Why the heck do we pollute our bodies so much???

So Tuesday evening, I attended an Arbonne party, not really knowing exactly what was in store for me, but knowing that there was going to be some education surrounding the importance of natural skin care products.

When I was going to MAC, I did some volunteer work with Environment Hamilton where I participated in "Supermarket tours" which was for a gr. 12 class at a school in Hamilton. We broke the class into 3 groups around Metro: 1) the canned food aisle 2) the produce and 3) health/beauty products aisle. We presented to the teens about pesticides, preservatives, the importance of buying local, consumerism etc. I personally did presentations on health & beauty products where I educated myself online about the toxins and chemicals that are in the beauty products that we use everyday and had the students look at labels and identify a more natural way to cleanse our bodies. My presentation to these 3 groups of students was the very short, less informed version of the presentation that I had last night at the Arbonne party.

 The lady who hosted the party is a Phd student studying science (biology), which helped with understanding more about the chemicals in beauty products and what they mean and do.

Upon arrival at the party, they were providing facials and hand scrubs. As they were applying the products, they explained the ingredients in the product - that they didn't sud very much because sodium 'laureth', which creates the bubbles is a carcinogenic and is not included in the arbonne products. Also, that there is no 'parfum', but rather the products natural fragrance is from the fruit, and as a result the scent is not plastic to your skin, but rather fades away gradually (naturally!). Also they mentioned the feeling of using this product versus products filled with chemicals that strip the moisture out of your skin to give you the feeling of "clean". These products leave your skin feeling moisturized, not tight.

I just want to list some facts from the presentation that may make you think the next time you go to use your products in your shower, when you get ready in the morning:

• In the UK, there are thousands of ingredients that are banned from beauty products because they haven't proven to be safe. In Canada, there are 12 products that have been banned from beauty products because they've been proven unsafe.
• In Canada, beauty product companies (i.e. Proctor & Gamble) are only required to place 2/3 of their total product ingredients on the labels, because they are able to "protect their recipe" so no one can replicate it.
• Mineral oil is often spoken about as a natural product good for skin, however it actually sits at the surface of the skin, blocking pores.
• The wave of using products to make "improvements" on ourselves came in the 1980s, this is when it became cool to use a wide array of chemicals in products to hide wrinkles, do 15 things with hair (frizzy hair, dry hair, coloured hair etc.). And since these extra chemicals have been introduced, we have also seen a new introduction of illnesses and diseases: Autism, ADHD, less males being born (note: Sarnia), increase in cancer among many others
• Fish scales are often used in make up for shine, beetle skins for lipstick, and biohazard products for filler.

Because these products by Arbonne are natural and don't have the fillers that other products have, they come at an added cost, so it is best to slowly introduce these products into your routine. They say that an average woman uses 10-15 products a day (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, facial cleanser, moisturizer, toothpaste, deodorant, mascara, eye liner, foundation and I have 10 daily... except those days I dont shower.. Ha!) , so it could take some time to replace these products. Due to my budget, I am starting with a hand & body wash (29), and a facial cleanser (20) and I'll see from there...

Natural products like these are also sold at health food stores, but the variety is difficult to come by. Arbonne has a collection with choices and the scents are really nice (I am getting a shea butter body wash that smells fabulous!), but the products are made in California so shipping is at an additional cost as well.