The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances (9 page)

As I was writing this chapter, I could not help but feel a tiny bit smug.
Perhaps I am not a very bad mom,
I thought.
I do not use fragrances at
home. I am feeding my baby organic food and homemade purees; she
drinks her organic formula from glass bottles and sleeps on organic cotton
sheets. Her mattress is pure wool. There is no chance she would be
exposed to such a horrible substance as benzyl alcohol.
Yeah, right. Just as I finished writing this chapter, something clicked inside my head. I went to our nursery and picked up the pack of baby wipes. These award-winning wipes contained benzyl alcohol as the third ingredient, right after water and glycerin. I sent a letter to the manufacturer of these wipes giving them specific research on how dangerous these baby wipes can be. The manufacturer responded with a canned letter that defended their use of benzyl alcohol as a disinfectant but promised they would revise the formula someday soon. Needless to say, we abandoned all wipes made by this brand, and instead I brew a cupful of organic chamomile tea, pour it in a spray bottle, and use it with a plain cotton face towel to gently cleanse my daughter’s bum. Please note that some babies (and adults, too) are allergic to chamomile, so if you have a family history of allergies, always perform a patch test before using any herbal infusions, flower distillates, or essential oils.

Lesson learned: never assume anything. Just because a company makes chlorine-free, plastic-free, disposable diapers and packs them in smart bags with handwritten letters and cute baby faces, it does not mean that all of their products are safe for your baby. Do not assume that if a company makes a great moisturizer, you should buy the rest of their products.

Also, do not assume that people succeed in the cosmetic business while being led by only one aim: to make you healthier and help you live longer. Every enterprise is started with a business plan that involves some sort of profit gained at the end of the year. The manufacturer can save millions by replacing just one costly natural extract with some synthetic brew. So always check the ingredients; be vigilant and skeptical, even if it comes to organic beauty.

Back to synthetic aromatics. Benzyl acetate, a jasmine-flavored relative of benzyl alcohol, was generally recognized as safe by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) expert panel. However, a 2002 study conducted at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, suggested that this synthetic fragrance compound may be carcinogenic in rodent studies, causing liver and bladder cancer (Waddell 2002). This study caused quite a stir in the scientific community, but so far benzyl acetate sits happily in drugstore aisles, listed among ingredients in many bestselling products, including award-winning moisturizers, mascaras, and antiaging products.

Butylphenyl methylpropional (also known as Lilial or lilialdehyde) is a widely used fragrance compound found naturally in the essential oil of chamomile. Allergic contact dermatitis caused by Lilial was first reported and well studied in 1983 (Larsen 1983). Currently, this lovely floral synthetic fragrance is used in both elite fragrances and drugstore shampoos, deodorants, tanning lotions, and hairstyling products (Buckley 2007).

Almond-smelling benzaldehyde can be easily derived from apricot, cherry, laurel leaves, and peach seeds, but now is most often made from toluene. In 1977, it was proven that benzaldehyde is a strong contact irritant, but it remains one of the most frequently used fragrance components. Its highest reported concentration of use was 0.5 percent in perfumes. Benzaldehyde is generally regarded as a safe food additive in the United States and is accepted as a flavoring substance in the European Union. Benzaldehyde rapidly metabolizes to benzoic acid in the skin, is absorbed through the skin and by the lungs, and is distributed to all the organs. In 2006, fragrance manufacturers, via the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, assured that benzaldehyde is not a carcinogenic, reproductive, or developmental toxicant at concentrations used in cosmetics (Andersen 2006). However, a new 2007 study determined that “exposure to aldehydes represents potential risks to human and animal health,” scientists from Chem-Risk in Colorado wrote. They found that this chemical induced formation of stable DNA-protein cross-links in cultured human lymphoma cells (Kuykendall et al. 2007). In plain English, benzaldehyde promoted cancerous cell growth. Today, synthetic benzaldehyde is contained in many popular shaving foams, deodorants, moisturizers, and some “soothing” baby products. As for me, I don’t find this information soothing, do you?

Synthetic fragrances may smell like the real deal, but they cannot fool our bodies. The synthetic fragrance molecules aren’t recognized by our immune system as safe. Because our DNA has evolved over millions of years, and synthetic fragrances have been in use only since the 1920s, every cell in our body is programmed to accept only truly natural, volatile compounds found in herbs and fruits.

What does our body do when hostile substances attack it? It kicks back, and the outcome of this fight is not beautiful. Asthma, migraines, hyper activity disorder in children and adults, rashes, depression, and seizures have been linked to synthetic chemical fragrances. New studies linking synthetic fragrances to cancer and diabetes come up daily.

Asthma, migraines, hyperactivity disorder in children and adults, rashes, depression, and seizures have been linked to synthetic chemical fragrances.

In people whose immune system is constantly alert “thanks” to large amounts of synthetic additives they consume with food, drinks, and cosmetics, every additional chemical triggers a much more acute reaction than in people whose bodies aren’t overly sensitized. But it’s really hard to get rid of fragrances today. A pretty scent helps sell otherwise no-nonsense laundry detergents, dishwashing liquids, and baby wet wipes. Celebrity fragrances are churned out overnight. For many fashion designers, couture collections serve only to help sell fragrances, shower gels, and body lotions. Our fascination with fragrances grows exponentially: celebrity-fragrance sales have increased by 2,000 percent since 2004.

Here’s a bit of harsh reality: British researchers spent quite a bit of money on a massive shopping spree, buying 300 perfumed cosmetic and household products available on the shelves of UK stores in January 2006 (Buckley 2007). They only bought products that listed “parfum,” “fragrance,” or “aroma” among the ingredients. The results weren’t all roses: the top six most frequently labeled fragrances were linalool (found mostly in expensive perfumes, soaps, shampoos, and shower gels), limonene (most frequently found in toothpastes, aftershaves, dishwashing liquids, and detergents), citronellol (found in deodorants), geraniol, but ylphenyl methylpropional, and hexyl cinnamal. Other top scents detected in 300 popular cosmetic products were eugenol, hydroxycitronellal, isoeugenol, cinnamal, and oak moss
(Evernia prunastri)
absolute. Hydroxyisohexyl-3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde (Lyral) was present in large concentrations in almost one-third of the products. Scientists concluded that linalool and limonene, both strong allergens, are the most frequent fragrances inhaled and rubbed into skin by millions of people.

And the list, sadly, can go on and on. A potent carcinogen, methylene chloride, banned for use in 1988, can still be found in shampoos and shoe polish spray; methyl eugenol, also a potential carcinogen in animals, is present in shampoos and men’s grooming products; ethyl acrylate, another chemical that killed rats with cancer in 2002, is listed among ingredients in antiaging creams, designer fragrances, and sunscreen towelettes.

When I made a big leap and switched to purely organic scents, the whole picture got clearer and scarier—or maybe my head was working better without all those synthetic vapors? On one side, there is a noticeable interest in truly natural scents. On the other, famous “noses” come up with yet another alluring twist and weave together scents that Mother Nature still has to invent. I can’t help but suspect that the fragrance industry may now be acting similar to the tobacco industry in the early 1990s, hiding the truth of the very serious health effects of secondhand smoke and chemicals from cigarettes.

Even perfectly natural and gentle skin products, such as a “98.36 percent natural” carrot moisturizer that I have tested and reviewed recently, contain fragrances. They are used to mask otherwise blunt or even repulsive odors of natural ingredients or to add depth and staying power to scents of essential oils already present in the composition. After years of testing various beauty products, my skin became as tolerant as a celebrity UN ambassador, and I suspect nothing can throw it off balance. But since the phrase “made with pure essential oils” translates to an ingredient list with a small percentage of essential oils, with the remainder being synthetic fragrances, chemical enhancers, and boosters added in an attempt to cut costs, I cannot help but think that a natural herbal scent is in fact a chemical cocktail that is anything but healthy.

Can you really be too careful? Well, you are informed now—maybe scared—and the choice is yours. With a little girl growing up and a family history of allergies and cancer, I prefer to err on the side of caution. If something was proven unsafe once, even in animal studies, I would avoid this ingredient so when new research emerges, I won’t be biting my nails (buffed, not polished) over some benzaldehyde-loaded “holy grail” lotion I used diligently over the years. Have you ever heard of a chemical that was considered unsafe for many years being recently declared safe? I haven’t. More often, things happen the other way around.

The Golden Rule of Beauty

When people encounter new scientific information that casts doubt on the status quo, they often can’t believe their eyes (or ears). If all this is true, you may ask, why haven’t I heard it before? Why do so many dermatologists with perfect credentials endorse beauty products that are making me sick? Could they be doing it to keep themselves busy?

These are all perfectly good questions, and getting the right answers is an important part of your green coming-of-age. To follow all the leads and examine all the underlying reasons may be beyond the scope of this book, but some issues have to be explained. The beauty industry is one of the most profitable of all industries, and as in every business, you may be surprised to find out that the information is governed by the same old Golden Rule: those who have the gold make the rule.

So who has the gold? One of the world’s largest and most profitable industries, which will start losing millions of dollars if people start asking uncomfortable questions about what goes into their favorite moisturizers and perfumes. The formulations smell awesome and perform well; they are proven to sell, and the whole process runs smoothly. The financial health of this industry depends on what the public knows about risks associated with many of their products. Like any reasonable business (the cosmetic manufacturers didn’t generate this much money by being unreasonable), the beauty industry is doing everything in its power to protect its profits and please its shareholders.

Science and business have long been aware of the links between cosmetics and the meteoric rise of cancer, asthma, diabetes, and a host of other systemic diseases. However, the industries responsible for producing synthetic chemicals have long been seeking, with much success, to downplay or dismiss them.

Things aren’t as dramatic as you may think. No one is paying the scientists to shelve the research results. No one is bribing the media. Things are much more subtle. If a cosmetic company buys a certain number of magazine ads, it’s very unlikely that the editor-in-chief would be happy to read a story about peanut oil that wasn’t mentioned on the label of a sunscreen triggering potentially deadly allergies in hundreds of people, including children—especially since this cosmetic company regularly delivers a boatful of full-size freebies for review and personal use.

Media, government, science, industry, medicine—keeping the status quo is vital for all of them. Too many people would choose profits over health and technology over nature. Using airless packaging that prevents contamination requires fewer investments than spending years in researching and developing another preservative. Thousands of people would lose their jobs, tons of moisturizers would be left unsold, whole manufacturing processes would have to be revised, a few class-action lawsuits would be filed—and this means millions if not billions of dollars lost. Once a product is on the market, the burden of legal proof required for its removal is extremely high.

The beauty industry is busy beefing up its ego. We believe our life is void if we have cellulite. Our personal life may become null if we have dull hair and lips lacking a lick of shimmery pink gloss. We fear enlarged pores more than job loss. (Otherwise, why would we spend hours in the bathroom applying makeup, even when we’re hopelessly late for an important meeting?)As a result, we shop tirelessly, rubbing and sniffing magazine pages and listening to sales blabber, mesmerized and hypnotized by the promise of instant youth in a bottle. After all, if a salesperson is wearing a white lab coat, she knows better, right?