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To have the best understanding and a better perspective on parabens, it's best to understand the interesting relationships among science, public perceptions, industry actions and the like.
Silicone Boobies
Remember that little controversy back in the 90's . . . all about silicone? Silicone breast implants were vilified in the media and blamed for causing a host of illnesses in women who had the implants. Guess what? There was, and still is, absolutely no link whatsoever between silicone and the cause of any of these serious illnesses. WHAT!?! How can that be? After all, companies that made these implants went out of business due to lawsuits, including huge multi-billion dollar losses for DOW Corning, the biggest manufacturer.
Reality
Well, welcome to the imperfect relationship between science/truth and our legal system and public perception! Just because the court systems may make judgments against these companies, it doesn't make it right. Factor in emotional testimonies, "scientific" witnesses that can be paid to say pretty much anything, and juries that probably don't have the scientific background to filter through what's valid and what's just plain junk. These are just some of the factors that confound our current legal system when it comes to scientific cases.
And guess what?
After all that hoopla, silicone implants are back on the market once again!
Let's Evaluate
So let's take those lessons in to evaluate the whole paraben ordeal. Companies are increasingly switching to non-paraben preservative systems. Not because they believe that there is any dangers to them, but because it increases their marketability. With the rampant so-called dangers of parabens hitting the media, companies will use any reason to position themselves to take advantage of the situation. Even the companies will admit that they believe parabens are safe, but they want to open up another option. So please understand this: just because some companies maybe shifting away from parabens, this doesn't mean that they are acknowledging any dangers associated with them! Check out this article on the issue.
What's the most appalling thing I find about this paraben issue? It's the countless people taking advantage of the situation. You'll find one company after another touting "paraben-free", yet they may be using other preservatives (some that release formaldehydes (as do some parabens in combination with other preservatives), some that use sodium hydroxymethylglycinate (click for my post on this nasty preservative), worse yet, some companies are using unproven preservatives without years of safety studies to back them up. Even worse, some companies use "preservative free" formulas, and most of these just pose an additional danger of possible contamination by microorganisms that could lead to infection.
I'm not saying use or don't use parabens, just to be wholly informed on the issue. Please refer to Paraben Posts Part ONE, TWO, & THREE for more coverage. My next post (Parabens Part 5) will be dedicated to helping you be able to do the "hard research" for yourself.
What NOT to do
Just don't be led to believe the industry is telling you the truth on anything, the business of cosmetics and skincare, unfortunately, relies on painting unrealistic and often misleading pictures. The same goes for what they may tout as far as claims go for performance and ingredients. NEVER BELIEVE ANY SKINCARE COMPANY AT THEIR WORD! Hopefully with the next post, you'll be on your way to researching more of the truth for yourself.
So Remember . . .
Use the infamous example of silicone implants to realize that science, truth, legality, and product representation are certainly not on the same page! Especially in the health and skincare industry!
So I'm back from almost a week off or so. Spent some time in Boston with all the Marathon activities. There'll be some changes to this site in the next coming weeks or so. I'll be limiting my skincare posts to more informative ones (i.e. back to more nerdy, science-y posts :-). I rather it be about quality than quantity, although I do promise some non-scientific reviews since so many of you like those posts!
I will also be in Europe soon, so if there's any European skincare-related questions, please email me! I'll be blogging from those countries and it'll be interesting to see what's going on in the European skincare markets.
So, I was (un)lucky enough to be invited to listen to the full length new album from Madonna called Hard Candy. To be honest, I am no Madonna fan (music-wise that is), but who could pass up this opportunity? I certainly do think she has an amazing knack for dance music, so I though with her recent hit 4 minutes, this album would be great (especially with the help of the fresh blood of Justin Timberlake and Timbaland). Well, I sure hope she spent only 4 minutes making this album, because it sounds like it. I think even the most ardent fans will be seriously disappointed. The songs, music and lyrics, were nothing less than uninspired and c-class at the very best. The song 4 minutes is by far the best on the album. Sorry to bring the bad news. Hopefully, I'm just out of touch and the fans will like it.
Thanks for reading my posts here at Truth in Skincare!
XO
Hey all! Just wanted to present an article that was brought to my attention. Think things have been bad under G.W.'s presidential reign? Think again. Here's yet another shocker. "Military Analysts" that you see commenting on the news programs, you know, the one's with years of military service. People you think are "Good Guys".
Here's the Rewind for the week!
Monday: A review of Jurlique's Day Face Lotion post. Also, a post on yet another Dr. N V Perricone supplement ripoff.
Wednesday: A post about a great website dedicated to quitting smoking. Become an EX!
Thursday: A cooky cookie post about the winner of the Pillsbury million dollar bake-off. See the recipe that won. Also, a possible new trick with regular Nail Polish. Also, don't forget to enter the Total Beauty contest to win a chance to win a Hybrid Saturn Vue.
Enjoy your weekend! I'll be in Boston for a couple days enjoying the Marathon activities! So I'll continue posting when I get back! They'll be a bunch of (great) new changes coming to Truth in Skincare.
Hey there! I don't know why I'm posting this video. Maybe it has to do with being on a diet (trying to get the beach body ready for summer). But it's also some nice & happy news. Mrs. Gurtz is the winner of the Pillsbury Baking contest. I thought the idea was simple (I can even do it) and it's just a simple twist on a regular old peanut butter cookie: it has a peanut butter center! BTW she won a cool million dollars for it!
I'm no cook, so maybe this isn't so new to you all, but, either I'm way too hungry at the moment or it really is a nice take on the pb cookie!
Here is the video below and below that is the recipe!
24 cookies
INGREDIENTS
Heat oven to 375° F.
In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon; set aside. In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls.
Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls. Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls.
On ungreased large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Spray bottom of drinking glass with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray; press into remaining peanut mixture.
Flatten each ball to 1/4-inch thickness with bottom of glass. Sprinkle any remaining peanut mixture evenly on tops of cookies; gently press into dough.
Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered.
1 Serving: Calories 150 (Calories from Fat 70); Total Fat 7g (Saturated Fat 1 1/2g, Trans Fat 1/2g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 125mg; Total Carbohydrate 17g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 11g); Protein 3g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 0%; Iron 2% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1
Celebrate Green with Total Beauty. Total Beauty is a community website of ours that is having an awesome sweepstakes. Go there now to submit you own honest product review and you'll be entered too. One of the prizes is a Hybrid Saturn Vue.
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Hi readers! Just wanted to say thanks for your emails of support. You are so good to me! Blogging has been more difficult, yet more rewarding, than I had ever expected. It's hard to always remain unbiased and truthful, but I promise I will continue to do my best, whether others, or companies, like it or not!
so now on to the post . . .
Nail Polish On Your Blue Jeans!?!
Sounds like a country song right? So here's quite an interesting story I came across! Nickel is the top common metal that people are most allergic to. Many blue jeans (as well as other clothes, etc.) contain metal buttons that contain nickel which can cause an allergic reaction when in contact with the skin.
A recent study (a small, preliminary study) showed the effectiveness of nail polish applied to the buttons! It worked better to prevent a reaction to the nickel within the metal button that other methods that have been tried. The polish even stayed effective through a couple of wash and dry cycles as well.
Of course, I don't advocate any nickel allergy sufferers (especially those who are severely allergic) to try this. However, this is a nice sign of how sometimes the most simple item can can accomplish a big feat!
btw the image is that of "Color Paw" nail polish for your pets. I'm no veterinarian, but I wouldn't recommend this for your pet either. Dogs are pretty color blind after all, I doubt they'll appreciate it! :-) Would love to hear from anyone who's used nail polish on their dogs though, but that's a whole 'nother blog isn't it?
Enjoy your Thursdays!
XO
dr. d
If you a smoker and you're concerned about the way your skin looks, the first step should be to quit smoking! You can see the results within days, not to mention that you'll increase oxygen flow to every part of your body, which, in turn, will help your skin look and stay younger.
Here is an amazing online program to help you "become an ex", an ex-smoker that is. I think it's probably one of the best, most thorough programs out there. It's free and requires no personal information to sign up. It's a wonderful internet community as well to help you stay off smoking.
Click here to visit Become an Ex.
JURLIQUE
Day Care
Face Lotion
$40.00
3.3oz
Well, I do like using as much simple and natural ingredients in skincare products. However, making a truly terrific product might require quite a lot of money and time, which is usually unavailable to the (mostly) smaller companies producing natural based skincare products.
Jurlique is one of them. I do give them much props for trying to use very basic natural ingredients as the active ingredients in their product. Pretty good feat in the current synthetically-driven active ingredient use that is typical of the industry.
However, it is definitely the lack of aesthetic achievement that makes this product perform poorly. The product is certainly no fun to use. It comes out runny and certainly feels more on the slimy & oily side. Unfortunately, this slimy feel doesn't go away.
The natural aroma of the product is a mix between plants/grass/perfume, needless to say, not a good blend! Unfortunately, this product is a mess. If you are going to tout the use of natural ingredients, you've gotta put the work in to make sure:
A) That it actually works
B) Make it appropriate for use (no one wants to apply awful smelling goop to their face!)
This product fails on both accounts.
But keep trying Jurlique. If I had a suggestion for Jurlique, it would be this . . . STOP trying to have such a broad line of products. Just focus on a few of your products that you can truly stand behind and then others will too. Too often, companies feel like they have to have a huge line of products to compete with others in the industry. Customers want products that work and are of high quality, this in turn will keep the line successful. Expand the product line gradually, all products should meet the same high standards.
Here's just another example of how you can save money by buying your supplements from anywhere buy a skincare counter!
Perricone Vitamin C Ester
contains: 60 capsules of 250 mg ascorbyl palmitate $30.
Kaizen Vitam C Ester
contains: 60 capsules of 500 mg ascorbyl palmitate (double the vitamin c at that!) $6.49
Hi readers! I want to thank you for taking your time out to read my blogs. So I did go out last night as planned. Nothing crazy. I went out with some good peoples last night. It was was me and a couple of good old friends. It was raining, and I LOVED it, I always like the rain, it never spoils my party. I'm sure it's due to living for many years in Washington State, we got used to it ASAP. Yes, I am a freak.
We had a mild night, decided to go to the famed La Esquina. You see, the real part of the restaurant is the hidden gem and you gotta enter through the kitchen. Unlike a lot of places that try too hard, this place actually has that unimitable "something" that makes it work. I must say if I was reviewing La Esquina like it were a skincare product, I'd have to give it a THUMBS UP!
It was a great night with nothing but love and catching up, love hangin with the real peeps! And when traveling with my friend Marcelina (NYC's real it girl), it's always a guaranteed good time and star treatment. Had an amazing time, crowd was great, food even better. Just what the doctor ordered!
So friends, here's the WEEKLY REWIND:
WEDNESDAY: Started off the late week with this horrendous (and non skincare related) story about DISGUSTING Father-Daughter duo. No, I'm not being mean. CLICK HERE to check it out! Warning: It's quite disturbing!
THURSDAY: Covered two articles that continued to help expose the sham that is Dr. Perricone. Click here for that. Also I posted about a product that I use, Sebastian's Potion 9. Click here for that.
FRIDAY: Don't believe that Perricone's products are a COMPLETE RIPOFF? Here is proof of just one example where he overcharges. It's quite insane. Also, I gave out some link love to Netrition.com. Read my post here to find out a great online supplier of health foods and supplements. A must if you want selection and good prices!
Thanks again for reading TRUTH in SKINCARE. I am grateful to have a great base of readers (that continues to grow everyday!!). I hope you have an amazing weekend you all!
Hope you are all having a good Friday morning! The weekend is finally here. I can't wait myself. I've had so many changes in my life (I'll share with you soon) that I can't wait to hang out with some of my friends here in NYC. There's been many not-so-positive ads lately; all my postings on Perricone products after all. Unfortunately, this is the sad state of so many skincare manipulaters, um, marketers, or, actually I mean BOTH. So today I was determined to post about something that I do believe is a great help for the customers! So today I'm telling you about Netrition! This online site has been something I've used to find the best deals on diet aids, specialty foods, and supplements for YEARS now. So this is the first non-charity link that I am "loving".
So you've heard me talking about finding cheap alternatives to dietary supplements, such as the ripoff-priced Perricone supplements. Click here for one example. Netrition.com is an online store that I have ordered quite often from myself. It is a dream for the supplement lover, they carry just about EVERYTHING imaginable and have a multitude of options to choose from for anything that you are looking for. I have used them for years, and the site has helped me save money. It was the only place I could find protein pastas, and other "high protein, low carb" snacks that I used to live off of! So if you've ever tried looking for a bunch of specialty and diet foods, this is also the place for you.
Although, I don't think we need to be taking a bunch of supplements daily, people will be taking them anyway. I think this is one site that will save you money and get amazing service.
My advice: always consult your doctor before starting any supplements! And if they don't know about the supplement, tell them to find out about them and get back to you!! Yes, I mean it. We doctors should be getting into the practice of knowing what is the supplements out there on the market that their patients are taking! This is definitely a place where even doctors can shore up what they don't know.
I've been telling readers to go find supplements at their local health food or vitamin shop instead of buying them from the Dr. Perricone skincare line. Let's take a (sad) look at one huge ripoff, Perricone's Omega 3 supplements.
Compare for yourself!
The same Omega 3 from fish oil:
Perricone's costs a whopping $97.00 for 270 softgels of 1000mg.
Now check out just one (of MANY) other supplements:
NOW Omega 3
PRICE: $7.99 for 200 softgels of 1000mg!
Yes, always compare before you buy. It's almost shocking how people can get away with these type of ripoffs isn't it? So why do they? Simply, because they can. Research has shown over and over and over again, that if you price (skincare/healthcare) products at a higher price, it will make people think to themselves "It MUST do something if it costs that much." This type of marketing unfortunately works and this is why we see skincare products that cost HUNDREDS of dollars. The best weapon is knowledge so YOU won't get ripped off!
Yet, another THUMBS DOWN for Dr. Perricone!!
SEBASTIAN
Potion 9
Wearable Hair Treatment
5.1 oz
~14.99
Well, you wanted to know what I used, here is one product that I do use. Why? Because it does have ingredients that are proven to work on the hair and penetrate the hair shaft . . . and I only use it because they are natural ingredients.
Ingredients: Water (aqua), Glycerin, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Stearalkonium Chloride, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 60, PVP, Trimethylsilyamodimethicone, Hydrolized Wheat Protein, Hydrolized Silk, Cetyl Alcohol, Methyl Gluceth 10, Octylmethoxycinnamate, Panthenol, Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia Chinensis), Safflower Oil (Carthamus Tinctorius), Macadamia Ternifolia Nut Oil, Babassu Oil (Orbignya Oleifera), Borage Seed Oil (Borago Officinalis), Evening Primrose Oil (Oenothera Biennis), Dog Rose Hips Oil ((Rosa Canina)), Propylene Glycol, Caprilic/Capric Triglyceride, All Spice Extract (Pimenta Dioica), Lemongrass Extract ((cymbopogon schoenanthus)), Hydroxyethylcellulose, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Fragrance (parfum), Annatto (CI 75120), Ext D&C Violet 2 (CI 60730), D&C Orange 4 (CI 15510), FD&C Red 40 (CI 16035), Vegetable Oil.
I was just so appalled when I came across this on CNN. What is the world coming to? This father and daughter duo are perfectly happy being together and trying to have kids. Their first attempt at a child was unsuccessful, as the child was born with a congenital heart defect and died. This phenomenon is common, if parents are too genetically similar (i.e. related, family, close cousins) there is an extremely high chance that the child (if a child can even be produced) will contain "screwed-up" genes.
Well, this couple tried and now have a baby girl. I wonder if they ever thought about what the poor child would have to face when explaining who her parents are?!?! I am not usually judgmental, but this is just way too much. So messed up.
Here's the Rewind for the previous week's posts!
MONDAY: I did a review of Anthony Logistics for men Eye Cream. Click here to see why I wasn't crazy about it.
TUESDAY: It's not just the young ones using the tanning beds, even grandma uses them!
WEDNESDAY: Find out what I found to be the WORST SHAVING PRODUCT EVER, and it's made by Clinique. I also posted the latest record breaking feat by one Mariah Carey.
FRIDAY: It was all about lips and bad lip products again today. I posted about two awful lip products, read about Blistex Lip Infusion and Cococare Cherry Balm.
I've had 2 posts on some really bad chapsticks that needed to be published so here they are. Let's just say, thumbs down for these two lip products. At least they aren't in a tub though right? Remember my article on lip care hygiene and why you shouldn't use lip pots?
Besides all this, I hope you are all having a great week. I'll be back next week to continue talking about parabens and getting back to more skincare topics! Thanks again for reading and have a great weekend!
xo
BLISTEX Lip Infusion
