TOXIC BEAUTY: What makes you beautiful can makes you sick

Skincare, cosmetics and makeup have become part of our everyday lives. Most women (and even some men these days) cannot think of living without their bottles of creams, lotions, serums, masks, shampoos, foundation, lipsticks, eye liners and mascaras.

However, you'll be surprised (or if you're like me, horrified) to know that in our attempt to achieve beauty, we are actually intoxicating and poisoning ourselves, slowly, bit by bit each and everyday.

Was doing some googling on toxins in beauty products and this article jumped out. It says

"Research by Bionsen, a natural deodorant company, found that the average woman's daily grooming and make-up routine means she 'hosts' a staggering 515 different synthetic chemicals on her body every single day."

WOW. 515 different synthetic chemicals on our body every single day? Are they sure?

All the shampoo, hair sprays, eyeshadows, foundation, lipstick, nail polishes, are killing us slowly each end everyday. When I was reading this article, I did a quick check on my supplies, and I'm sad to find that alot of my everyday products do contain these chemicals. Well, I read this article some time back, and I'm now slowly trying to change my products or reduce the use of products that I don't really need (which is why I rarely go for manicures anymore). I have to admit. It's a tough journey. Ever since I learnt about how harmful all these synthetic chemicals can cause us, I tried to read the ingredients list of almost everything I buy. and it's sad to know that it is so difficult to find products that are really free of these chemicals. Don't believe me? Go grab any of your shampoos, powder, facial masks or whatever, and take a look at the ingredient list. Very likely you will see ingredients like Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, Talc, Fragrance, Methyl Paraben etc.

I remembered when I was young, my parents always say "whatever that is applied outside is ok" since we are not eating it. but I learnt that this concept is so wrong. just because we are not eating it does not mean we are not ingesting it.  When we apply all these "things" that contains toxins and chemicals, they can get into our system through our pores, and into our blood stream. so it is really NOT OK.

Here are some ingredients you should learn to register in your brain, and avoid when choosing your cosmetics and makeup:

imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, methyl paraben, propyl paraben, butyl paraben, ethyl paraben, petrolatum, propylene glycol, PVP/VA copolymer, stearalkonium chloride, synthetic colors, synthetic fragrances, talc, diethanolamine (DEA), monoethanolamine (MEA), triethanolamine (TEA), dioxane, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1, 3-diol (bronopol), benzalkonium chloride, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), chloromethylisothiazolinone, and isothiazolinone.

You'll realize all these ingredients sound so alien and complicated that it's even hard to pronounce and recognize. Honestly, I'm only able to register a few of the simple ones like whatever-paraben, petrolatum, talc, fragrance. so my trick is if I see a list of ingredients I don't understand, I'll try to avoid it. but, you will soon realized it is SO FREAKING DIFFICULT finding products without these chemicals. It's not about price or brand. At first, I thought it's the drug store brands trying to "cut cost", hence they use these chemicals. but NO. Big High-end beauty brands include these ingredients too. A simple example is "talc". Go take a look at Watsons and Sephora. You'll find it's a huge challenge trying to find powder without talc. I didn't believe it when my beauty therapist told me. but she's right. there are products without talc. but you really need to look hard. will share some of the more toxic-friendly products I've found in later articles.

Infographic from dailymail showing most worrying chemicals found in the products and possible side effects. credits: dailymail

These may not kill you immediately. but as these toxins accumulate in your body, and could not flush out in time, they will cause harm to your body, killing you slowly.

Are you sure you're lovin' it?

Are you a fast food junkie? Do you think that your french fries is made of just  potatoes, oil and some salt?
Watch this. It will give you a great insight to your favourite joint.



In the video, you'll see that they have to throw away fries and burger from a regular restaurant as they have decomposed so bad they turned black. 3 weeks later, Big Mac and Mac fries still looks fresh from the store!
10 weeks later, everything looks disgusting, but the fries still look fresh! Can you imagine how much preservatives and whatever chemicals and addictives Macdonald's have added to their food? urgh. I wonder what happen when we eat it. -_-

How Toxic Are You?

Have you ever wonder how much toxic we are creating and exposing overselves to everyday? The food we eat, detergents & household products, make-up, skincare, a hectic and stressful lifestyle, late nights, irregular meals, fast & processed food, lack of exercise all adds on a huge burden to our body. I'm sure many of you have seen in ancient dynasty dramas where they use a silver needle to test if a food contains poison. I wonder what will happen if we piece a silver needle into our skin. Will it turn black too?

Here's a simple quiz to find out how toxic you are:

1. Do you have enough sleep everyday (6-9 hours), and wake up feeling full of life, with glowing radiant skin?
2. Do you pass your bowels everyday?
3. Do you drink enough water everyday?
4. Do you never hold your pee?
5. Do you have sufficient fruits and vegetables everyday?
6. Do you have healthy gums (gums that rarely bleed)?
7. Do you smell fresh and nice everyday (no breathe and/or body odor)?

If your answer to more than 50% of the above questions are "NO", you are probably very toxic. These toxic can appear in the form of constipation, dull skin, pimples that just won't go away, bad breath, bleeding gum, bloodshot eyes, dark/yellow teeth, belly fat etc. These toxic, if left unattended, can speed up aging as well as cause serious harm to your health and body.

I'm sure many of us have experience those times where we are so mega busy and stress(maybe there's a major project, some big event, or even *gasp* planning for your own wedding), that we have no time to sleep, we take our meals irregularly or just pinch on any junk & snacks, fast food we can find. These are also usually the time where you are not drinking enough water(or worse, not only are not drinking enough water, you are drinking coffee/tea/soft-drinks/wine/beer/liquor etc.), not eating enough vegetables & fruits. Often, you'll find yourself looking tired/haggard, pimples popping out etc. These are ways your body is telling you: You need to detox.

Stay with me, as I share my discoveries of ways and things we can introduce to our live to create a notox living (No-Toxic Living). :)