3

Beauty Secrets the
Cosmetic Industry Doesn’t
Want You to Know

We’re moving on now to the routines we go through every morning when we prepare for our day. Many of us never consider the products we use, what they’re made with, and how they might be affecting our lives. We’ve seen that when God creates something, it blesses us in many ways. But when humans get busy in a laboratory, anything can happen. Some of the products you are using may be undoing what you’re trying to do by reading this book and embracing a new, healthier view of beauty. Some of the products you’re using may be harming your body, and sending quiet messages that undermine His affirming love for you just as you are.

There are secrets lurking in your bathroom. Every day, you’re slathering yourself in products that have been linked to breast cancer, fertility problems, hormone disruptions, and other assorted ailments. They’re made from slaughterhouse waste and chemicals that are also found in engine degreasers, metal polish, and toilet bowl cleaner. And you paid top dollar for them.

“What?” you ask. “Everything I buy is straight off the shelf at my local drugstore or department store. It’s safe. It’s from well-known companies.”

Hold onto your hand cream, ladies. I am about to reveal the secrets that the cosmetic industry may not want you to know.

Let’s begin with a pop quiz. What does this list have in common?

Turtle oil

Chicken embryo

Horse blood

Pigskin

Human placenta

Pig brains

Cow amniotic fluid

According to the FDA, these are raw materials actually used in certain beauty products.¹ The FDA states, “A cosmetic manufacturer may essentially use any raw material in a product and market it without prior FDA approval.”²

Are you sure you know what’s in your bathroom cabinets?

SECRETS ABOUT THE FDA

The FDA does not regulate the cosmetic industry as we expect it would. Beauty care companies do not have to prove a product is safe before putting it on the market. They don’t have to get approval for using pig brains and selling it to you as a new miracle treatment, guaranteed to prevent wrinkles, eliminate cellulite, and perk up breasts. In fact, they don’t even have to tell you the truth. The FDA also admits that “cosmetic claims, even those considered ‘puffery,’ are allowed without scientific substantiation.”³

It’s bad enough that we’re being misled and lied to so we’ll use products that may not work. It’s bad enough we’re being sold products that began as industrial waste. But even worse, some of these products may have health risks. Here is the final blow against our assumption of protection: only 11 percent of cosmetic ingredients have been assessed for safety by the cosmetic industry.⁴

Only 11 percent of cosmetic ingredients have been assessed for safety by the cosmetic industry.

So to sum up the state of the industry, a beauty products company can put almost anything in a product, make almost any false claim they want, and sell it to you for an exorbitant price. And it’s all legal.

But how risky is it to use a face cream with a minor amount of a potential toxin? Perhaps the risk is indeed very minute. But we don’t just use face cream, do we? We use cleanser, moisturizers, creams, anti-wrinkle lotions, sunscreens, body lotions, deodorants, hair mousse, hairspray, and lip plumpers. This is all before we begin to apply our cosmetics! One tiny amount of an ingredient perhaps would not be so troublesome, but we use much more than one product a day. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics sums up the situation nicely:

The chemicals in any one consumer product alone are unlikely to cause harm. But unfortunately, we are repeatedly exposed to industrial chemicals from many different sources on a daily basis, including cosmetics and personal care products. Some of these chemicals are linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems that are on the rise in the human population. Some chemicals found in a variety of cosmetics—including phthalates, acrylamide, formaldehyde and ethylene oxide—are listed by EPA and the state of California as carcinogens or reproductive toxins. Major loopholes in federal law allow the $35 billion cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products with no required testing, no monitoring of health effects, and inadequate labeling requirements. ⁵

Could our constant exposure to these chemicals be behind some of the health conditions that plague us? Are we unwittingly increasing our risk of breast cancer and other ailments? Consider this:

Over the years there has been a steady rise in women’s health conditions such as breast cancer, fibroids, endometriosis, miscarriage, and infertility. There also has been a rise in conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and hypothyroidism, which mostly affect women. Studies show that human exposure to chemicals in our environment such as pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and manufacturing byproducts, can cause these endocrine disrupting conditions.⁶

According to the FDA, only eight ingredients are banned from cosmetics in the United States. The European Union has banned more than 1,000. Industry expert Kathryn Higgins encourages us that “we all need to become educated on the health effects of ingredients in our cosmetics and household products because we can’t assume the cosmetic industry and government agencies are doing this for us.”

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Let’s take a closer look at a handful of beauty product chemicals suspected as dangerous to our health, and you can begin screening your beauty products for these ingredients.

PARABENS

A preservative used in almost all beauty products, parabens have been linked to breast cancer. Parabens have been found in breast cancer tumors.⁷ It is still unclear whether parabens simply accumulate in tumors or actually incite tumor growth.

While there is a raging debate over whether parabens are safe, one fact is clear: parabens, which are petroleum by-products, have the ability to accumulate in human tissue. You can expect a number of studies to appear in the next few years on the issue, but for now, it does seem wise to limit your exposure to parabens whenever possible.

The irony is, every time I did a monthly breast self-exam, I stepped out of the shower and slathered on a body lotion that was potentially increasing my risk of breast cancer.

To show you just how pervasive these parabens are, I challenge you to check the products in your bathroom. If you see any ingredient that ends in the word paraben, you’ve been exposed. I checked my cabinets and found a total of eleven products with parabens. The irony is, every time I did a monthly breast self-exam, I stepped out of the shower and slathered on a body lotion that was potentially increasing my risk of breast cancer.

Remember, parabens are used almost universally in beauty products: More than 13,000 products registered with the American Food and Drug Administration contain parabens. A survey of 215 cosmetics found that 99 per cent of those designed to be left on the skin contained parabens.⁸

Parabens are cheap. They make cosmetics more affordable and prevent bacteria from growing in your product. They prolong the long shelf life that keeps costs down for manufacturers and consumers alike. There are alternatives, such as a few fruit-based preservatives on the market, but these are expensive to manufacture and can drive a product’s cost out of reach for some consumers.

If manufacturers could cheaply swap out parabens for another preservative, they probably would. However, as one industry insider told me, you can’t swap one preservative for another. Changing the preservative affects everything about a product, including the color and feel. It’s going to be a financial catastrophe for manufacturers if parabens are proven to be unsafe. Almost every product on the market will have to be reformulated, at an enormous cost. In the next chapter, I’ll show you some luxurious switches you can make that will limit your exposure to parabens.

DEA

The National Toxicology Program found an association between the cosmetic ingredient DEA (and DEA-related ingredi-ents) when topically applied and cancer in laboratory animals.⁹ DEA is diethanolamine. A closely related chemical is TEA, or tri-ethanolamine.

PHTHALATES

A Harvard study has linked phthalates with damage to sperm.¹⁰ This may, in turn, increase male infertility rates and birth defects.¹¹ You may have seen labels on children’s toys promising to be “phthalate free.” The scare was significant enough to prompt manufacturers to get rid of any phthalates in toys that could be chewed on or handled by babies. However, the cosmetic industry continues to put them in products that adults, including women of childbearing age, use daily, and the CDC has reported elevated levels of phthalates excreted in the urine of women of childbearing age.¹²

Phthalates include dibutylphthalate (DBP), dimethylphtha-late (DMP), and diethyl phthalate (DEP). Because these can be used in fragrance, and fragrances don’t have to list the individual components, these toxins are not always easy to detect on a cosmetic label—you must resort to calling the manufacturer or checking the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics database. A website for this database is included in the Resource Guide.

OTHER POTENTIAL TOXINS WORTH MENTIONING

Other potential toxins may be used in products. Recently, a cellulite cream was introduced to the market that contains esculin. Esculin, according to the Mayo Center, is “associated with significant toxicity and death.”¹³ But of course, the manufacturer is under no obligation to conduct safety testing prior to selling the product, and consumers don’t know if applying this toxin to this skin will produce health risks similar to those as ingested.

Two other ingredients in particular are the subject of much debate. Some feel they have hidden health hazards, but they are widely used in the cosmetic industry and believed by many experts to be safe. Still, you may want to be aware of them:

1. Sodium lauryl sulfate. This is a detergent used in shampoos and soaps. It can be harsh and can cause irritated skin and a flaking or irritated scalp. However, it is inexpensive and therefore attractive for manufacturers. Almost every shampoo and body wash I checked at retail contained it. If you struggle with dry or irritated skin, a wise step would be to seek out alternative products. I recently bought a famous-brand bath soap that promised to be “detergent free.” To my surprise, sodium lauryl sulfate was the major ingredient listed. But since it’s legal to mislead consumers, I shouldn’t have been surprised. (As a special note, if you are African-American or Hispanic, your skin may be especially sensitive to irritation from this ingredient.¹⁴)

2. Petroleum. Petroleum and petroleum products (mineral oil, petrolatum, petroleum) are used in many cosmetic preparations, and there is a lingering debate over whether petroleum products are completely safe or effective. Advocates for banning petroleum say it does not allow skin cell turnover and increases premature aging, and that contaminants from the manufacturing process can cause a health risk.

The scientific community has determined that petroleum is, however, an effective barrier moisturizer: that is, it forms a barrier that does not release moisture from the skin and protects it from the elements. You should consider where petroleum comes from, how it is made, and decide whether switching to another body oil would make sense for you: Unrefined petroleum contains natural gas, gasoline, benzene, kerosene, diesel fuel, and tars. During the refining process, the differing weights between the components separate themselves out and manufacturers create the different final petroleum products, including refined petroleum for use in medicine and personal care.¹⁵ Much of the debate about petroleum’s safety for our skin centers around this process, because it is suspected that toxic contaminants can hitch their way into the petroleum.

While the debate rages on, my own pediatrician warned me against using petroleum-based products on my daughter, who suffers from eczema, specifically telling us to avoid baby oil. His opinion is that baby oil, because it is based on mineral oil, dries skin out more than it replenishes it. I have experienced this myself, and perhaps you have too. Have you applied a moisturizer and about an hour later, felt your skin was dry again? Thankfully God has supplied some amazing natural moisturizers that nourish your skin, heal it, and have been well-studied and proven to work. They’re minimally processed, packed with antioxidants, and much less expensive than commercial moisturizers. (I’ll give you more details in a later chapter and tell you where you can purchase the oils.)

CHEMICALS DOING DOUBLE DUTY

Even in familiar, trusted brands, we simply don’t know what we’re really using. The simplest of products can contain an enormous number of chemicals. These chemicals aren’t just used in cosmetics, either—they have double lives. My former “gentle” eye makeup remover contains chemicals also found in antifreeze, pesticide, toilet bowl cleaner, furniture stripper, tire cleaner, and gas treatments.

My former “gentle” eye makeup remover contains chemicals also found in antifreeze, pesticide, toilet bowl cleaner, furniture stripper, tire cleaner, and gas treatments.

My former favorite daytime moisturizer, which promised to regenerate my skin’s appearance, contains chemicals also used in battery cleaner, color-safe bleach, Pine-Sol^®, concrete primer, and metal polish.

The more you know about what you’re buying, the less pretty you feel. The problem isn’t chemicals—after all, you could say we’re made of chemicals—but the problem is with synthetic chemicals that may be affecting us in ways we don’t yet understand.

THE GROSS-OUT FACTOR

Have you ever bought a lipstick or skin cream that promised it was enriched with collagen? Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Maybe, until you learn that collagen can be manufactured from slaughterhouse waste. Sources for collagen include pigskin, cowskin, and, in the case of “marine collagen,” fish scales.

Ingredients manufactured from slaughterhouse waste may include:

Tallow

Oleic acid

Glycerin

Collagen

Keratin

Gelatin

There are currently twenty-five facilities in the United States that convert slaughterhouse waste into raw materials for cosmetics.¹⁶ But getting information about the waste is difficult at best. If you see any of these ingredients on the label, you won’t know if they came from slaughterhouse waste or were synthetically created. Many of the manufacturers don’t even know. The companies that supply raw materials to the company may not divulge that information. Your best bet is to look for labels that say “No Animal By-Products,” or “100 Percent Vegan.”

KEEP IN MIND

Whatever you apply on the skin can be absorbed into the body. Nicotine and birth control patches work on this principle. Applying beauty products may allow any ingredient to be absorbed into the skin and into the bloodstream. Many beauty products are specifically engineered to penetrate the skin’s barrier to deliver the chemicals and create “results.”

We just don’t know what effects these products have, long-term. But testing would require millions of dollars, and time, which beauty care companies simply don’t have in an age that thrives on introducing a new product every few months.

“BUT I USE ALL-NATURAL PRODUCTS”

That’s what you think.

But just because a label says the word natural, don’t assume it’s good for your skin. Wil Baker, an organics expert, told me, “The word ‘natural’ on a label is virtually meaningless.” Another industry expert, organic chemist Kimberly Sayer, echoes this. “The FDA allows a product to be labeled legally as ‘natural’ if only 3 percent of the ingredients are natural.” That other 97 percent of ingredients may, in fact, be synthetic chemicals, including petroleum waste products.

There are many companies today that aggressively market products as natural that are using paraben preservatives, petroleum by-products, and other noxious ingredients.

Other “meaningless” terms on beauty products include:

Organic: There are no federal regulations for what constitutes an “organic” cosmetic. “Organic” beauty products may in fact be loaded with synthetic chemicals.

Alcohol free: According to the FDA, this “traditionally means [the products] do not contain ethyl alcohol (or grain alcohol). Cosmetics products, however, may contain other alcohols, such as cetyl, stearyl, cetearyl, or lanolin.” ¹⁷

Fragrance free: The FDA says this “implies that [the product] has no perceptible odor. Fragrance ingredients may be added to a fragrance-free cosmetic to mask any offensive odor.” ¹⁸

Hypo-allergenic: This implies certain ingredients known for causing negative reactions are not present. There are no federal standards for this term and companies may use it as they please.

Dermatologist-tested: A dermatologist most likely did patch tests on human skin to see if the product caused a reaction. It doesn’t mean the product is free of chemicals that may cause long-term health concerns.

Pediatrician or dermatologist recommended: In some cases, a doctor was paid to endorse a product.

“BUT ORGANICS COMPANIES USE PRESERVATIVES TOO”

Of course they do: milk left on the kitchen counter spoils, and so do many natural ingredients. Preservatives aren’t the enemy, and neither are chemicals. What we should object to is any ingredient with known health issues. There are natural products that don’t require preservatives, and there are natural preservative systems available to manufacturers.

As you begin this journey, you may not want to change everything in your routine. That’s okay. I haven’t, either. Going natural for one product does not obligate you to go natural with every product. Often, however, seeing a difference in your appearance will make you curious enough to try more, but that’s the fun of the journey.

Women haven’t been taught to read beauty labels . . . until now. I predict that a label revolution is going to take place in America: just as women have been taught how to read food labels and make wise choices, women will begin to look more closely at the ingredients of their beauty products. Knowledge is power.

A few years ago, trans fats were in thousands of grocery items. Scientists knew how dangerous these were to our health, but they were cheap fats with long shelf life, so the food industry kept using them. As the public educated themselves, demand for products that were “trans fat free” began to capture the attention of manufacturers. If they wanted to sell their products, they had to remove the trans fats. Today, the companies must clearly label the amount of trans fat in every product, and many products boast that they are trans fat free. Companies didn’t make the switch because these fats were bad for us—they made the switch because they risked losing business.

When women are given the knowledge of what they’re buying, they make different decisions, and the industry responds.

BEAUTIFUL, NATURALLY

We’re spending billions of dollars a year on products that are potentially harmful and make unsubstantiated claims. That’s money we can all use in better ways. In this book, I’ll teach you how to replace hundreds of dollars’ worth of commercial products with ancient remedies that really work. These products are backed up with scientific studies and are safe, natural, and healthy. In fact, these products are so healthy, doctors even recommend eating many of them every day! (When’s the last time you found a recipe on the back of your drugstore moisturizer?)

Every woman deserves to feel beautiful, no matter how much money is in her wallet, and no matter what the magazines say. Oddly, many of us would understand the need to throw out a Ouija board or a pornographic magazine. We understand how those objects contaminate a life. But have we ever considered how beauty products are souring our spirits? When they’re sold by creating doubts about our desirability, about our worth and appearance, they’re trespassing on our inheritance. In their world, aging is to be avoided at all costs, fat is the enemy, and beauty is just a commodity. Any ingredient is acceptable as long as it promises beauty. Every time you pick up that package, whether you are conscious of it or not, you’re reinforcing that message internally. That’s another great reason to consider incorporating more natural beauty alternatives into your regimen.

We’re paying high prices for advertising and marketing.

Natural products that we feature in this book don’t have ad campaigns with the mega-wattage of an international cosmetic company. But starting today, you’re going to be spending your money on product, not promotion. No ad ever improved your skin. No television commercial ever prevented a single wrinkle. Don’t waste your money on what will never reach your skin.

Besides, God doesn’t need a slick ad campaign. He’s already got one, and it runs 24/7:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands;

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge. (Ps. 19:1–2 NIV)

Who can top what God has created? I checked the label of my former favorite body lotion (one that had been potentially exposing me to the risk of breast cancer), and it had no less than thirty ingredients, all formulated to try and achieve a lasting feeling of moisture when applied to the skin. In the next chapter, I’m going to show you a natural moisturizer that is simply amazing—and it has exactly one ingredient. No matter how many hours scientists spend in a lab, there’s just nothing better than God’s handiwork.