About three weeks ago I got invited to participate in special event at Saks Fifth Avenue called “Ageless Beauty.” A panel of four of us women of different age groups (I would be representing the baby boomers, of course) were invited to give reviews of nine beauty and skin care products. I was a little bit wary but it sounded like fun so I said, “yes.”
A week later a courier delivered a beautiful Saks box filled with very expensive, high end products. It was like Christmas in February. But the first thing I did was pull out all the ingredient lists and get onto the environmental working group’s Skin Deep website. One by one I typed in all those multisyllabic chemical ingredients. Skin Deep rates their toxicity on a scale of 1 to 10 based on research: 1-3 is no big threat, 4 to 6 is “pay attention,” and 7 to 10 is fahgetaboutit…
To my great surprise the majority of ingredients in just about every one of these products scored a “1.” Now, since each product contained dozens of ingredients that could mean that over time, even in small amounts, they could become toxic. And if you use multiple products with synthetics you are multiplying your exposure to chemicals. These harmful effects will vary from person to person. (I have a genetic mutation that makes it difficult for me to 
eliminate toxins so I am extremely wary about what I put on my skin.) And I also know that some “natural” ingredients can be toxic allergens to some people too.
However, since I committed to be on the panel I felt honor bound to at least try the products. I had to admit that a lot of them really work well. My skin texture did improve. But here’s the deal: Many included perfume. It’s one of the most toxic and ubiquitous ingredients in personal care products. It’s often listed as “parfum” (as if saying it in French makes it less egregious.) Unless from an entirely natural organic source, these fragrances are often derived from petrochemicals. They can contain phthalates, benzene derivatives, aldehydes, and other substances that are known hormone disruptors, allergens, and can cause everything from cancer to birth defects. A lot of them are on the EPA’s hazardous waste list. What to do? Well I simply didn’t use the ones that had a lot of perfume. In one product it was listed as the very last ingredient, so in a small amount, but I wondered why they needed it at all.
Another product was a neck lifting cream (I had some hopes for that one) but one of the active ingredients was oxybenzone, a chemical sunscreen, which scores 8 on Skin Deep site. It also contains two parabens. In a 2004 study from the Journal of Applied Toxicology 18 out of 20 breast tumors showed high concentrations of parabens, known estrogen mimickers in the body.
So, I arrived at the panel discussion conflicted. I liked all the people involved and I know that everyone is just trying to make a buck. (Retail, especially high end retail, is in the toilet right now.) But I had to be true to myself. I made my concerns known ahead of time, so they said they wouldn’t ask me about the worst offenders. My silence, when those products came up in the panel discussion, spoke volumes…especially when it came to the neck cream. (Really, why would a millennial gush over a neck cream?) But after the event, at the “mingle,” I told some women my concerns.
So, although Saks holds these events every few months, I think that was my last hurrah. I’m now trying out some non-toxic products. I’ll report back after I use them for a while. In the meantime, here’s to the real, NATURAL you.
BTW – I’ve been asked to be a guest on two new video summits. The first one is about finding a perfect mate. I don’t know why they keep asking me to do these kinds of things as I’ve been happily married for 25 years (next month) but the hostess, Mariana Badra is delightful. I’ll be sending out another email about it and you can just ignore it or pass it along to someone who could use it.
Andrea’s books and new video series:
