What's really in your skin care products?

It has been a while since I last posted anything to this blog and I'm new at this whole blogging thing.  Today I want to bring attention to a very disturbing fact.  Did you know that 97% of skin care, hair care and toiletry items on the market today contain animal fat and are tested on animals?  Yuck!  Don't get me wrong, I eat meat and quite frankly, I LOVE it!  However, I do NOT want animal fat in my personal care products!  Do you know where the animal fat in your skin care and cosmetics come from?  Are you sitting down?  They get that animal fat from farm animal carcasses (including all of the hormones pumped into livestock), euthanized pets from vets and animal shelters, road kill and the entrails from slaughter houses.  These inedible carcasses are sent to rendering plants where they are boiled, the fat rises to the top, is skimmed off and then sent to a purifying plant.  And who are their biggest customers?  That's right! . . .  All of the major cosmetic companies purchase this animal fat to use as thickeners and expanders in most skin care, cosmetics and hair care.

Now you may be saying, "How can these companies do this?" The United States government does NOT regulate this industry, so no one is watching out to ensure that products are safe!  We see so many more people concerned about their diet and exercise, but why aren't more people concerned about using products that are safe for the human body?  The skin is the largest organ of our body and the #1 detoxifying organ.  It sure seems to me that we should take care of it.

We see a lot of young girls getting their periods as young as 8 or 9-years-old.  Wow!  Many reports discuss the hormones in the food our kids are eatting as impacting this distrubing trend.  While I believe there is absolutely truth to that fact, there is also research that discusses how the animal fat in the products kids are using is having an affect on their growth.  When kids are using products with animal fat, they are not just putting the animal fat on their skin, but they can also be putting the hormones pumped into those animals on their skin too.  This can absolutely have an affect on their development.

Did you know that it typically takes about 30 seconds for something to absorb through your skin and into your body?  Have you ever seen a pain patch used in a hospital?  The reason why they use those pain patches is because they absorb quickly into the blood stream and begin releaving the pain very quickly.  So, if that's the case, what else are we absorbing into our bloodstream from the skin care, hair care, cosmetics and toiletry items we are using daily.  This is one of the reasons why I choose to use products that are vegan-certified, which ensures that there are NO animal fats in the formulations.  There are not many products on the market that contain this certification, but they are out there if you want to use them.  When products have no animal fat, there typically is no reason to use chemical fragrance either.  Chemical fragrance is commonly used in products to cover up the disgusting odor you get from animal fat.  When is the last time road kill smelled good?  What most people don't realize is the amount of toxic chemicals used to make those chemical fragrances.  When you read the label and it says "fragrance," that doesn't mean there is one ingredient.  It means there can possibly be hundreds of chemicals used to produce that aroma.  Why would anyone want hundreds of toxic chemicals on the largest organ of the human body every single day?  Also, when products are animal free, they often do not use mineral oil.  Mineral oil is a derivative of crude oil and is used in products to smooth out the texture.  You see, animal fat is gluggy and fatty, so mineral smooths out the texture on the skin.  Why do companies use mineral?  It is he cheapest form of oil out there!  Most of these companies are more concerned with their bottom line than the safety of the consumer.

With the rise in cancer in the world, we need to all start considering what products we are putting onto our skin and how this is impacting our bodies.  What do you think?  Are you using products that are pure and safe?  Are your children using products that are safe?  Is it worth it to be using products for your family that could be harmful?  In my opinion, we would have a lot less issues with the health and wellness of Americans if we simply took better care of our bodies on the front end.  Diet and exercise is absolutely important, but now is the time for more people in the USA and around the world to also consider what they are putting on their skin.