Paraben-Free Beauty.com: Talk About Products and Your Health

The Beauty Industry, Sustainability & Recycling

2009-04-06T00:40:00.000-07:00

Hi again, I am back from the windy City of Chicago where I attended America's Beauty Show.

The first day I sat in on a Salon Sustainability Summit. There was an incredible panel of speakers, the most impressive , and perhaps well known, was Horst Reckelbacher, the founder of Aveda, and now CEO of Intelligent Nutrients. As the closing speaker one of his final thoughts was: "Don't put on your skin what you wouldn't put in your mouth" These are words to live by!

In general the panel shared how they were contributing to sustainability: with green build outs, cleaning supplies, low energy lighting, recycling, using recycled paper goods, less printing from the computer, etc. All good information, but I felt that everyone in the room was already on that page.

For something new that the panel hadn't heard about, I raised my hand to share how I recycle the cut hair from my salon. I heard about this from IdealBite.com some time ago. The hair can be recycled and made into a hair mat that will be used to soak up oil spills. Wherever you go to get your hair cut, be sure to tell your stylist about this program. All the details he or she will need can be found at: http://www.matteroftrust.org/programs/hairmatsinfo.html

Of course, I had to add my two cents about how the beauty industry needs to step up to the plate and start to make cleaner products. I was assured that they were on it. That remains to be seen. I did see more companies claiming to be paraben free, but at closer look, their claims were just more "greenwashing." I do hope that changes soon.

Ok bye for now, I'll have more later this week, Christine

California Safe Cosmetics Act

2009-03-20T01:04:00.000-07:00

In 2005, California became the first state in the nation to pass state legislation governing the safety and reporting of cosmetic ingredients. The California Safe Cosmetics Act requires manufacturers to disclose to the state any product ingredient that is on state or federal lists of chemicals that cause cancer or birth defects. Now we need the other 49 states to follow suit. You can help! Go to the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety website (they've compiled a database of 42,000 cosmetic products and rated them for safety.) On their home page you will find a petition to Congress to "protect the public from unsafe chemicals in personal care products." Please add your signature to this petition.

In my opinion the list falls short of many harmful ingredients, but it is a start. Unfortunately parabens are not on the list. However, I am seeing many product lines removing parabens from their ingredient lists. But let's not be fooled by another tricky hard to pronounce chemical name that essentially means parabens. I will have examples to share with you soon. I am attending a Green Summit in Chicago on the 28th, and will share all I learn from there. Please let us know if you see any "greenwashing" near you. Thanks, C@PFB

Certified Organic Botanicals are the Secret Behind Onesta Hair Care’s Success.

2009-03-06T05:13:00.000-08:00

GET CHEMICAL FREE!

While attending the ISSE hair show in January I discovered a NEW (to me) product line. Onesta hair care products, components and all raw materials are manufactured solely in the USA. Every bit of Onesta’s energy consumption is offset by wind power. Biodegradable and environmentally safe ingredients, they use certified organic extracts to support sustainable farming. And all marketing material and packaging is on 100% recycled materials. In addition to all of this, they donate 10% of their net income to cancer research.

Tom Redmond is the founder of the company and a cancer survivor. Having lost a sister to breast cancer and conquering his own battle with prostate cancer his understanding of continued research is clear. These natural plant based products are FREE of Parabens, sodium laurel sulfate, propylene glycol, TEA, DEA, and of course no animals were involved. I have been working with these products for about a month the results have been fabulous. Of course they are available here on the shopping pages of parabenfreebeauty.com. Try one, or try them all, you won’t be disappointed!! My personal favorites are the SUPER CONDITIONER and the SMOOTH & SHINE THERMAL STRAIGHTENING CRÈME.

‘Til next time, BE FREE!

Onesta, a new hair care line

2009-02-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

Well I am back from Long Beach and another great educational gathering.

I am very excited to announce the arrival of a new hair care line, ONESTA. The name means honesty, and that is their promise to the consumer. Like us at PFB they are concerned with the chemicals in most products. Onesta products use safe natural ingredients. Check out their web site www.onestahaircare.com.

I also came back with more products for the body. A shave cream, body lotion and Marrakesh oil. This oil is amazing, similar to “Moroccan” oil but I think better. So look for more info and get ready to shop!

Thanks and I’ll be back soon,
Christine

The Birth of Paraben-Free Beauty

2009-01-28T23:11:00.000-08:00

What's wonderful about a blog is that I don't have to say everything at once, just a bit at a time as it comes to my mind. It's kind of like taking a journey a step at a time and I invite you to travel along with me.

My name is Christine and I've been in the beauty business for 25 years. I've seen every kind of trend come and go, but I have become passionate about one issue: you should not have to pay for your beauty with your health.

Parabens are contained in most cosmetic products for hair, skin and body. They are used as preservatives, but lately research has turned up some troubling findings about parabens.

In this blog, I'll share my discoveries with you and encourage you to share yours as well.

Well, that's all for my first post. I'm off to Long Beach this weekend for the International Salon and Spa Expo to learn about the healthiest beauty products I can find and to spread the word about Paraben-Free Beauty.