Friday, December 14, 2007

Debbie Downer

Those of you who know me well know I am a complete freak about things like MSG & other chemicals, hormones, and antibiotics in food, artificial sweeteners, plastics, Teflon, pesticides, lead paint on toys, etc. Well, now I am going to be scared of cosmetics. Jon came home today telling me about an article on MS NBC about Minnesota banning mascara and other cosmetics containing mercury. It turns out, most mascaras and eyeliners contain it. Anyway, I found a website that will let you search cosmetics by name and find out how they score and how safe they are. You can even search baby products such as diaper creams and baby washes/shampoos. It was very interesting. So interesting, in fact, that I have wasted my night (that desperately needed to be productive) sitting in front of the computer typing in every single one of my cosmetics, moisturizers, shampoos, conditioners, and baby products. I was amazed at some of the things I thought would be so harmless that were ranked really poorly--Neutrogena moisturizer, Huggies Baby Wash--it's crazy! Also, when I was doing another search about products containing mercury, these common household products came up. I was surprised by how many I have used. There are truly hundreds of them, but these few really surprised me and I thought I should share them.

Ajax powder
Comet powder
Soft Scrub
Dove soap (bars)--can you believe that one?
Ivory dishwashing liquid
Joy dishwashing liquid
Most soft dishwasher detergents
nasal sprays (afrin, etc.)
laxatives
BLEACHED FLOUR--how scary is that!?

here's the link to the cosmetics database
http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1
Sorry to be such a downer at Christmas! I promise to have a happier post next time!

2 comments:

Courtney said...

Well that is just great. The wash and lotion I use on Will has a rating of 6! It is the fragrance that is so bad in it and that is what I love about it. How crazy is that? So what should I use then? It is funny you posted this. I was just talking to a friend of my mom's about buying organic etc. and she brought up cosmetics and how shocking it is the amount of lead and things in cosmetics. So scary. How are these companies getting away with this?

the robertsons said...

You CRACK me up! That's why I love you so much.