Did you know that some of our most intimate items in our purse and bathroom are hazardous to our health and hurt our beauty in the long term? Wrinkle creams and lotions actually aren’t approved by the government or the FDA… and to top it all off, cosmetic companies only have to list intended ingredients, not what ingredients are formed during the production and manufacturing of their products. I always thought that if you read the word hypoallergenic and non comedogenic on the package, you could be assured the products were safe… but there are no guidelines for using these terms, so they can mean whatever each company wants them to mean. Good thing that Dr. Oz has armed us with information about dangerous beauty products – how much are YOU willing to pay for the price of beauty with dangerous cleansers, perfumes and makeup? Here are Dr. Oz’s tips on makeup to avoid and cosmetic substitutes that are safe!
Dr. Oz’s Ultimate Beauty Cheat Sheet
Dangerous Product #1: Mineral Powder – When you use mineral powder, the tiny nano-particles that make up the powder become aersolized particles and get into our lungs and can scar our lungs. When you blow small bubbles, you will notice that they decend quickly… this is what happens with the small nano particles in mineral powder. Once the powder gets into our lungs, its nearly impossible to get it out and it can cause fibrosis.
Dr. Arthur Perry, author of Straight Talk about Cosmetic Surgery (Yale University Press Health & Wellness)
– Liquid Foundation with Shimmer
– Cream Blush or Bronzer
– Packed Foundation or Pressed Powder
Dangerous Product #2: Wrinkle Cream – When you put cream on your face, it goes through the dermis and into your blood vessels, where it gets absorbed into your body… and anything that you absorb into your body you should question and worry about, because this can cause all sorts of allergies and even collagen breakdown.
Dr. Paula Begoun says that expensive does not mean better and natural does not mean anything either (there are bad and good synthetic and natural ingredients). There are tons of ingredients that sound like they would be great, but can actually make wrinkles worse including fragrances, lavender essential oil, eucalyptus, and peppermint essential oil. Both Dr. Begoun and Dr. Perry (as well as Dr. Oz of course) agree that if wrinkle creams claim that your wrinkles will go away immediately or that its the same as botox, they simply aren’t true. Dr. Oz says that when you are looking for a good face wrinkle creams, make sure it meets the following criteria:
– Fragrance – Free
– Color Free, why have extra chemicals to make colors when its not necessary?
– Vitamin A (Retinols) is perhaps the super drug of wrinkles according to Dr. Perry and Dr. Oz!
– Vitamin C is a collagen builder
– Alpha Hydroxy Acid works to exfoliate your face
Dangerous Product #3: Lip Gloss – Most lip gloss comes from petroleum jelly, and when you put it on your lips, some of it inevitably gets into your stomach… so you are basically drinking gasoline. Petroleum Jelly is fine outside of your body, but you do not want this stuff inside of your body. Dr. Oz really put it into perspective when he said that if you use 2-3 tubes a month for 10 years, then you will be consuming roughly 7 pounds of petroleum jelly.
Dr. Perry said that petroleum jelly, when ingested, may even cause cancer. In the EU (European Union), petroleum jelly is banned, except for when it is very pure. In the USA we don’t know which forms of petroleum jelly are pure and which are not. They have done studies and found that women with breast cancer have twice the levels of these products in their breast tissue than women who don’t have breast cancer… now there is something to think about! So Dr. Oz gave some safe alternatives to lip gloss:
– Look for lip gloss with zinc oxide, because by making a reflective surface on your lips, you get more sun on your lips.
– Use natural beeswax lip gloss.
– Wear sunscreen under your lip gloss.
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