| Could allowing your daughter to wear makeup be | | | | to look for. We also teach girls about natural |
| increasing her breast cancer risk? | | | | products they can make themselves." said Karen |
| Research shows 9 out of 10 girls are wearing | | | | McIlveen, principal of Grace Academy. |
| makeup regularly by the time they are 14. In fact, | | | | 3) Make your own cosmetics and skin care products! |
| the number of girls aged 11 to 14 who use makeup | | | | Women often assume that you have to pay a |
| every day has doubled in two years! Yet girls are | | | | fortune for a product that is good for your skin, but |
| most vulnerable to the chemicals in makeup - many | | | | that couldn't be further from the truth! You can easily |
| of which are linked to breast cancer - during the | | | | make natural products in your kitchen, which are |
| years when their bodies are developing! | | | | often better for your skin than anything you can buy |
| (Environmental Working Group report, 2008) | | | | in the shop. You can teach your daughter to make lip |
| The cosmetic industry has been increasingly targeting | | | | glosses, face masks and bubble baths in just a few |
| our daughters over the last decade, with a range of | | | | minutes, knowledge that will save her a lot of money |
| cutesy products designed for young girls. As a | | | | down the track! You can download recipes at Safe |
| mother, I know that I allowed myself to be | | | | Cosmetics. |
| persuaded that 'kiddy makeup' was okay because it | | | | 4) Shop in places that sell organic and natural |
| was just the same as playing dress up. I assumed | | | | products. Health stores often have natural cosmetics |
| that the products would be extra safe because of | | | | and skin care products, but again, read the labels |
| the age range it was marketed to, but clearly that | | | | carefully. Just because products are in a health store |
| was not the case! A look at any of the 'kiddy' | | | | doesn't mean they are free of harmful chemicals. |
| cosmetics will quickly show you an alarming range of | | | | 5) Limit you and your daughter's overall exposure to |
| ingredients whose name you can't pronounce (which | | | | hormone-disrupting chemicals. While our bodies have |
| usually means chemicals). Do a bit more research and | | | | an inherent ability to get rid of excess oestrogen, |
| you will find that there are ingredients like phthalates | | | | many of the man-made compounds can't be broken |
| which are linked to breast cancer, birth deformation, | | | | down and end up accumulating in the body. |
| asthma and early puberty. You will also find lead, | | | | One way to reduce the load on our bodies is to use |
| formaldehyde and other harmful ingredients. | | | | glass containers as much as possible, as plastic |
| Many of the ingredients in makeup and skin care | | | | containers often have these harmful chemicals. |
| products mimic the effect of oestrogen. This is of | | | | Another way to reduce exposure is to avoid all |
| great concern, because it is widely accepted amongst | | | | shop-bought cosmetic and skin care products, |
| scientists that it is the increased exposure to | | | | including shampoos and deodorants. In fact, some of |
| oestrogen in our environment that has lead to the | | | | the worst offenders are sunscreens, with five out of |
| rise in breast cancer over the last 50 years. (Breast | | | | the 6 having oestrogen mimicking ingredients. Instead |
| cancer Network(NZ)report, 2006) | | | | seek out products that are made from 100% natural |
| Strategies for protecting our daughters from the | | | | ingredients. For instance, aromatherapy businesses |
| chemicals in cosmetics | | | | often make up their own skin care products which |
| 1) The first thing to do is start reading labels, | | | | are natural and wonderful for the skin. |
| particularly the ingredients list. As a rule of thumb, if | | | | 6) Ultimately, you may have to refuse to allow your |
| you can't pronounce it - don't buy it! Be suspicious: | | | | daughter to wear makeup and skin care products |
| Words like "natural" or "hypoallergenic" look | | | | until her body has stopped developing. As she is |
| reassuring, but they may well be misleading. | | | | most vulnerable when her body is developing, taking |
| 2) Educate yourself and your daughters. There is a | | | | such a stand may protect her from breast cancer in |
| lot of information on the net about the chemicals in | | | | the long run. |
| cosmetics issue. A good place to start is at | | | | The pressure being brought to bear on cosmetic |
| SafeCosmetics.org. There is also an alarming report | | | | companies is slowly forcing them to withdraw these |
| that is worth reading, even if it is a bit scientific, at | | | | chemicals from their product lines. However, it will be |
| breastcancernetwork.org.nz in an article entitled | | | | some time before it is safe to use shop-bought |
| Insidious Oestrogens. | | | | products. In the meantime, we must protect our |
| There are also places that will educate your daughter | | | | daughters from being exposed unnecessarily to |
| on cosmetic safety. For instance, as part of their | | | | products which may cause them harm later in life. |
| Building Social Confidence program, one business, | | | | Some exposures to chemicals are out of our control |
| Grace Academy (School of Social Confidence), is | | | | but limiting our children's exposure to shop-bought |
| arming girls with the information they need to make | | | | products is one thing we can, and must, control, to |
| safe and healthy choices in cosmetics and skin care. | | | | ensure their future. |
| "There are safe products available, if you know what | | | | |