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Forest defenders target snack foods, cosmetics
Major players in the food and cosmetics industries are coming under heavy pressure from environmental activists to stop manufacturing and selling products that contain palm oil.
Major players in the food and cosmetics industries are coming under heavy pressure from environmental activists to stop manufacturing and selling products that contain palm oil.
"Companies like Hostess and Nestle are perpetuating rainforest destruction and human rights abuses by using palm oil in their products," said Leila Salazar-Lopez of the San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network (RAN).
On Tuesday, Salazar-Lopez's group led a series of demonstrations targeting supermarkets in a number of major cities and towns across the nation, including Austin, Boston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco.
The demonstrators demanded supermarkets apply stickers reading, "Warning! Product May Contain Rainforest Destruction" on any item that contains palm oil, an ingredient that is widely used in food and cosmetics products.
Researchers say that increasing worldwide demand for palm oil is driving the construction of plantations in the tropical forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea.
These forests are disappearing at the rate of 2.5 million acres every year due to clear cutting to make way for palm oil plantations. Scientists warn that the continued construction of plantations in the tropical jungles can have disastrous consequences for the global environment.
Indonesia's tropical forests are considered some of the world's great carbon sinks and hence a solid source of defense in the fight against global warming.
Peat lands in the province of Riau on the island of Sumatra, for example, have the capacity to store over 14 billion tons of carbon -- roughly one year's global greenhouse gas emissions. But that is changing fast as commercial concerns continue to move in.
The environmental group Greenpeace claims that, due to palm oil plantation growth, about 25 percent of the peat forests in Riau have already disappeared, and there is so far no indication that the remaining ones will be shown any mercy.
Forest destruction is considered responsible for about one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. Greenpeace research links 4 percent of annual global emissions to the damage caused by palm oil companies to peat forests in Indonesia.**continues** Major players in the food and cosmetics industries are coming under heavy pressure from environmental activists to stop manufacturing ... more -
Fish Pedicurists!
From the report: Ready for the latest in spa pampering? Prepare to dunk your feet in a tank of water and let tiny carp nibble away.
Does anyone consider this animal cruelty? From the report: Ready for the latest in spa pampering? Prepare to dunk your feet in a tank of water and let tiny carp nibble away. ... more -
Could your Nail Polish be poisoning you?
Attractive and desirable though they are, no nail products are 100 percent safe and nontoxic. You can find products with fewer hazardous chemicals than their conventional counterparts, but try to use these sparingly or save them for special occasions.
If you've ever been in the same room as someone applying nail polish, you're well aware of the noxious odors emanating from those tiny bottles. Nail polishes have come under fire lately for containing three chemicals dubbed the "toxic trio": toluene, a solvent linked to low birth weight and development problems in children; formaldehyde, a known carcinogen emitted as certain preservatives break down; and dibutyl phthalate, a hormone disrupting chemical used to keep polishes flexible. All three appear on California's Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.
Concern over the health effects that the toxic trio pose to both nail salon workers and to average women led the European Union to ban them from use in cosmetics in 2004. The U.S. has no such legislation, but individual states have started instituting similar laws. California's Safe Cosmetic Act of 2005, which went into effect January 1, 2007, requires companies that sell products in California to report the use of compounds that appear in the Proposition 65 list.
In the absence of federal guidelines, some manufacturers have begun eliminating them on their own. Nail giant OPI has removed both DBP and toluene from all products, although they still use formaldehyde in nail hardeners. Sally Hansen has also removed toluene and DBP and does not add formaldehyde, but the latter may still be present as a byproduct of urea-based preservatives. According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Orly International has stopped using DBP as well.
These rules and voluntary changes, however, don't address the other unhealthy ingredients in tiny nail polish bottles. Solvents such as acetone and ethyl, butyl and amyl acetate can trigger headaches, dizziness, and eye, nose and throat irritation. Methacrylate resins, used to make acrylic nails, can irritate skin and cause redness, allergic reactions, pain and swelling in the nail bed. Ethyl and methyl methacrylate are the two adhesives used in applying acrylic nails, and they too are extremely irritating to skin, eyes and respiratory tracts. Methyl methacrylate has generated so many worker complaints of allergic reactions that it has been banned in 30 states. Attractive and desirable though they are, no nail products are 100 percent safe and nontoxic. You can find products with fewer hazardo... more -
Not just a pretty face
Hello my prettiez. If you love (to see or wear) make up as much as I do, this is good (GF, BFF, buddy, friend, whatever) information to share, as it is important to know what is hiding in these products that are so close to your skin and often not known or available to the public.
The rockstar blog of TheCoveted posted this awesome interview with Stacy Malkan, author of the book 'Not Just a Pretty Face. The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry'.
"Stacy Malkan is the Communications Director of Health Care Without Harm and co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
"All the major companies lined up at the hearing to complain that it’s too hard for them to get lead out of lipstick"
Q: Cosmetics are virtually unregulated in the United States. Meanwhile, in 2003 the European Union banned chemicals strongly linked to cancer, mutation, or birth defects from personal care products. Why are we so far behind?..."
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And if you are in San Francisco, there will be a special event July 19th (12-2pm). Join Stacy Malkan at the San Francisco Library’s Koret Auditorium for this free special event for moms, daughters, teens and weens. You don’t want to miss this — mark your calendars!
http://notjustaprettyface.org/index.php/book-tour/san-f...
When: Saturday, July 19, 12-2pm
Where: San Francisco Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco; Civic Center BART
Who: Emceed by Alexa at Movin’ 99.7. Stacy Malkan, author of “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry,” Sarah Janssen, MD, PhD, MPH, science fellow, National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Jessica Assaf, Teens for Safe Cosmetics.
Win free gift baskets, non-toxic manicures and makeovers! Hello my prettiez. If you love (to see or wear) make up as much as I do, this is good (GF, BFF, buddy, friend, whatever) information ... more -
Anti botox? Skin Care fixes
This site is snarky but informative. Their catch phrase is smart and snarky is the new pretty. Look we are all vain. This amusing post by The Gritty and The Pretty's new vanity writer Dark Roots suggests needless ways to stay young and pretty without looking frozen like Nicole Kidman. Afraid of Botox? Reads this story for other skin care fixes This site is snarky but informative. Their catch phrase is smart and snarky is the new pretty. Look we are all vain. This amusing pos... more
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'Guyliner' market is growing
When beauty companies started investing heavily in focus-group research a decade ago, a surprising fact came to light: Some men dip into their wives' concealer, bronzer, even eyeliner.
"Makeup for men is a small niche category, but it is definitely growing," says Roman Shuster, a retail analyst for Euromonitor International. When beauty companies started investing heavily in focus-group research a decade ago, a surprising fact came to light: Some men dip in... more -
How To: Select And Apply Bronzer
I love wearing makeup but I make the same mistakes over and over again especially when it comes to bronzer. I love this video because it gives you the skinny on how to pick the best colors for you. I love wearing makeup but I make the same mistakes over and over again especially when it comes to bronzer. I love this video because... more
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Does your skin colour define you?
He's the rugged type, with sculpted arm muscles. He rides a motorcycle and wears a trendy tank top, wraparound sunglasses and slicked-back hair. There's only one problem: His skin color is a few shades too dark. His fair-skinned love interest won't even accept his offer of a rose. Plenty of people simply rejected the notion of skin colour differentiating people.
In india skin colouring is an industry. Does your skin colour define you? He's the rugged type, with sculpted arm muscles. He rides a motorcycle and wears a trendy tank top, wraparound sunglasses and sli... more -
Butter that brought fat profits to the mud huts of Ghana
After two decades of being mocked as the "toothless one", Habiba Anhasan used her first earnings this week to buy a set of dentures.
Until a year ago, the £130 price of the false teeth would have been only a dream for a woman such as Mrs Anhasan, who scratched a living as a hawker selling cheap goods in the arid savannah of northern Ghana.
But a mixture of arduous labour under the blistering sun and insatiable demand in the developed world for plant-based beauty products, has transformed Mrs Anhasan and 30 other women into a band of steely entrepreneurs with a lucrative toehold in a £2bn global cosmetics industry. After two decades of being mocked as the "toothless one", Habiba Anhasan used her first earnings this week to buy a set of d... more -
Change eye color, skin tone by popping a pill?
"Imagine going a gorgeous golden colour without having to bake for hours in the sun or use a fake tan. To make your skin colour change chemically, all you would need to do is pop a pill or apply a cream.
You may soon be able to alter your skin tone, and maybe even your eye colour, as easily and as often as you dye your hair but with a lot less mess — while protecting your skin from sun damage and cancer."
Daily Mail UK "Imagine going a gorgeous golden colour without having to bake for hours in the sun or use a fake tan. To make your skin colour c... more -
Erin's Green Fashion Show Hits the Runway
Erin is a green teen that helped start a movement to make fashion and cosmetics safe and green. She takes us behind the scenes of "Turning Green", an teen eco fashion show that she organized in New York city for earth day. Erin is a green teen that helped start a movement to make fashion and cosmetics safe and green. She takes us behind the scenes of ... more
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In U.S., Few Alternatives To Testing On Animals
Each year, American doctors inject more than 3 million doses of Botox to temporarily smooth their patients' wrinkles and frown lines. But before each batch is shipped, the manufacturer puts it through one of the oldest and most controversial animal tests available.
Several U.S. government officials now consider the system broken. As a result, critics say, hundreds of thousands of mice, rabbits, hamsters and dogs continue to suffer and die unnecessarily in tests for pesticides, household cleaners, sunscreens and other products. Each year, American doctors inject more than 3 million doses of Botox to temporarily smooth their patients' wrinkles and frown li... more -
Are you sure that deodorant isn't giving you cancer??
Visit this database for a thorough list of environmental and health impacts of all kinds of products. It ranks the degree to which each product violates a number of standards and then backs it up with a factual description of the ranking....Make smarter consumer choices! Visit this database for a thorough list of environmental and health impacts of all kinds of products. It ranks the degree to which eac... more
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A teenage girl gone green
A morning in the life of a teenage girl gone green.
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Blood, sweat, saliva and a drop of sperm sold at Harvey Nichols!
It appeals to people who want to be alternative apparently, you know the guy sitting next to you at work who's all anti-establishment and a bit kinky. He smells of sperm? maybe its just Secretions Magnifiques! It appeals to people who want to be alternative apparently, you know the guy sitting next to you at work who's all anti-establish... more
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Supermodel Josie Maran goes Green with her New Cosmetic Line
Josie's biggest project to date was due to the birth of her daughter, that inspired Josie to create luxury with a conscience. Josie Maran Cosmetics has created an innovative labeling system that tells you about each one of the extraordinary ingredients and features of each product.
Josie uses Olive Oil as her featured ingredient and the benefits to the skin are excellent. Olive Oil, which is suitable for all skin types is extremely beneficial for dry, dehydrated skin that has been over exposed to the elements as well as sensitive skin prone to allergies. Rich in Vitamin E which prevents the skin against harmful free radicals.
If you want to be or have questions about being environmentally friendly and remaining beautiful you'll want to give this show a listen live on Friday 2/29 1PM PST.
Source: Karma Air
Full Show: http://www.karmaair.com/archive.aspx?showid=90 Josie's biggest project to date was due to the birth of her daughter, that inspired Josie to create luxury with a conscience. Jo... more -
Anne Hathaway is the new ambassador for Lancome!
So what does this entail? Opening up an embassy at Cover Girl? Helping fellow Lancomerians in need at the MAC counter?
Probably just taking lots of pictures. So what does this entail? Opening up an embassy at Cover Girl? Helping fellow Lancomerians in need at the MAC counter? ... more -
Radioactive Dirt Used on Model's Face
This site shows the video of an unbelievable commercial made in 1955. Radioactive dirt is placed on a model's face to show the cleaning power of a facial product. The lengths advertisers will go to is amazing. This site shows the video of an unbelievable commercial made in 1955. Radioactive dirt is placed on a model's face to show the c... more
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Everyday Products Could Be Poisoning You
Investigative reporter Mark Schapiro explains in his new book "Exposed
The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's At Stake for American Power" how toxic chemicals exist in many of the products we handle every day agents that can cause cancer, genetic damage and birth defects, lacing everything from our gadgets to our toys to our beauty products.
The European Union has banned many of the ingredients used to produce these products. Items that violate these regulations are barred from entering the EU and are redirected to the American Market and the FDA does nothing to stop it. Investigative reporter Mark Schapiro explains in his new book "Exposed ... more -
Ladies, put down that lipstick tube.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 30 lipsticks and found that 20 contained lead.
Some of the questionable lipsticks were made by L'Oreal, Dior and Covergirl.
Pregnant women are advised to consult with their doctors before using cosmetics as lead can cause developmental harm to the fetus.
Additional info can be found at www.safecosmetics.org The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 30 lipsticks and found that 20 contained lead. ... more
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