fRiDaY FuN & fEeLiNgS! xo

 PIN IT

I know, it seems a little odd to post “toxic ingredients we don’t love!” in our Friday Fun & Feelings series. But I guess it works because not only are we talking about the ingredients we don’t love, we are at the same time rejoicing because so many awesome and health promoting ingredients are starting to be used in products more and more. And part of that is because of awareness. So that’s one reason we feel this post is important.

One of our main focuses is on the power of the mind and the health of the body in relation to positive, uplifting and inspirational thoughts. So can I dare say that we have a love/hate relationship of sorts with this very topic?

I hope I’m not turning into my college textiles professor, who would literally get teary eyed as she explained the origin of various textiles.  But deep down, I think I might be, as I feel a pang of emotions swell as I realize the power these ingredients can play in our lives–for good or for bad.

Over 30 years ago, I read a cosmetics ingredient dictionary (yes, nerd time-I admit it) that declared many ingredients were fatally harmful. It even went on to make the point that hairdressers were amongst one of the highest mortality rates of professions, which I quickly discounted. Even knowing that, I still went on and pursued my schooling to get a degree and a license in Cosmetology.

I refused to believe that any ingredients could harm us, I mean seriously, if they were wrapped up in adorably cute or very swank packaging and placed in a tidy row on a store shelf, then of course they must be totally harmless, right? But even in spite of my denial, I never could quite forget what I had read. And it wasn’t until Tiffany was diagnosed with Rhuematoid Arthritis (an autoimmune disease) that those warnings came smoldering back into my mind. Could they possibly be true?

Now, looking back, we do believe the warnings and have grave concerns about many of the products that lie lurking on our store shelves. But we also believe that fear is a powerful emotion that can also destroy our health. So focusing on scaring our viewers to death is not our goal at all, but rather educating and empowering.

So in the spirit of education, we take a lighthearted approach to help you know and recognize which ingredients we have concerns over and help give some fun, simple ways to remember them. Here is a playlist of our super quick, I-spy videos, which were some of the first videos that we ever produced….so that said, they have some great information, but are of course, our worst videos ever made. I guess I should post a WARNING to watch with a very open mind and expect a good stomach workout from laughing. SO yeah, this laugh’s on us….

Toxic Ingredients we don’t love–I-SPY Videos…

RED FLAGGED INGREDIENTS:

We believe these to be toxic ingredients that should be avoided!

REASONS FOR CONCERN:
Many of these ingredients have not only been found in cancerous tumors, and amniotic fluid surrounding newborns, but have also been linked to all kinds of disease, ailments, and death. Complications appear to include cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies, immunotoxicity, organ system toxicity, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, loss of sensation, vision problems, muscle weakness, loss of coordination, memory fatigue, tremors, chronic headache, infections, joint pain, abdomianl cramps, autoimmune disease, Rheumatoid, Alzheimers, Autism, Depression, ADHD, skin rashes, irritations, lung irritation, coma, convulsions, infertility many more unfortunately.

PRODUCTS CONTAINING THESE ITEMS:
Just about everything you can imagine–everything from baby products to anti-aging products, skin lighteners, moisturizers, skin care, body care, personal care, sunscreen, shave creams, after shaves, cologne, perfume, deodorant, insect repellant, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, wound treatments, tanning products, cosmetics, eyelash glues, hair color, bleach,shampoos, conditioners, nail products, wart removal, tatoos and the list goes on and on, including our foods…

FULL LIST OF TOXIC INGREDIENTS WE HAVE CONCERNS OVER:

These following ingredients are typically synthetic and chemical ingredients that have shown reason for concern. Alongside each one, we’ve listed an idea of what they are used for. Some of them are also listed above in our Red Flags and we feel those ones should definitely be avoided. Our philosophy is that if there is a better option, we choose to err on the side of being safe.

This post will probably go down as one of the longest posts ever made, so before I post these ingredients I want to end with a warm and enthusiastic celebration that great alternatives are out there and becoming more abundant as we become more educated and insistent on getting them. Our goal is to first shop for organic, then truly “natural” and then safe. We believe that is the best way to get amazing results without encountering many of these ingredients! Here ya go:

IMAGES