Lethal Injection

I have known for years not to trust "health care" and cosmetic companies.  When I was 14 I started buying Tom's of Maine toothpaste and seeking out more natural moisturizers.  But I am a super-sucker for marketing and advertising, and quickly pushed aside the info I'd read about the toxins and contaminants companies put in their beauty and skin care products.  Also a tube of Crest on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart is cheaper than a $7 tube of Tom's of Maine cinnamon toothpaste.

So, as I am very good at doing, I pushed the info to a corner of my brain and have kept it there until now.

I was listening to Gillian Deacon, author of "There's Lead in Your Lipstick", being interviewed on CBC Radio (Good God in heaven I adore CBC radio).  I was sitting in the parking lot at Shoppers Drug Mart, the rain drizzling on the windshield, and I couldn't get out until I'd listened to the rest of the interview.  Let's just say the items I'd planned on buying at SDM did not come home with me.  As I listened to Gillian talk about so many of the things I'd already known, I felt that I had to listen to this information.  Then she said it.  She said "You know, there's lead in our lipstick, but because lead is considered a toxin instead of an inGREdient, companies are not required to list it in the ingredient list."

EXCUSE ME?


That was it.  I came home, threw out my $5 tubes of Revlon and Rimmel, cheap makeup removers, and eyeshadows full of carcinogenic talc.  The thought of the toxins leaching through my eyelid skin is totally freaking me out.  Obviously you can't ditch all your makeup at once unless you've got the money to go and totally re-stock, but I've started the process.  I went down to QuarterMaster in Wortley (Good God in heaven I adore Wortley Village) to see what they carried along the lines of natural, organic makeup.

Lavera.  Lavera NaturKosmetik- yes, it's German.  I can spell it with "K"s and it's legit, not cheezy.  (Krazy Kwilts anyone?  Buh.)

Fabulous.

I bought a chocolate-y brown eyeliner, and an awesome lipstick ... a vibrant pinkey-purple in a sexy black tube... loving it.  Best lipstick I have ever owned.  Goes on like silk, feels amazing, and lasts for hours.  And the liner?  Smooth.  AND it has a little blending sponge on the other end.  And the price is no more than the Lise Watier liner I buy at SDM.  In fact, cheaper.  The lipstick is more costly than Rimmel, but cheaper than the luxury brands.  The price to our well-being and family's well-being?  Priceless.  I am choosing to buy fewer products, but ones that are much higher quality, and that won't give me scary diseases.

http://www.lavera.com/


Folks- ditch your Rimmel makeup remover and go and get yourself a tube of Green Beaver all-natural makeup remover.  I could not believe how little I had to use.  I just moistened (hate that word) one of those makeup-remover cotton pad thingies, put a tiny bit of the GB remover, and that's all I needed for very easy, quick and complete removal of eyeshadows, liner, pencil and mascara.  Unreal.  And cheaper than the expensive crap I'd bought at the drugstore that all the models say they love.

Suck on THAT.

The couple who started up the Green Beaver Company (Canadian, from eastern Ontario,  love that) were both scientists who quit their jobs and started the Green Beaver company so their kids would have healthy body washes and skincare.  I had to get past the name of the company, and the fact that it looks kind of outdoors-y and woodsy (HATE)... I like my tubes and potions to be pretty and pink and black and gold and everything.  So I had to put that aside.  I don't like that the makeup remover is in a tube like toothpaste.  But you know, I can deal because holy FRIGG it works and I don't feel like I'm burning my eyes every night when I take my makeup off, and giving myself macular degeneration and who knows what else.  I need to smarten up and deal, and there that is.

You KNOW that when I get on a bandwagon about something, I'm very pushy about it (hopefully in a hilarious way), but seriously, I am going to be driving everyone CRAZY with this. This poisoning and deception needs to stop.


Here are some links to (many Canadian) companies who sell all-organic, truly natural cosmetics and skincare and laundry products:

http://www.lavera.com/

http://www.greenbeaver.com/  

http://greenerchoices.org/ 

http://www.leapingbunny.org/indexcus.php 

 http://safecosmetics.org/

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ 

 http://www.intelligentnutrients.com/

http://drhauschka.com/ 

http://aubrey-organics.com/

http://www.drbronner.com/  (creepiest looking guy ever!)

http://www.actnaturals.com/ 

http://www.afterglowcosmetics.com/rh/Organic-cosmetics-Canada.asp

http://www.tintsofnatureusa.com/index.html 

That should do until my next rant... which will be more raving about all the amazing new SAFE and fun and gorgeous products we've bought. In the meanwhile we will be purging our cancer-causing makeup, Head n' Shoulders, moisturizers, cleaners- you name it.  GONZO.