When I recently came across an oppurtunity to write a beauty article on Safe and Clean cosmetics, I jumped at the chance. The main purpose of the article was to feature the use of make up and its benefits as well as safe and clean cosmetics. Take a read below for an in depth review of the topics asked. Be warned though, its a little long winded, you may need a coffee or two!
What are your
thoughts about the benefits of make up?
How would you describe your attitude towards cosmetics, beauty products
etc?
Like most
women, I swear by make up and refuse to leave the house without it on. It is a fundamental
part of my daily routine and I definately feel more confident with it on. I can
safely say, its the probably the area where I spend the most amount of my money
on, and sadly, shoes and clothes do not fascinate me as much.
On the
contrary, I know several girls that refuse to wear even the slightest amount no
matter what the occasion and yet they still appear to be confident and content.
Perhaps it a pychological matter, whatever the reasons, it is definately an
area that deserves some interest and debate.
I have always
believed that there are several advantages to wearing make up and using cosmetic
products, as well as very few disadvantages, however clearly. these can differ
from person to person as well as several other factors.
There was
once a time where make up consisted of just one shade of lipstick, a few
strokes of mascara and talc powder. It was thick and heavy and often clogged
pores. It was worn if women wanted to dress up and attend weddings and parties.
Whilst this still remains the case today, there seems to be a whole new concept
about when, how and why it is worn. The apllication of make up today comes as
second nature to most including myself. It takes as little as five minutes in
the morning to apply make up to create the desired look of the day, including
natural barely there office look, to the smokey, Arabic inspired eyes for the
evening, by just using minimal products.
What are the
benefits? Well, I find there are several. Make up is fundamentally worn to
cover minor skin conditions and blemishes, enhance appearances and facial
features such as the plumping of lips or slimming down a nose using contouring
techniques (if worn correctly) as well as making the wearer look and feel good
and confident with the way they are presenting themselves to the world. And
lets face it, when you look good, you feel
good.
Today, most
conventional make up contain vitamin A, C and E, sun filters, minerals as well as anti allergic substances
to meet the demands of women that are generallly concerned for their skin and
health. Mineral make up is also the best solution for women that have senstive
skin and those that suffer from acne. For instance, a friend of mine often
suffers from adult acne and flare ups due to stress, after reccomending the
Bare Minerals range to her, she finds less skin flare ups as well as no
irration to her acne. She also reported that she finds it light and smooth on
her skin and find it does not clog up
her pores like most products she has tried in the past.
The most
recent advantage I have found with make up and its usage is the fact that more
affordable professional drugstore brands such as MUA Professional cosmetics are
now mimicking the more higher end brands in terms of their product lines, I
suppose its a liitle like Primark Vs River Island. As a mother of two myself, I
feel this is ideal for mums or those that are on a budget but still want to
keep up to date with the latest key trends.
MUA sold
online and at larger Superdrug Stores, has now become one of my favourite affordable drugstore
brands. The range includes, eye and face primers, their own range of make up
brushes, make up trolleys, face mists as well as a large range of eye, lips,
face and nail products all at quality affordable prices. Their best selling £4 Heaven
and Earth eyeshadow pallette is often considered as a dupe for Urban Decays
Naked pallette, (Retailed at £32), whilst the quality of both the products are
not 100% identical, MUA’s pallette offer similar shades and results. A review of Heaven and Earth by MUA, written
by myself, can be found here.
http://hinnahkhalifa.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/mua-heaven-and-earth-pallete-review.html?m=1
I suppose you could say, we really are spolit
for choice. Today, there are so many cosmetic and make up products to choose
from it can sometimes get a little overwhelming.
Whats more,
with a multi billion pound industry and aggressive advertising by all the big
names, I suppose the only disadvantage is not
knowing the right product for you and your skin type considering it is
so easy to harm your skin just by unknowingly using the wrong product. It can
also become a tedious endless cycle in trying to conceal and cure blemishes and
flaws until the right product is found. Furthermore, keeping with with the latest
make up and beauty trends and regularly purchasing products can also prove to
be quite costly.
Do you think we know
enough about the ingriedients in cosmetics?
Unlike the ingriedients
in food, I do not think there is a big emphasis on the ingriedients in
cosmetics and it is not something that is often considered as much, even though
they can come from a variety of sources, some are even unexpected. Sadly, I do
not think there is even much demand or awareness for the ingriedients in many
of the products we use in our day to day lives and if there is, it is from a
very small percent of the population.
The truth is,
there are many companies that are often reluctant to disclose any information
about what their products contain, yet there definately need to be more of a
demand for information on ingriedients so that many of the companies may start
to provide us with it more frequently and upon request.
For example,
how many people are actually aware of what parabens are and why we should avoid
them? What exactly are they?
Parabens are chemicals
used as preservatives and are found in a large variety of products such as
shampoos, commercial moisterisers, toothpaste, gels, cleansing gels, personal
lubricants as well as additives in food. So that means that a a large
percenatge of products we use on a day to day basis contains paraben and it is
certainly difficult to find products that are paraben free. Their main purpose
is to fight fungus and bacteria and cost little to manufacture. Unfortunately,
nearly all of the parabens used as preservatives are man made and not natural
occurents.
So why should they be avoided?
Now, before
we get a little too carried away, upon carrying out a little research, I have
come to realise that studies have been carried out in favour and against parabens and whether they
are safe or not. The alarming piece of study carried out was that parabens have
been potentially linked to cancer, this piece of information is obviously
enough to make you want to avoid the use of paraben when and where possible as
a precautionary route. Needless to say, the safety of the health and body must
always be put first. Furthermore,
paraben has also been known to play a role in the development of breast cancer,
since it mimics the estrogen hormone, according to some sources, researchers
have been known to find paraben in breast tumors and have concluded there to be
a relationship between parabens and tumors, another reason why it should be
avoided at all costs.
I suppose the
jury is still out on this one and whether parabens are dangerous or not i guess
is up to the individual themselves but, if a link between chemicals and cancer
is not enough for people to avoid paraben then i dont know what is. I have now
started to find alternative products to the ones that contain paraben. All i
know is that it is better to be safe than sorry.
How would you
describe your attitude with choosing and buying cosmetics.
For the
majority of my teenage years, I was often heavilly influenced by magazine and
television advertising of the latest lotions and potions on the market. My
cupboard was a make up junkie filled stash of all the latest creams, hair
products, make up and so on and working part time in Superdrug Stores PLC with
their frequent in store promotions didnt help matters!
In regards to
make up and cosmetics, I often believed that the more you had, the better it
was. Cheap make up didnt bother me, neither did cheap creams and hair products,
seeing a cupboard full of the stuff made me happy and whilst my friends often
spent on clothes and shoes, I splashed out on beauty items. I was like a little
girl in a sweet shop.
However; this
is not the case today. Today, being a little older and wiser,I have headed more
towards the natural, organic products , even with food and find browsing around
in a health food shop rather pleasant. It is definately more about quality than
quantity and id much rather have fewer expensive quality natural products than
a cupboard full of everything and anything.
I am
definately more sceptical about what I use on my skin particularly after
reading several horror stories in newspapers and magazines, cases with lanolin,
paraben and coma horror stories with hair dye chemicals.This is exactly why an
allergy test must always be carried out as per instructions.
I dont think many
realise the harmful effects of some of the ingriedients found, even something
simple as passive smoking or using cleaning detergents in our day to day lives
can have harmful effects on our skin. This of course can only be brought to our
attention on closer inspection of our skins through mapping and analysing done
by a skin specialist. The question is though, how many consumers are actually
concerned? How many are willing to change their buying habits? Sadly, the
answer is not many.
I have come
to realise that the heavilly perfumed face creams such as Chanel and Dior will
in time do my skin more harm than good. Whats more, they are so heavilly
perfumed that when applied near the skin of my eyes, it it irritates them that
I no longer purchase them and instead, opt for the natural, alcohol and perfume
free brands even though they may cost just a tiny bit more and take just a
little more time to find.
What do you think?
Do you think it is important to be aware? Do you think there are good products
out there?
It is the
right of us as consumers to be aware of and question any ingreidrients that are
in our products.
The question
is however, just how much are the companies willing to disclose to us, are they
prepared to disclose anything at all? This is of course at their own
discretion.
As a former
Avon Rep, I still from time to time, purchase some of their catalougue items.
In the past recent months, there appeared to be a big hype on Argan Oil and its
benefits. Now, I wont bore you with all the details of Argan oil and all the
good things it can do for your hair, but on purchasing a bottle of Avons
Morrocan Argan Oil, I came to realise
that the product did not contain much Argan Oil, in fact it appeared 13th
on the list of ingriedients. Upon contacting Avon, they notified me that the
product has been ‘sourced responsibly’. So what about the Berber women that
form as part of the farm that harvests the oil? They each take some form of
percentageto build back into their community now, if this was the case and the
product did contain Argan oil then why
are the Berber women not driving around in prestigious cars or carrying
designer handbags? Does it not make you wonder? Are Avon delibrately misleading
their consumers so that the can cash in on all the current hype?
Yet, there
are good and genuine products out there
but a little knowlegde and reserach before making a purchase wouldnt go amiss.
Although, I am not much of a fan of their make up range, The Body Shop are and
always have been passionately against animal testing in their cosmetics and
they claim all their products are BUAV certified, complying with their Humane
Cosmetics Standards so we can be assured, all their products are cruelty free.
And another way to feel good is to do good
according to them. Working alongside charities, campaigning on the defending of
human rights, generating awareness of AIDS and HIV, protecting the planet and
so on.
Upon my latest desire to use
more natural and safe skin friendly products, I came across a UK based company
called Rose Link. The main products they offer are a Hello Glow Whitening Plus
Facial Polish which I recently sampled in return for a product review. Rose
Link claim that the product is 100% natural, preservatives free and contain
nothing but Rice powder, Coconut Milk powder, Honey powder, Milk powder and
Potato starch. And the results? Well it
definitely does what it says on the tin, it instantly brightens and cleanses
the skin, and my skin has never looked and felt better. This is just after 2
weeks of using the product and I will definitely be going back for more. And
being 100% natural means that I know my skin is not being harmed.
In addition to this, as a
Glossybox subscriber, I also came across a brand called Duck Island and their
Mandarin and Bergamot range. Having never heard of it, I was eager to try it
out and look into it further. It comprises of infused natures extracts. Duck
Island is a luxury hand and body lotion range and is the first very few
products I have discovered recently that is paraben and mineral oil free. Their
packaging is also all recyclable.
What do you think?
There is
definately more to beauty than just cosmetics and make up. I have always firmly
believed that beauty starts from within and what you put in is what you get
out, the more goodness we put into our body, the more our skin, hair, nails and
general well being will reward us for it.
There is no
doubt that the best thing for our skin, hair and nails is 6-8 glasses of water
per day, (more if you exercise) plenty of fresh fruit and veg, exercise as well
as adequate sleep. No amount of make up or cosmetics will provide similar
results and vitality. Cosmetics are just enhancers that will produce quick and
short term results but no real long term benefits. Of course, there are a large
variety of products on the market for every beauty needs and wants, serums and
creams to cure puffiness and dark circles, a wide range of products that claim
to produce smooth glowing skins, treatments for thick and shiny hair, are these
all just heavilly advertised in a bid to lure consumers in and part with their cash? Does the use of
imagery play a part with the insecurities and lack of self esteem in women?
What happened
to natural homemade remedies? Chances are sufficient B vitamins, sillica and
Zinc as well as Iron found in green leafy vegetables will prove to be more
beneficial and gurantee the results desired, possibly at a much faster rate
too. Of course, the real bonus would be to use these products alongside living
a healthy lifestyle.
There is also
often a misconception that hair, skin and nail supplements such as Perfectil
will produce a full thick head of hair, a clear complexion and long britttle
free nails, I suppose some would even find it a little misleading, however what
they do not realise is that it only aids in maintaining it by providing vital
nutrients that our diets may lack. It is definately not a substiutute for food
and therefore is advised to be taken in conjuction with a balanced diet.
Similarly,
with weight loss supplements such as Thermatrim, Raspberry Ketone etc, yes
there has proven to be many sucess stories of weight loss in minimal time as
possible, however do we really know the long time effects of using these? Have
adequate research been carried out to see if our vital organs such as the liver
and kidneys be affected with prolonged use.
Seeing as its
the new year, I have set myself a small goal to be more knowlegable of the
several alternatives available to my usual lotions and potions. Too add to
this, I have found that pure green tea contain a much higher amount of
antioxidants than my moisteriser and women of the Chinese and Japanese origin
have been known to swear by it. The added bonus? It is not as foul tasting as I
anticipated it to be but best of all, it is also aids in the digestion and
burning of calories of food consumed, hence a good aid in weight loss and
management with zero reported side effects and doesnt necesarilly cost the
earth.
It is true
what they say. True beauty stems from confidence, vitality and inner wellbeing.
