My 3 year old daughter sprayed some perfume into her eye the other day and screamed in pain for at least 5 minutes. This reminded me of all the animals that have to endure this pain x100 in the name of beauty.

I’ve seen the photos of cosmetic animal testing. Rabbits lined up in contraptions that hold their necks so they can’t break away while they have harmful chemicals dropped into their eyes. They scream in pain and writhe so strongly that some of them break their neck or backs trying to flee. Rabbits are a favorite for eye testing because they don’t have the physiology to flush out the chemicals.

Another very common form of cosmetic testing is called the LD₅₀ (abbreviation for “Lethal Dose, 50%”) where a group of animals (100+) are exposed to a substance until 50% die.

L’Oreal is the worst offender because not only do they still test on animals prolifically but they also fought legislation to ban animal testing in Europe. They lost. The European Union has banned animal testing as of 2009.

If you’re against this frivolous use of animals, please vote with your dollar and refrain buying products from the companies that test. See full list here.

Case in point, parabens, the cosmetic preservative that is used rampantly by many of the large cosmetic companies.  On January 12 of this year, a report was published by the Journal of Applied Toxicology that measured the amount of parabens in different sections of the breast by testing tissue samples from the mastectomies of 40 different patients. Of the 160 tissue samples tested, 158 had parabens in them. That’s 99%. Also, the levels of parabens were found to be significantly higher in the region closest to the armpit which contributes to the suspicion that they are originating from antiperspirants (although 7 of the 40 patients had never used underarm products). This propelled a slew of media about the subject including an article by The Sun in the UK.  In response to this article, three breast cancer charities have published a letter rebutting this article and the study behind it. As they put it, “This research has serious flaws and provides no proof to suggest that women should be concerned about parabens”. I was puzzled by this letter. Why would the people that are paid to find the causes of breast cancer make statements of this nature … who are they protecting? I really got suspicious when I read this line, “Despite the fact that Professor Sharpe comments, ‘The study does not address whether parabens contribute to risk of breast cancer’, we feel by the nature of the rest of the article the damage to concerned women will already have been done.”  What damage? The only damage I can think of would be to the companies that still formulate with parabens. This got me digging and lo and behold I found what I suspected – a corporate sponsorship by Avon, the maker of cosmetics with parabens galore. See what I mean by politics?

I know that I’ve said this before, but until we get some answers about what is causing people to develop this life-threatening disease, everything is suspect – especially a chemical that is found in the breast tissue of mastectomy patients! These are people’s lives we are talking about and they are a lot more important than the profits of companies that don’t have the ethics to formulate responsibly.

If you are concerned about this chemical, look for the following on your cosmetic and skin care labels – butylparaben, isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben; methylparaben and propylparaben.

Now…

I’ve noticed some talk on the net that I find very offensive from cosmetic chemists. I’ve run into it several times and I have even had a heated argument on Linked In (I know, lame). Some chemists feel that natural products are a joke and that small artisans have no right to exist. They paint us as snake oil salespeople with dirty dungeons filled with cauldrons and cobwebs (double double  toil and trouble).

Listen nerds, if you didn’t make crappy petroleum laden products and test on billions of animals, I suppose you wouldn’t be feeling so threatened right now.

The truth is that skin care, body care, cosmetics and perfume have always been made by artisans – for thousands of years. It was only in the last century that industrial age of petrochemicals took over and everything became about patents and profits (while poisoning everyone and everything). Fortunately, just like the food industry is veering away from processed junk in favor of whole foods, the beauty industry is becoming reacquainted with ingredients we have always used…and big beauty is not part of this. It would be impossible to swap their ultra cheap petroleum byproducts that they buy from BF Goodrich for botanicals from farms around the world. It would be a financial disaster so they keep pumping out new science (with animal testing), old generic formulas and HUGE marketing campaigns.

You have break it down to this – your skin is a living, breathing organ that can be nourished into looking great for a very long time. How do you nourish the rest of your body? By eating mineral oil tinkered with by scientists. Do you get your food from a lab? It’s the same thing. If you are serious about having beautiful, healthy skin, you’ll feed it what it craves – botanical oils, extracts, butters and waters.

We are pleased to introduce our new skin care product, Ancient Mud Facial Mask. It is a combination of Dead Sea mud and BC marine glacial clay with the essential oils of rose and neroli. It took us many years of research to finally develop this formula and we are very happy with the results. It goes on smoothly, smells lovely and produces AMAZING RESULTS.

Dead Sea mud, known throughout the world for its healing powers, was chosen because it has an exceptionally high mineral and saline content. It provides vital nourishment and re-mineralization to the skin while purifying and detoxing pores. It helps with circulation, tightens pores and exfoliates dead skin cells.

BC glacial marine clay from west coast of Canada is a colloidal clay with super fine grains that allow for deep skin penetration and intense detoxification. Clay has the special ability to attract toxins and has been used traditionally to combat infections and purify water systems.

The essential oils of rose and neroli were chosen because they are gentle and contain potent antioxidants that travel deep into the layers of your skin.

It should only be used once per week. Apply it to face, avoiding eye area, and allow to dry. Remove with water.The first time you use Ancient Mud, it may feel a bit stingy depending on the amount of work it has to do. You will notice that this goes away when you repeat the next week.

Citrus aurantium amara

Skin Benefits:

• regenerative
• stimulates cell growth and activity
• relaxes skin cells
• great for scars and broken capillaries
• prevents spread of acne

The Smith & Wesson Pink Ribbon Gun

It’s October, the time of the year when you get bombarded with pink products and feel good campaigns in support of breast cancer. This year I was reminded of this by public figure, Lisa Ling who posted on her Facebook fan page that Proctor & Gamble (P & G) is partnering with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to raise money by offering pink ribbon coupons for their products in which 2 cents gets donated with every redemption. Better than nothing right? Wrong. Nothing would be better when you consider that P & G products contain the very chemicals that are being linked to breast cancer. Also, who stands to benefit most from this campaign? That would be P & G who gain exposure, sell products and create the illusion of being concerned about women’s health.

P & G is among countless other companies on the pink ribbon bandwagon. In fact, Estee Lauder started the movement in in 1992 by handing out 1.5 million pink ribbons at their cosmetic counters.  Since then, it has become a $6 billion industry with products ranging from chemical nail polish to fried chicken to vodka, all of which can be linked to breast cancer. The term used to describe this is ‘pinkwashing’. The actual Breast Cancer Awareness Month was created by the world’s 7th largest pharmaceutical company, Astrozeneca. This is a corporate creation and a marketer’s dream. No one owns the rights to pink ribbon, so any charlatan can sell something pink to make you think that you are giving to breast cancer research.  The reality is that they don’t have to donate a dime to the cause.

With the amount of money supposedly being raised for research or awareness in the last  20 years, you would think it would be making an improvement but actually things have gotten worse. In 1992, 1 in 119 died of breast cancer and now it is 1 in 110 (59,000 women per year in North America). It is also the leading cancer for women between the ages of 20 to 59. What is going on here?

If you want to support breast cancer research, donate directly to an organization that is responsible and transparent and stay clear of all that pink.

• Burt’s Bees

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary , located outside of Stratford, Ontario, for an open house that offered vegan baked goods, bbq, craft vendors and a raffle (Cocoon Apothecary  products included). I had met one of the owners, Siobhan Poole, at the most recent Toronto Vegetarian Food Fair where she had a table to raise awareness about the farm. She is so lovely and down to earth and we were greeted by her as soon as we arrived.

A farm sanctuary is a place for animals to go where they will be safe from being treated like objects/commodities. They are acknowledged for being what they are – living, feeling creatures just like the dogs and cats that we cherish so much. They are safe from having their beaks cut off, being castrated without anesthetic, being impregnated only to have their babies taken away, and ending up in the cruel slaughterhouse.  They are free to roam and graze and spread their wings.

I met some beautiful creatures – majestic chickens, two sweet cows (one of which was found in below freezing temperatures running down the side of a country road as a calf), friendly and curious goats, lovely sheep, and adorable pigs that ran in delight when they were called to eat. One of the pigs (a baby) was recently found on hwy 401 after falling off a transport truck. You can read more about him in their blog.

Some of the newest residents are hens that just arrived from an egg farm where they have been stuck in dirty battery cages, unable to move or spread their wings. Cedar Row has been taking these  sad little girls (called ‘spent hens’ because they no longer produce enough eggs) from the farm for 4 years now. They were the lucky ones of 28,000 that were shipped off to the slaughterhouse this year. These chickens were cowering in the corner of the barn together – frightened, traumatized and missing most of their feathers. Living proof of the widespread mistreatment of birds for the sake of producing eggs for the most profit. Consider this the next time you have an omelette.

You can support this wonderful farm by donating money or your time as a volunteer. For more information, visit their website at http://cedarrow.org.

Thank you Cedar Row for everything you do!