Study: Many Sunscreens May Be Accelerating Cancer - AOL News

I don't want this to be an alarmist blog regarding skin care however I read this article on huffingtonpost which details harm from sunscreen chemicals. I just wanted to add this to article to generate more awareness on this issue.

Here's a snippet.  Follow the link if you want to read the full article.

In their annual report to consumers on sunscreen, they say that only 39 of the 500 products they examined were considered safe and effective to use.

The report cites these problems with bogus sun protection factor (SPF) numbers:

• The use of the hormone-disrupting chemical oxybenzone, which penetrates the skin and enters the bloodstream.
• Overstated claims about performance.
• The lack of needed regulations and oversight by the Food and Drug Administration.

But the most alarming disclosure in this year's report is the finding that vitamin A and its derivatives, retinol and retinyl palmitate, may speed up the cancer that sunscreen is used to prevent.
Study: Many Sunscreens May Be Accelerating Cancer - AOL News

So why should you care about soap???

Okay, here's the straight dirt on commercial soap...it's not good for you or the environment in so many ways.  I'm going to have to break this down in multiple posts to help create a full picture here so stay with me.  In order to provide some context, we first have to understand our skin, it's function, proper care, etc...so let me start here.  Once you have an improved understanding of the skin your in you can then develop an appreciation for natural and organic body products.  We all know skin is an organ - just like our heart, liver, etc. - and it performs a number of functions for us.  Some include maintaining homeostatis (maintaining constant temperature via sweating/shivering); it provides a layer of protection from abrasions, against pathogens, radiation from the sun, metabolism of vitamin D, and much more.  Bottom line, it keeps us safe and is a critical layer of protection.  Plus, healthy skin just looks and feels good!

Despite all of this great protection, skin is highly absorbent.  It will absorb whatever it comes in contact with which then goes directly into the blood stream (hence all the patch programs now - nicotine, birth control, etc.).   Our skin is inundated with chemicals, preservatives, and all sort of toxic substances.  Our bodies are certainly designed to combat what gets in but why not safeguard our health with better choices.  Why does everyone get cancer now?  It's out of control.  As we begin to take more care regarding the food we put in our bodies (go organic, no pesticides, no cloned food, no gmo's, etc), the same amount of care should be taken with what we put ON it.  One of the best things you can do is shower/bath using a filtering and oxygenated shower head.   Or, you could get your water treated via a whole house water treatment system.  I can't afford the later just yet but I do plan on getting one of these showerheads from gaiam.com one of these days.  Okay, I guess I should get off my soapbox now  (love all the puns); sorry if I got preachy but it's something I believe in.  With that being said, many of the ingredients in or favorite commercially made soaps are just not good for skin despite all the marketing.  They are fairly cheap to produce and they make a hard/lasting bar; the low price comes with a cost and that's in the quality of the ingredients  used and the chemicals used to preserve shelf life.  In my next post I'll talk about some of the common ingredients found in commercially made soaps.

 

My first batch!!!!

After buying books, supplies, ingredients, researching recipes....I just suddenly stopped pursuing anything related soapmaking. Really strange. I guess I just got nervous about making my first batch and put it off for almost a year. Really absurd, I know. I was talking over this new-found passion of mine with the mother of my 9-year-old's BFF and proudly shared my bulk lavender buds. She quickly pointed out they were set to expire this June! Unbelievably, a year went by and no action on my part. So, with that slap in the face I decided to get to work. I really liked a recipe from AnnWatson's book. It contains a nice balance of oils that should result in a hard - yet conditioning bar. So, with my recipe in hand and all the step almost memorized - I went for it. The results came out great, seemed a little too easy given all the warnings that scared me away in the first place. It really wasn't bad at all. So with this batch I've officially started my quest for my unique, all natural, divine, and competitively differentiated base recipes.

So, safety first - I get suited up with the goggles and rubber gloves. I measured out all of the ingredients in advance since I want to make this as easy and efficient as possible. The next step, is to mix the lye and the water (water INTO the lye slowly and never the other way around.) That heats up pretty quickly, I stick in a thermometer (note to self - get a better digital version) and the temp is close to 200 degrees F. I heat up the oils in the microwave and stick another thermometer in that. Trick is to get both mixtures at approx. the same temp at the same time. I'm still learning this so am stressing over how to balance the temps. I get each to around 110 degrees, take a deep breath, and start the process! Pouring and stirring in the lye/water mixture was easy enough. The proof is in the pudding however - soap pudding that is. So, I get out my stick blender and it does whip up to a nice light trace. I was careful not to overdue it and pulsed and stirred, pulsed and stirred. Once it was light but clearly a trace, I added my EO and some calendula petals for fun. That was it!!! Poured it in the mold and it looked beautiful! Going to bed with sense of accomplishment is always satisfying.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!  I think I'm onto something...