by Dr. Natasha Zajmalowski ND: Proactive Healthcare

As women we know the value of beauty but often not the price. Yes, I know buffing, moisturizing, waxing, highlighting etc. can cost a fortune but it is a different price that I am referring to. Today we are discovering how insidious and disruptive beauty products are to our health. They alter our hormones, put our children’s health at risk, increase our chances of cancer and ruin our fragile environment.  The term anti-aging is a true paradox: beauty products have the potential of shortening our lives.

As women age, natural changes occur. Our skin loses moisture and reveals the shadows of our favourite expressions. Hair starts to lack lustre and even abandons its own color. By now, we have found our signature smell: petals, twigs mixed with caustic chemicals that announce we are in the room.

With age, the hormone pendulum starts to execute its wild swings and exaggerates this natural aging phenomenon. As we resort to hiding, altering and enhancing ourselves we are in fact aggravating and accelerating the aging process we are running from. Every single product we put on our skin, hair, nails, teeth, underarm, eyelashes and wrist crease enters our blood stream. Whether it is through the absorption of the skin, through inhalation or accidental ingestion (Where did you think that lipstick goes at the end of the day?) it all enters our precious bodies.

Be wary of things that “last all day long” and require industrial strength solvents to remove. That’s twice the poison. Once inside, our livers must begin the process of breaking down these compounds. It is true that we are equipped to handle “toxins” and have sophisticated mechanisms to contend with them, but never at this rate, dose or frequency. The effects are cumulative and our bodies can’t keep up. What unifies these beauty care products is their ability to change our hormone balance through xenoestrogens (or endocrine disruptors): man-made compounds that mimic the effect of our own estrogen. Most of these synthetic xenoestrogens are, like steroid hormones, fat-soluble.

This means that rather than leaving the body (as they would if they were water-soluble) these synthetic products accumulate in areas of the body where fat content is high - for example, breasts. They attach to hormone receptors and elicit reactions in the brain, heart, ovaries and liver. The outcome is an unpredictable instability in our hormone balance which can aggravate and even cause PMS, menopause, infertility, fibrocystic breast disease, endometriosis, fibroids, polycystic ovaries and cancer, specifically breast and ovarian.

When I was growing up I distinctly remember my mother saying that she didn’t start wearing make-up until she was thirty (and living in Canada). As a teenager, I took this as a challenge and decided I wanted to see if I could resist vanity and last longer than she did. Fortunately for me, I learned about the dangers of beauty care products before reaching the goal age. Now I know too much and am very careful about what I buy and what I use on my skin, hair and body. That said, being over thirty, I am seeing wrinkles, grey hair, and blotchy skin and yes, I am getting increasingly self conscious and disappointed that I should do something about it. I have chosen to learn about healthy alternatives.

After all, what is an aging woman to do: Forgo lipstick, mascara, perfume and those stylish highlights to save her health AND the environment? Doesn’t she have enough responsibility as it is? The truth is that reducing your exposure to these harmful chemicals can improve the quality of your life. If that’s not good enough, it can help the quality of your kid’s and unborn children’s lives. The implications of the hormonal effects caused by many of these chemicals run deep.

I am not questioning why we are using beauty products, but what we are using. It is essential that we become more aware of the quality of what we put on (and in) our bodies.

A law was passed in Canada a few years ago that made it mandatory to list all ingredients in beauty care products. This was an imperative step in allowing us to make informed decisions. I am sure many of you have tried to read your product labels only to find very long, “need a degree in chemistry to understand” kind of words. It may also feel frustrating to think that you have one more thing you need to be responsible for on top of the seemingly insurmountable pile you already have.

It’s true, the choice is yours. At this time, you need to wisely traverse the fragrant aisles and know what you are looking for and what to avoid. As we learn more about the dangers of these chemicals and more women and men make an effort to stay away from them, only safe and healthy alternatives will remain. For right now, we are carrying this responsibility on our shoulders. Websites like www.lesstoxicguide.ca and www.cosmeticdatabase.com have made it easier, so use these tools until healthy beauty alternatives are the norm. As you run out of what you are using now, seek a natural alternative.

At the end of the day, isn’t it true that for beauty it’s what’s on the inside that counts? Just make sure that what’s inside isn’t the lipstick you are inadvertently eating.

Filed under: Author Dr. Natasha, Spring Chick