are some tips:
  • Don't solely rely on sunscreen to protect you from the sun. Wear hats, protective clothing, and take cover in the shade as much as possible. Don't forget to protect your eyes and wear sunglasses
  • Choose sunscreens that contain the minerals zinc or titanium. Again, here's a list of the EWG's top sunscreens
  • Avoid sunscreens with Vitamin A and Oxybenzone. We don't know for sure that Vitamin A is a problem, but I plan to avoid it until the findings are confirmed. You may want to consider it too
  • Don't buy those sprays or powders because they're easier to ingest than creams
  • I think anything higher than SPF 30 has too many chemicals and doesn't provide much more sun protection
  • Remember than sunburns still increase the risk of skin cancer, so don't avoid sunscreen all together. Just be smart about what you choose
I hope this information is helpful. I'm going to be doing more research and will keep you posted on what I find. Contact me on this blog with any questions in the meantime.