Beauty products

[Guest guest]

While not directly on topic, it does remind us that " eating " isn't just

throught the mouth. Our bodies do absorb and injest through the skin.

We also receive unwanted contaminants through our lungs.

 

Many raw foodists have reduced or eliminated their use of common

commercial " hygiene " products in an effort to improve their overall

health. Some suggest we shouldn't put anything on our skin that we

wouldn't eat. Once in the body, our eliminatory organs must extract and

eliminate toxic ingredients (or store them somewhere in the body.)

People who work with chemicals may put a great burden on their liver,

because of their exposure through their skin and lungs, so it pays to

take precautions.

 

I use only a tiny amount of " natural " shampoo and very little soap. My

body odor has reduced since being raw, so deoderants aren't a

necessity. Occasional fasting seems to clear up any odor. (yes, yes, I

know I need to fast... thanks for the reminder!)

 

Jeff

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

I'm talking to my hairstylist about using animal friendly products. She

currently uses Redken bleach. Does anyone have any suggestions about good

animal friendly products for coloring your hair and overall hair care.

Experience is usually the best teacher. Also, is there a way to determine which

companies are animal friendly or not?

 

She's willing to work with me as I make the transition, so any suggestions would

be helpful.

 

Thanks,

Kim

[Guest guest]

On 3/23/06, grnflea <grnflea wrote: I'm talking to my hairstylist about using animal friendly products. She currently uses Redken bleach. Does anyone have any suggestions about good animal friendly products for coloring your hair and overall hair care. Experience is usually the best teacher. Also, is there a way to determine which companies are animal friendly or not?

 

 

Hi Kim and anyone else who might be interested,

 

I have done a ton of research on this issue (hair products) as well as facial products, etc. I don't know how many people are actually interested in this, so I'll just mention a few things and people can contact me off-list or if people feel this is an issue for more discussion, I'd be happy to talk about it on-list too.

 

 

First, I'd start by taking a look at PETA's list of companies that don't test on animals:

http://www.caringconsumer.com/searchcompany.asp. They list vegan companies on there, but I have found some errors with that in the past, but maybe they've fixed it. (It's on my list of things to do to contact them about it).

 

There are also lots of companies that are not vegan but have some vegan products in their line.

 

Another source to find companies that don't test on animals is: http://www.leapingbunny.org/index.php

 

There are tons of other lists out there on the internet regarding animal testing/vegan products, which makes it very frustrating because they are not consistent. So, I usually end up emailing companies myself to find out their animal-testing policy as well as if they use animal-derived ingredients and/or animal by-products, unless it clearly says on the packaging or I just know because they are a known animal-friendly company.

 

 

One thing to keep in mind is that many ingredients, i.e., glycerin, castor oil, etc can come from a plant, animal, or synthetic source. Ingredients lists on products don't always specify the source. So, that's why I contact companies to find out the sources of the ingredients/where they are derived from. You can get a list of ingredients that can come from animals on PETA's website.

 

 

So, here's some specific stuff I've found:

 

Hair coloring:

 

I am currently going to an Aveda salon for my color and I LOVE it. Their color is vegan and Aveda does not test on animals.

 

Years ago I used Goldwell. They do not test on animals, but they have not returned two emails from me on the sources of their ingredients, so I take that to mean that there may be some animal-derived ingredients, but who knows.

 

I also used Schwarzkopf for color in the past. The company has sent me info in writing that they do not test on animals, nor are their ingredients animal-derived. However, I have recently seen them on some lists as animal testers, so I don't have clear info and won't use them. (That probably means they contract others to test the ingredients on animals.)

 

 

Hair care products:

 

If you color your hair, I love Aveda's Color Conserve shampoo and conditioner as well as Pureology, which is an entire VEGAN line for color-treated hair. Pureology also makes good styling products. As does Rusk (but not everything is vegan from them). Aveda also makes some other good shampoos.

 

Redken years ago used to be on the list of companies that do not test on animals, but since being bought out by L'Oreal (that evil company who just bought out Body Shop) they are on PETA's list of companies that test on animals.

 

For my haircuts, I just bring in my own products for my stylist to use, so you might want to do that if she is not open to changing products.

 

Well, I guess I ended up saying more than just a few things. But feel free to ask more if anyone is interested

 

Melissa

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the good info, Melissa. In case anyone is interested in what

other ingredients (ie., toxins, chemicals, etc.) are used in personal

care products, below is the link to Skin Deep, a personal care product

safety guide with in-depth information on 14,408 products - 1,005 brands

of shampoo, toothpaste, soap, cosmetics, lotion, lip balm, deodorant,

sunscreen and other popular products - and the 6,967 ingredients that

form them. Skin Deep provides safety ratings and brand-by-brand

comparisons that can help consumers choose safer products.

Unfortunately, this site does not provide information as to which

products are vegan (although they do tell you whether products are

tested on animals - I don't know if this includes contracting out the

testing), but, many of the least toxic brands are vegan and are not

tested on animals (eg., Nature's Gate, Terressentials (they use some

organic beeswax, but see their FAQs on their website), etc.). I think

the " Custom Shopping List " feature on the website is great.

http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/index.php

<http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/index.php>

 

Regards,

Jennifer

 

________________________________

 

on behalf of vegan4animals

Thu 3/23/2006 6:51 PM

 

Hi Kim and anyone else who might be interested,

 

I have done a ton of research on this issue (hair products) as well as

facial products, etc. I don't know how many people are actually

interested in this, so I'll just mention a few things and people can

contact me off-list or if people feel this is an issue for more

discussion, I'd be happy to talk about it on-list too.

...