During Elaine Hollingsworth’s lectures at Hippocrates, the information Hollingsworth gave regarding cosmetics creates consternation. It’s understandable, because women hate to think that they have been poisoning themselves expensively for years. Elaine Hollingsworth know how she felt when she discovered that those unpronounceable names on cosmetics were deadly coal-tar products that are known to cause susceptible people cancer. Invariably, one or more of the women who attended told her about a multilevel cosmetics company that guarantees their products are safe and pure. When Elaine Hollingsworth suggested that they bring the bottles and jars to the table, they really get depressed. Each and every label on these ‘pure’ and ‘safe’ products lists dangerous ingredients, all of which you must avoid: propylene glycol (a primary skin irritant), sodium lauryl and laureth sulphate (SLS), any parabens and any chemical which has the word propyl in it – at the front of the word, in the middle, or at the end. Bear in mind too, that the ingredient quanternium is simply formaldehyde in disguise.
For example, when Usana, a high-profile vitamin producer from the US, came out with Sense, a cosmetic line, Hollingsworth was interested to see the ‘natural’ ingredients the salesman told Elaine about. Their fancy brochure, which ELAINE HOLLINGSWORTH pored over, used lovely phrases, such as “delicate soap-free formula, pure plant extracts, soothing botanicals, whole grape extracts,” etc. Reality, alas, was not reassuring, and in such tiny print that Hollingsworth had to use a magnifying glass, the awful truth surfaced: aminomethyl propanol, butylene glycol, phenoxyethanol, isopropylparaben, isobutylparaben, butylparaben, just plain propylparaben, aluminum silicate, methylparaben, sorbitol, ethylparaben, and on and on and on, with each ‘beautifier’ containing between 30 and 60 ingredients, none of which Elaine would ever allow to get anywhere near my body. Nor should you. I’m picking on Usana because Elaine Hollingsworth happen to have their brochure in front of her, but all of the heavily advertised ‘natural’ cosmetics contain ingredients that should be avoided. In the book, Dangerous Beauty, Peter Dingle, BEd, BSc Hons, PhD, a lecturer at Murdoch University in Perth with over 60 scientific publications on chemical exposure and indoor air quality to his name, says, “None of the chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products are fully tested and for most, there is only very basic information available on their health effects. The magnitude of their potential adverse effects is therefore unknown. Increasingly, there appear to be large numbers of the population affected by many of the chemicals contained in these products. Our research results indicate that between 15 and 20 percent of people are acutely affected.” And let’s not forget the cruelty to animals the cosmetics companies continue to practice.
For example, when Usana, a high-profile vitamin producer from the US, came out with Sense, a cosmetic line, Hollingsworth was interested to see the ‘natural’ ingredients the salesman told Elaine about. Their fancy brochure, which ELAINE HOLLINGSWORTH pored over, used lovely phrases, such as “delicate soap-free formula, pure plant extracts, soothing botanicals, whole grape extracts,” etc. Reality, alas, was not reassuring, and in such tiny print that Hollingsworth had to use a magnifying glass, the awful truth surfaced: aminomethyl propanol, butylene glycol, phenoxyethanol, isopropylparaben, isobutylparaben, butylparaben, just plain propylparaben, aluminum silicate, methylparaben, sorbitol, ethylparaben, and on and on and on, with each ‘beautifier’ containing between 30 and 60 ingredients, none of which Elaine would ever allow to get anywhere near my body. Nor should you. I’m picking on Usana because Elaine Hollingsworth happen to have their brochure in front of her, but all of the heavily advertised ‘natural’ cosmetics contain ingredients that should be avoided. In the book, Dangerous Beauty, Peter Dingle, BEd, BSc Hons, PhD, a lecturer at Murdoch University in Perth with over 60 scientific publications on chemical exposure and indoor air quality to his name, says, “None of the chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products are fully tested and for most, there is only very basic information available on their health effects. The magnitude of their potential adverse effects is therefore unknown. Increasingly, there appear to be large numbers of the population affected by many of the chemicals contained in these products. Our research results indicate that between 15 and 20 percent of people are acutely affected.” And let’s not forget the cruelty to animals the cosmetics companies continue to practice.