Bear's Beauty's Backstory Part 1 & 2

September 25, 2013 The Back Story - Part 1 - How I became a Green Beauty Advocate Like most little girls, I was fascinated with beauty products and cosmetics from a very young age. As a matter of fact, I am pretty sure there are pictures of a three year old Jerra in her Grandma's closet covered in red lipstick and Emeraude Perfume. I loved all things colorful, glittery, shiny, and girly! Unlike many other little girls, I also had a Grandfather who was a carpenter. He taught me to play outside, love nature, and get my hands dirty with hard work instead of taking short cuts. My Mother was also somewhat of a Hippie in her own right. She taught me about Nature's healing power, the way of herbs, Native American Beliefs and Tradition, as well as surrounded me with medical terms and information (She is an R.N. by trade.) I am sure through the course of this blog I will expound on all of those subjects and people a bit more, maybe even share some stories, but not right now. Through grade school and high school, I continued to love make-up and cosmetics. I wanted the newest lip gloss with the special plumping spheres and micro-glitter, even if it cost me a whole month's allowance. I had buckets of lip gloss, lip stick, eye shadow, foundation, lotions, perfumes, glitter, shampoo, and anything else you can think of in the world of beauty. I read every bottle, the descriptions, ingredients, product claims, and then would watch beauty infomercials and advertisements to glean even more beauty knowledge. I struggled through high school and even into my college years with sensitive skin. I had acne all over my face and back. I was forever getting rashes, dry skin, or even dandruff. I was also forever buying the next product claiming to have all of the answers for my beauty woes. The buckets of products and money spent on them continued to rack up, but I saw very little improvement in my skin or hair for more than a few uses of any product. I learned my way around the make-up world. I read every article I could find on hot new products. I loved QVC and "Friday Night Beauty." It was a whole show dedicated to selling the newest products from some of my favorite beauty heavy-hitters. I learned how to apply make-up from Bobbie Brown and Adrian. I read books about how to use make-up to cover flaws and blemishes. I became a beauty "Guru" in my own circles. I even did Theater make-up for most of my high school plays. I eventually ended up in Cosmetology School. September 25, 2013 Part 2 In Cosmetology School I learned the chemicals involved in the beauty world. I learned about hair, make-up, hair color, waxing, skin care, and cosmetics. I loved the beautiful colors I could change my usually blonde locks into. I learned about the skin and how it worked. Eventually I began to wonder about what effect the chemicals might be having on people. I still struggled with horrible breakouts, painfully dry scalp, and constant rashes. No matter how close to natural a product claimed to be, I still suffered. I also had horrible migraines on a daily basis, and was taking up to 15 Excedrin a day to combat them. My Mother gave me a book that opened my eyes to what was going on in the salon, with the chemicals, and in my own body. The book is called "The Green Beauty Guide," by Julie Gabriel. In this book, Julie, a former Beauty Magazine editor, writes about the beauty indussty as well as her own journey into green beauty. What really struck me was her list of 100 Toxic Cosmetic ingriedients. I am going to paste it in here. I suggest you grab your baby shampoo, lotion, and facewash and check out the ingriedients list. What will scare you the most is not that they are in one product, but just how many there are in every product. Over time, these checmicals build up in your Lymph system, near your Lymphnodes, and eventually can cause tumors or worse. They have even found "Triclosan," a common hand sanitizer and soap addative, in breast cancer tumors! http://thegreenbeautyguide.com/100-ingredients-to-avoid-download/ Calcium Fluoride – neurotoxic to humans; leads to bone weakness; causes birth abnormalities and depression in animals. Ceteareth (with any numeral following it) - unsafe for use on broken skin; eye and lung irritant; may be contaminated with 1,4-Dioxane. Cetrimonium Chloride - skin and eye sensitizer that can include itching, burning, scaling, hives, and blistering; caused cell mutations in animal studies. Cetyl alcohol - skin and eye irritant in humans. Cetrimonium Chloride – can cause itching, burning, scaling, hives, and blistering of skin; caused lung cancer in animals. Chloroacetamide - strong skin, eye, and lung irritant; toxic if inhaled; causes paralysis, goiter, and birth defects in animals; banned in Canada. Coal Tar – known human carcinogen; causes lung and urinary tract cancer; potent skin irritant; causes multiple cancers in animals; banned in most countries including Canada and European Union; still used in anti-dandruff shampoos in the US and the U.K. Cocamide DEA (ethanolamide of coconut acid) – strong human skin toxicant and suspected carcinogen; causes irritation of skin, eyes, and lungs in humans; causes liver and bladder cancer in animals.