Holistic Feathers

Please take a few moments out of your day to read this fascinating article by Natural News, reflecting all that we, at Holistic Feathers, believe in when it comes to natural beauty …

(NaturalNews) … today we focus on cleaning up your skin exposures. By “skin exposures,” I mean all the things your skin comes into contact with… and the sheer quantity of those things will probably surprise you.

But first, let’s get something out of the way that’s crucial to all this. The consumer products industry wants you to believe their “Big Lie”. The Big Lie is that chemicals you put on your skin don’t get absorbed into your bloodstream. So there’s no need to make sure consumer products are actually safe.

The FDA and most members of the conventional medical community also believe this lie: They don’t acknowledge the absorption properties of the skin, so they tend to say that all the things you put on your skin are perfectly safe for your health even if they contain toxic chemicals. (Of course, these very same people then promote nicotine patches and other drugs delivered through the skin, so they do indirectly acknowledge that the skin absorbs chemicals.)

How many different products come into contact with your skin on a regular basis? You’d be shocked to consider all the sources:

• Perfumes, colognes and other fragrance products.
• Shampoo.
• Shower soap or shower gel products.
• Pesticides used on your lawn which are carried to you through pets or children.
• Skin creams.
• Sunscreen products.
• Cosmetics.
• Antibacterial hand soaps.
• Laundry detergents and dryer sheets (through your clothing).
• Dish soaps.
• Furniture polishes.
• Household cleaners such as window cleaners.
• Artificial dyes found in clothing.
• Feminine hygiene products.
• Deodorants and anti-perspirants.
• Shaving creams and after-shave products.
• Hair dyes.
• Massage oils and lotions.
• Hair sculpting products and hair sprays.
• Tattoos and temporary skin art.
• Insect repellants.
• Over-the-counter creams: Anti-itch, pain creams, etc.
• Chlorine in your shower water.
• Anti-flea and tick chemicals acquired by touching your pets.

Cancer-causing chemicals
If you look at all these products whose ingredients come into contact with your skin, you’ll begin to realize something quite disturbing: They’re loaded with cancer-causing chemicals!

The average perfume product, just as an example, contains over twenty cancer-causing chemicals all by itself — and these are never even listed on the label. Antibacterial soaps are made with a chemical that’s similar to the nerve toxin chemical called Agent Orange which was used as a chemical weapon in the Vietnam War.

Hair dyes contain highly toxic chemical solvents. Conventional laundry detergents are made with extremely toxic cancer-causing fragrance chemicals. Conventional cosmetics are loaded with not just cancer-causing chemicals, but also heavy metals like lead. Lawn pesticides contain chemicals that promote Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

The list goes on and on…

The products listed above probably contain over 10,000 different synthetic chemicals, and virtually none of them have ever been safety tested or approved as safe for human consumption by any federal agency. The EPA doesn’t even know what many of these chemicals are because companies claim they need to protect their formulation “trade secrets” by not even listing the ingredients on product labels.

But think about these 10,000 chemicals for a moment and ask yourself this question: Why are you putting them on your skin?

Mainstream consumers poison themselves
Consumers are very easy to covertly influence through corporate advertising. I’m particularly struck by the advertising of a cologne product called “Axe” which is marketed to clueless teenage boys who naively believe that wearing these toxic chemicals will magically bring them hoards of slutty women who want to have sex with them. That’s the underlying message of the Axe Cologne advertising, anyway.

So these teenage boys buy up these Axe products which include cologne, deodorant and shampoo. Naturally, they’re oblivious to the fact that these products are made with artificial, synthetic fragrance chemicals that are absorbed right through the skin. None of these chemicals have been approved as safe for human consumption by the FDA, of course. But young men coat their bodies with these chemicals with no regard for their own health, thinking that smelling like Axe will reward you with female companionship.

And the ads work! Axe sales are through the roof. Sex sells everything… even synthetic chemicals.

Are you poisoning yourself, too?
But if you think these teenage boys are silly for buying such products, think about your own personal care products. Do you buy conventional shampoo? Sunscreens? Lotions? Cosmetics? Which toxic products are still in your own bathroom, kitchen or garage?

I’ve visited a lot of homes of people who told me they were “super health conscious.” Yet in almost every case when I visit such homes, I still find they’re using conventional laundry detergents, brand-name soaps in the bathroom, toxic skin lotions and baby products, etc. It is extremely rare for me to walk into someone’s house and not find a huge assortment of cancer-causing products there.

People are poisoning themselves by poisoning their skin with synthetic chemicals. And they still think they’re “health conscious!”

Most people, you see, are kidding themselves about protecting their skin from toxic, cancer-causing products. They may follow a fairly healthy diet, but they still bathe their skin in chemicals that damage the brain, liver, heart and kidneys. For some strange reason, many people who are acutely aware of what they put in their mouth are surprisingly unaware of what’s contained in the products they put on their skin.

The point of this article is to raise your awareness of what’s in the products your skin comes into contact with, and then to take new action to get all those toxic products out of your home.

Action items: What you can do right now
This may sound crazy, but here’s what I want you to do: Go through your entire house, covering every room including the garage, under the kitchen sink, the bathroom closet and so on. Gather up every “chemical” product and throw them all out. (You’re poisoning the environment by doing so, of course, but you’re going to make up for that by never buying these products again…)

This includes all your conventional cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, fragrance products, cleaning products, laundry products, bug sprays, air “fresheners” and the whole lot. Gather them all up and throw them out.

More importantly make a commitment to never buy these products again. That’s the only way to enjoy a long-term benefit for your health, of course.

Once this is done, begin to detox your body from these synthetic chemicals using a variety of detox products: Zeolites, chlorella supplements, cilantro, spirulina, etc. Drink a lot of water. Take liver detox herbs to support healthy liver function during all this. (I recommend Livatrex from www.GHChealth.com ).

Within just a few days, your chemical burden will start to fall as your body eliminates the chemicals that have been routinely poisoning it. After six months, your chemical load can drop as much as 90 percent, greatly reducing the chemical stress on your liver and kidneys while sharply reducing your risk of cancer and other neurological disorders.

Over time, your health will improve as your exposure to synthetic chemicals plummets. This action, combined with all the other steps in this 15-day self healing series, will vastly improve your health while slowing or even halting the development of many different degenerative diseases such as cancer, liver disease or Alzheimer’s.

(c) Natural News

Holistic Feathers offers a range of natural, living, vegan skincare and bodycare products from our online store as well as our treatment rooms.

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Women warned of make-up bacteria risk as the average cosmetics bag is found to be four years out of date

Daily Mail – 25th February 2010

They might appear innocent components of the female armoury.

But beware. Those trusty pots of eyeshadow and tubes of lipstick can be dangerous.

Beauty products, like food, do not last forever.

Over time bacteria can infiltrate them, only to be transferred on to the face and cause irritation or even infection.

But the average make-up bag is a hoarding space for items that are four years out of date, a study shows.

And some women hang on to items for up to 15 years past recommended use-by dates.

Old mascara wands can breed bacteria that lead to conjunctivitis, which causes redness, itching and swelling.

They should not be used six months after opening – but women admit to keeping them for an average of a year.

Expired lipsticks, meanwhile, can make lips dry, irritated and blistered.

And dirty brushes are a breeding ground for micro-organisms that can cause herpes, ringworm and impetigo, an infectious disease that results in blisters.

Five years ago rules were brought in by the European Union requiring all cosmetics to carry advice on when they will expire.

Many manufacturers responded by adding ‘period after opening’ symbols to packaging to indicate how many months a product lasts.

To see the whole gory picture, please visit the Daily Mail

(c) Daily Mail

Callie says: “I have been puritanical about my make-up bag – and brushes – since qualifying as a therapist … how about you?  How often do you wash your make-up brushes, or give your make-up bag a good clear out?”

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I fell off the wagon a few weeks ago … I mean, in terms of only using natural, chemical-free products on myself!

At the beginning of January, I decided to stop colouring my hair. I have been ‘au naturelle’ just once in (ouch!) 25 years … and that was during my pregnancy, 20 years ago. Time to slide into my 40th birthday gracefully and be totally natural, I thought to myself.

Still, as a dark strawberry-blonde, I needed to a way to tone in the root growth, my wise-hairs (yes, yes, yes – ok, my white hairs!) and the colour left on my past-shoulder length mane. I finally gave in and picked up two bottles of Trevor Sorbie’s Cool Coffee colour shampoo in a moment of madness.

And would you but know it? My scalp eczema flared up within a week and although it gave a nice gleam to my hair, I couldn’t bear to carry on using something that was causing me such discomfort – and so full of un-natural ingredients.

To my surprise, I noticed that Raw Gaia – our favourite skincare range – had recently launched Shikakai, a completely natural powder shampoo which gives a slightly darkened sheen to hair. Great news! I ordered a pot alongside my trade order and have fallen in love with it …

Shikakai is known as as “fruit for the hair” and the powder comes from de-shelled shikakai nuts; an ancient Ayurvedic medicine for strengthening the hair roots and said to stimulate hair growth, shikakai also has a naturally-mild pH, which means it will gently cleanse your hair without stripping it of all its natural oils.

So it was a perfect find for my sensitive scalp, meaning it could gently darken my hair over a period of time. I am thrilled with the results I have had so far … my scalp is healing nicely, my hair has a lovely shine and I no longer need to use a conditioning product after each wash.

I use the shikakai powder daily, mixed with cool water into a thick paste – if you have a dry scalp or suffer with dandruff, you can also add 1 teaspoon of neem or jojoba oil to the mixture, to give it extra conditioning and soothing properties to your tender skin.

We are delighted to now stock shikakai hair shampoo alongside the Raw Gaia skincare products we use in our Living Facial treatments (we make it a firm rule to only stock products we use ourselves), so what are you waiting for? Give this magic shampoo a try for yourself …

PS – I am also thrilled to see that Raw Gaia ship their shikakai hair wash powder in a plastic pot; I am so accident-prone that I would have to have decanted it into a tupperware container, if they’d shipped them in their usual glass jars!

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Deceptively simple, it works just like Caffe Nero’s loyalty card …

After every treatment you receive at Holistic Feathers, we will stamp your loyalty card.   After all six boxes are stamped, your next booked treatment* will be on us!

Please do remember that you will need to bring your loyalty card with you to each treatment to be stamped at that point – we are unable to back-stamp.

*Treatments must be of similar value to those you have regularly undertaken by majority – for example, if you book in for 5 facial rejuvenation treatments and 1 hot stone massage treatment, you will be able to exchange your free treatment for a facial rejuvenation treatment.

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Do you find yourself turning away from the ever-increasing range of mainstream beauty products, such as Oil of Olay and Clarins (for example), and moving towards more a more natural way of keeping yourself beautiful?

I have noticed a real increase in the past 2 years, most certainly, for customers seeking out a more natural alternative to the big names on the high street.  Our “living facial” and “natural face lift” treatments are very popular for those who prefer to keep their beauty routine simple and derived from nature.

I, personally, changed to using only natural beauty products 6 years ago after one-too-many incidents of skin irritation and allergic reactions to high street products (expensive products from big names, too!) – rosehip oil, in its natural form, saved me.

Holistic Feathers only uses our personalised oil blends, also available to customers, or Raw Gaia living, vegan, raw natural skincare products in our treatments and customers notice a difference immediately … so we were interested to find that we aren’t the only ones to notice this change in buying habits, as the article below – from Life Goggles – shows.

One word of caution, however: do look very closely at the labels on the products you purchase.  Current legislation means that the definition of “natural” is very wide and you would be amazed at how many products contain un-natural ingredients.  Our personalised oil blends and all Raw Gaia products contain only 100% nature’s-own-ingredients.

~ visit our online store: www.holisticfeathers.com ~

~ local London stockist for Raw Gaia products ~

* * * * *

Tanja from online eco-friendly shop Big Green Smile writes:

“Natural beauty products are becoming increasingly popular as more consumers are becoming concerned about their impact on the environment, it has been suggested.

“In an article for IslamOnline.net, cosmetic chemist Amanda Foxon-Hill said that 50 or 60 years ago, cosmetics companies relied on petroleum-based surfactants and mineral oil creams – a trend which consumers were happy to go along with.

“However, she argued that more recently, shoppers have begun to question the ingredients which make up the moisturisers and creams which they use on a regular basis.

“Nowadays, a number of people link oil-based products with the hydrocarbon industry – which she said in turn is connected to “pollution, environmental destruction and toxicity in relation to the chemical processes employed in refining the oil feedstock”.

“Elsewhere in the article, Ms Foxon-Hill pointed out that the cosmetics industry is currently divided over the definition of natural beauty products.

“This view is shared by Weleda’s export marketing manager Claudia Karle, who told the New Straits Times that the company has teamed up with a number of other brands to ensure strict standards are set over the contents of natural beauty goods.”

(c) Adam – Life Goggles

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22nd December 2009
Daily Mail

Sunburn, smoking and being overweight are key factors in making people look older than they are, a study said yesterday. Drinking alcohol, on the other hand, appeared to offer protection against sun damage.

Scientists in the U.S. studied 65 pairs of identical and non-identical twins to examine the environmental causes of skin ageing. Since only identical twins share the same genes, studies of twins can be used to screen out genetic traits. Influences that affect one of a pair of identical twins but not the other are likely to be environmental.

The research was carried out at the annual twins’ festival in Twinsburg, Ohio. The study found that higher levels of skin damage linked to exposure to sunlight were associated with heavier body weight and smoking. Long-term sun exposure causes changes to the skin that result in ‘photodamage’, said the researchers.

Up to 40 per cent of ageing-related changes in the study were due to non-genetic factors. Drinking alcohol was significantly related to reduced photodamage risk. ‘It is known that certain alcoholic beverages (e.g. red wine) contain polyphenols such as resveratrol, which is an effective antioxidant,’ said lead researcher Kathryn Martires, from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland.

Although higher bodyweight was associated with more photodamage, the reverse appeared to be true for older people. ‘For those 54 or older, weight correlated negatively with photoageing, implying that although excess fat may increase skin’s susceptibility to damage, it may help mask the appearance of wrinkles in older age,’ said the study.

Read more: (c) Daily Mail

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Why? And how can you change this?

2nd December 2009 saw Campaign for Safe Cosmetics founding member Environmental Working Group release a new study that found 232 chemical contaminants in umbilical cord blood samples from 10 newborn American babies. Among the findings: two synthetic musks, components of fragrance, were found in 7 of the 10 cord blood samples.

Artificial musks commonly added to fragrances and personal care products can be absorbed through skin or inhaled, and concentrate and persist in our bodies – so our many small exposures can add up fast. Synthetic musks have also been found in human breast milk and fatty tissues, and are ubiquitous in wastewater and rivers.

The cosmetics industry and other industries that use “fragrance” in their products use a whopping 9,000 tons of synthetic musk annually, despite the fact that little is known about the safety of these chemicals. Unfortunately, preliminary research raises concerns: musks may disrupt hormones and are toxic to aquatic life.

Because of a loophole in labeling law, the ingredients in “fragrance” are considered trade secrets, so companies don’t have to tell us what’s in scents – often dozens or even hundreds of synthetic chemical compounds like synthetic musks and other ingredients linked to harm.

Biomonitoring studies like this one make clear that chemicals – many of which have never been tested for long-term safety or are known to be harmful – used in everyday products are ending up in our bodies and in our ecosystem. At the same time, cancer, infertility, and behavioral and developmental illnesses linked to many of these chemicals of concern are on the rise.

As consumers and citizens, we can fight the fragrance loophole. Here are three ways you can make a difference:

Contact the manufacturer of a cosmetic product in your bathroom that lists “fragrance,” “perfume” or “musk” on the ingredient label, and ask the maker to use non-toxic ingredients and fully disclose all ingredients on products labels. Click here for contact info, talking points and a short response form so you can let us how your conversation went!

This holiday season, choose gifts free of synthetic fragrance. Consult the list of companies that have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, and use EWG’s Skin Deep database to run an “advanced search” of products without synthetic fragrance.

Check out our DIY cosmetics recipes for creative, fresh gifts for you and yours!

… also check out our Holistic Feathers e-store where all skincare products are completely natural, free from toxins and most are certified organic!

(c) The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

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Way back in 1995, I discovered the joys of Elizabeth Arden’s 8 Hour Skin Protectant … pricey for a single mum’s tight purse strings, but I found that it had a multitude of uses and lasted for AGES!

No better description of this product can be found other than to quote directly from Elizabeth Arden’s own website:

“The skincare classic that soothes, restores, calms and helps relieve chapped, cracked, dry skin. Soothes roughness, redness and minor skin irritations.

• Helps protect, soothe and moisturize skin.
• Soothes dry skin and provides anti-inflammatory benefits.
• Soothes and comforts minor weather burns, scrapes and abrasions.

The Legend
Created in 1930 by Elizabeth Arden to soothe skin, Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant became an instant and overwhelming success. What made it so effective is a combination of petrolatum, a skin-soothing beta-hydroxy in one of its first cosmetic uses, and vitamin E. The apricot colored balm was so beneficial to her clients, Miss Arden used it to soothe her famous thoroughbred horses’ legs. Even its name came about thanks to a remarkable performance – a loyal client used it to treat her child’s skinned knee and “eight hours later” the skin was all better.”

Eventually I moved on to different products, particularly those that avoided petrolatum as my skin was developing bizarre sensitivities, in tandem with sensitivities developing on the inside!

So imagine my joy at CamExpo this October (2009) when I attended a seminar, where the founder of Herbfarmacy gave out sample packs of their products.

In a cute tester pot was a lovely herbal balm which looked interestingly similar in colour to the 8 Hour Skin Protectant cream I used to carry everywhere … I tested it on my lips and lo and behold!  The natural herbal smell even REMINDED me of Elizabeth Arden’s magic cream – a real blast from the past.

So my new favourite carry-all products is …

HerbFarmacy’s organic Skin Care Balm

At £8.95 for a 30g pot, this is a good price for a versatile balm – and if you spend over £35 with Herbfarmacy, you get a pot of this organic magic balm for free!

Herbfarmacy says about their Skin Rescue Balm:

“A luxurious herbal blend which melts into the skin leaving it feeling soothed and nourished. With Marshmallow, Calendula, Chickweed and Comfrey, this moisturising balm soothes and protects dry and cracked areas, rejuvenates sensitive and problem skin and nourishes any skin areas you feel are in need of a boost. For eczema-like conditions we recommend you also use our Dandelion and Burdock tincture to boost inner cleansing

Use to:

Moisturise, soothe and protect dry and cracked areas;

Soothe and protect sensitive and problem skin;

Nourish and moisturise any skin areas you feel are in need of a boost”

So what about the ingredients?  Always very careful about what I use on my skin due to occasional sensitivities, I was relieved to find that it was all-natural, wholesome herbal goodness …

Ingredients Ingredients: *Helianthus annuus (Sunflower oil), *Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba oil), *Cera flava (Beeswax), *Butyrospermum parkii (Shea butter), *Althaea officinalis (Marshmallow) extract, *Symphytum sp (Comfrey) extract, *Calendula officinalis (Calendula) extract, *Stellaria media (Chickweed) extract, *Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) extract, *Anthemis nobilis (Roman Chamomile) oil, *Lavandula angustifolia (Lavender) oil, *Helychrysum angustifolium (Helychrysum) oil, *linalool, *limonene, *farnesol, *geraniol, *eugenol (Last 5 essential oil ingredients) * = Organically grown/produced (100%)

I love using marshmallow and calendula macerated oils on my skin, so I knew I had found a new favourite – and of course, rosemary essential oil is a mild antiseptic,  and chamomile and lavender oils will gently soothe your spirits and give you a gentle etheric hug as well as soothing your skin.

I’d love to know if you still use Elizabeth Arden’s magic cream or whether you have switched to different – and organic or natural – products in its place:  and if so, what do YOU use?

Excuse me while I head off and shop at Herbfarmacy and grab my free gift …

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Anti-ageing creams regularly used by millions of Britons could increase the risk of cancer, a top expert warned yesterday.

The revolutionary creams that promise to smooth away the fine lines of ageing can strip the skin of its protective top layer.

According to a leading US professor, this could expose the skin to dangerous toxins and make it more prone to sun damage. Dr Sam Epstein, chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, said that popular ingredients in anti-ageing creams called alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) were “probably the most dangerous cosmetic products on the market”.

He is now calling on the American safety body to introduce new regulations to protect consumers and urged British shoppers to also be aware of the risks.

“So many women, and even some men, slather these products all over their skin in the naive belief that they have nothing to fear but ageing,” Dr Epstein said.

The British cosmetics industry must comply with EU rules on what ingredients to use and what warnings to place on labels. At present, there is no requirement for a warning to be placed on creams containing AHAs.

In America, however, the ingredient was considered dangerous enough to prompt the US Food and Drug Administration to warn consumers that AHAs “could destroy the upper layers of skin, causing severe burns, swelling and pain”.

Dr Epstein, who is Professor emeritus of environmental and occupational health at the University of Illinois, made his comments about the US cosmetics industry. But he told the Daily Express they were just as relevant to British anti-wrinkle creams: “Anything that strips the surface of the skin not only risks sunlight penetrating the exposed layer but also allows other toxic products in,” he said. “All of the toxic effects are massively increased by AHAs.”

Dr Epstein also expressed concern about other ingredients commonly used in anti-ageing products, such as limonene. “Apart from being an irritant, it is a well documented carcinogen,” he said.

Britons spend £673million a year on skin care products, with 42 per cent of all moisturisers claiming to combat ageing. In a bid to keep up with demand, skin care companies have developed more intensive treatments in the fight to maintain beauty. Although they can have biological effects on the skin, the firms are careful never to make their products too medicinal as they would then be subject to far stricter regulations as medicines rather than cosmetics.

A spokeswoman for the Cosmetics, Toiletries and Perfumeries Association, said cosmetic firms were not required to warn consumers if their products contained AHAs but only if they contained these ingredients at such high levels they could be dangerous. She added: “There is a legal requirement for these products to be safe.”

(c) Victoria Fletcher
Article discovered on Daily Express

Note from Callie: We only use – and retail – products which contain only natural ingredients and which are suitable for even the most sensitive of skin types – Holistic Feathers e-store

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1/2 cup cooked or canned pumpkin, pureed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl

2. Put yourself in a tub or shower (without clothes!) and use a damp flannel to scoop some of the mixture up. Apply to your body, starting with your feet and working your way up – but avoiding your face. Scrub gently using a circular motion.

3. Rinse the mixture off you with warm water and gently pat dry, using a delicious natural oil (such as sweet almond oil) to keep your skin smooth and soft, fully rehydrated.

PS Cinnamon has numerous health benefits if ingested, but just the aroma of cinnamon can help to boost your memory.

Callie says: great, I’ve still got some pumpkin left over … guess what I will be doing this evening?!!!

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