bubbles and parabens

I loooove a bubble bath and rarely ever take showers. The only exceptions involve being at the beach, doing intense yard work/cleaning in the summer, or I’m at someone else’s home and I have no other option. I hate showers because I don’t like balancing on a slippery surface while holding a razor blade on a stick. I also don’t like my shaving cream running off my legs before I even get to it or water running in my face when I’m trying to take care of business. Hot showers have a way of irritating my skin as well. I get red and blotchy.

I have a strict and strange routine of how I get ready for a big night out- which really is an indulgent to-do if I have the time. I wash my face and let moisturizer set in while I take a bubble bath, lotion up, then I do my makeup in a towel or temporary pajamas. Then, I hang over the edge of my tub and wash my hair then style it, get dressed and I’m done. Trust me, I have a reasonable explanation for everything – hair in your face when you do your eyeliner is a pain, etc…

As far as bubble bath goes, my favorite is a line called Skin Milk. It’s inexpensive, makes a ton of long-lasting bubbles, is really moisturizing, mild, and the fragrance is comforting but doesn’t compete with my scented lotion and perfume afterwards.

I have always been a sucker for Bath and Body Works but must admit that after all these years of bouncing around the new scents when they come out, I’m kind of sick of their gimmick and can’t stand anything that strong anymore. I still have a few random bottles of lotion laying around and I’m trying to use everything up before I settle on something new, being a waste-not type of gal.

What I’m looking for now is a paraben-free lotion that isn’t oily/greasy and has a nice mild honey/milk/shea scent. I learned about the paraben issue about a year ago and it’s been haunting me ever since. I was told by a friend who worked at a health food store that parabens have been found in high concentrations in breast cancer tumors. You can do your own Google search and see for yourself but, here’s a quote from a 2004 article by the Organic Consumer’s Organization.

Early this year the media reported that English researchers identified parabens in samples of breast tumors. Parabens (alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid) are widely used as antimicrobial preservatives in thousands of cosmetics, personal care products, pharmaceutical products, and food. There are six commonly used forms (Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, p-Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben, n-Butylparaben and Benzylparaben) and it is estimated that they are used in at least 13,200 cosmetics products. According to the lead researcher of the recent study, Philippa Darbre, an oncology expert at the university of Reading, in Edinburgh, the chemical form of the parabens found in 18 of the 20 tumors tested indicated that they originated from something applied to the skin, the most likely candidates being deodorants, antiperspirants, creams, or body sprays.

While this singular study doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any relation, why would you even risk it, if you had easily accessible alternatives? (It really is frightening when you look at all your products and see it on virtually everything. It’s usually at the end of the ingredient list.)

Just because something says “natural” on the label, certainly doesn’t mean it’s free of all things undesirable… and well, chemicals are natural and some things are indeed necessary to stabilize a product. Parabens aren’t one of these things.

Sephora has a bunch of “organic” products but, I would still check the labels first. Trust no one.

Skin Deep is a database that screens products against a toxicity index. (I just found out my favorite bubble bath I just mentioned didn’t score too well, even though it’s paraben free… oh good grief… this is a mess!)

Well, I absolutely refuse to look up my all-time favorite perfume/signature scent – Kenzo Amour. Nothing is tainting my love for that! It is such a comforting scent with “notes of cherry blossom, rice steam, white tea, frangipani, heliotrope, thanaka wood, incense, vanilla and musk” – and is supposed to be “inspired by a couple’s voyage through India, Japan and Vietnam.”

I get as many compliments from women as men, who find it irresistable. Oh, and it lingers for days.

Tagged as: beauty