Living a life of chemicals
Recently my wife started to use cosmetics, and being aware of how most cosmetics are using toxic and carcinogenic ingredients, I embarked on a search for safe cosmetics.
The search led to 1 brand of cosmetic, and a much better knowledge in personal care products.
For a start, let’s begin with some education. Do a google search on “cosmetics dangerous ingredients“, and start reading. Or you can get this book “The Safe Shopper’s Bible“, if you are skeptical of what you read on the Internet. Keep a lookout for the most common ingredients.
The ingredients’ names can be daunting as most of them are chemical names, and most of us are not used to them. But if you start gradually by cross referencing your product’s ingredients to the chemical list, you’ll slowly get used to it. Well, as your concerns grow, your mind will start learning quickly.
So I’m pretty familiar with the ingredients now, and it’s freaking me out. Practically everything that I use on a daily basis is a chemical tub that can trigger off cancer in my body. Although all manufacturers claim that the amount used in their products is “negligible”, “too little to cause any harm”, “with in safe limits as specified by institutions”, the increasing statistics of people getting cancers is telling a different story. The problem is that all the products add up can become “significant”, “too much”, or “outside the safe limits”. Who’s to know? You are supposed to know. Not the manufacturer. If you use toothpaste, facial wash, shampoo, soap, body wash, hand wash, all in one day, and it exceeds the safe limits, it’s really your fault.
So how do we know? Actually, I don’t know. There’s no way for me to measure the amount of chemicals that I expose myself to in a day.
The only way is to use products that do not use such chemicals. Is it possible? Yes. My mum told me that back in my grandfather’s days, toothpaste was a simple home-made paste, made from baking soda and sea salt.
So I embarked on a search for safer products, and it’s a tough mission! Most of the cosmetics and personal care products in Singapore contain these chemicals.
So far, I have found one cosmetics which use minerals for its foundations, blush and shadows. Check out Everyday Minerals.
I’m still searching for the alternatives to personal care products. I’ll update this post if I find one. Good health to you!
Juice Bar 
Hmmm….The alternatives are (normally) very much more expensive than the normal mass produced ones.
You know ,it sounds like you are going back to the natural or the farmer’s way of living… It ain’t gonna be easy going back to the simple life without all the chemicals.
Mass produced chemicals are cheaper to produce. Chem A + Chem B = Chem C. Filter out other by-products.
Safer alternatives usually use natural ingredients which should be organic grown. It is more labour intensive to harvest the fruits from which essential oils are extracted. Furthermore, these products won’t keep on the shelf as long as the mass-produced one because they do not contain preservatives.
But how much does it cost to treat cancer? A lot more.
I had an uncle who had liver tumor. After discovering the tumor, he lived a life of healthy vegan living by eating only organic vegetables and taking health supplements like wheat-grass. He refused to be operated on, for reasons I do not know. After 10 years, the tumor shrunk. Many were amazed and were optimistic of him winning the battle against the tumor. But in the end, he gave up the fight. I think I know why, but it’s personal to him. He went back to “normal” living. A life of eating meat and non-organic vegetables. Within a year, the tumor claimed his life.
The points of the story are:
1. Using organic stuff seems to make a lot of difference.
2. Battle against cancer is long, with lots of perseverance required.
Disclaimer for the story:
1. I am not claiming that I know what is the cause of cancer. Nobody seems to know as of now.
2. I am not claiming that consumption of organic food can cure cancer. For treatments of cancer, please consult your doctor.
Now I look at the daily use of these chemicals as Russian roulette. If I can remove the number of bullets from the roulette, the chances of me getting cancer is lower. I don’t deny that there’s still the chance of getting it, but I can try to reduce the chances. I think it’s a lot cheaper and easier than having to treat the bullet wound.
Hi,
How’s your search for chemical-free cosmetics? I was reading my monthly dosage of magazines, and found something you may be looking for, and it’s right here in Singapore.
Have you heard of “YoungBloods”? I read it is a brand of cosmetics, made up of minerals. It sounds like what you have been hunting. The shop can be located at Camden Medical Centre, 13th floor. Take Joyce there for a tour.
The website is,
http://www.camdenmedical.com/index.html
DawnStarBeam: Yeah, I have found a chemical-free cosmetics. It’s Everyday Minerals. You can order directly from their website, and they will deliver to Singapore. They have samples too! 🙂