The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances (48 page)

Sometimes diaper rash can be caused by the very diapers you use. Cloth diapers are more prone to cause skin irritations, perhaps because the moisture is not quickly wiped off the skin, as it is by disposable diapers.

Unlike many other green moms, I am not a firm believer in cloth diapers. (I already envision skeptical frowns.) Before my baby was born, I stocked an ample supply of soft, fluffy cloth diapers, woolen pants, and waterproof pads, none of which came cheap. After a month of daily diaper washes, our water and electricity bills skyrocketed! The almost constant diaper rash despite frequent changes and use of only natural detergents (Dr. Bronner’s soap and plain unscented soap flakes, not Fairy liquid!) was also a decisive factor. We switched to biodegradable, chlorine-free disposables made of corn, and my daughter hasn’t had a single episode of diaper rash since. With a monthly cost of $40 (instead of the $100-plus that advocates of cloth diapering claim the disposable diapers cost) and substantially lower environmental impact, I am happy to use disposable diapers with biodegradable liners and pack them in compostable diaper sacks. Even if you choose to use cloth diapers, keep a pack of larger-sized disposable diapers (not training pants) for diaper rash emergencies. If keeping an emergency supply of disposable diapers, always go one size up because babies grow so fast, and she may outgrow the diapers you’ve stocked if you use them only occasionally.

To soothe a baby’s diaper rash, always wash the diaper area with water instead of cleaning with wipes, even if you’ve made your own completely green ones. Pat the area dry and apply a barrier cream with zinc oxide, calendula, aloe, or chamomile.

It’s worth spending an extra five minutes to whip up a simple baby balm if no natural diaper products are available nearby.

Happy Bum
Flower Balm

½ cup shea butter (if possible, organic)

½ cup coconut butter (if possible, organic)

1 teaspoon zinc oxide

5 drops rose essential oil

2 drops sage essential oil

2,000 IU vitamin E

5 drops colloidal silver

Yield:
4 ounces

When your baby is teething, you may want to use the
cream more frequently, as babies are prone to diaper rash
before their new teeth sprout.

1. Heat the shea butter and coconut oil in a shallow pan, but do not boil.

2. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients. Add zinc oxide while the mixture is still liquid. Remove from heat and stir until the mixture starts to cool, about 3 minutes. Add the essential oils after the mixture cools a bit so that their properties don’t disperse in the heat as quickly. Gradually add vitamin E and the colloidal silver. Stir well.

3. Transfer into a glass jar and use as often as necessary when you notice redness in the diaper area.

Green Little
Bunz Baby
Powder

½ cup baking soda

½ cup kaolin (white clay)

1 tablespoon zinc oxide

5 drops chamomile essential oil

5 drops rose essential oil

Yield:
5 ounces

Sometimes it’s unclear whether your baby has diaper rash or
a yeast infection. Cornstarch, a popular ingredient in natural
baby powders, can worsen yeast rash by forming yeast-feeding
wet clumps in skin folds. This powder avoids cornstarch.

1. Combine baking soda, kaolin, and zinc oxide in a sifter.

2. Add oils one drop at a time while sifting. Sift a second time to mix the oil thoroughly.

3. Make a paper funnel and pour mixture into a shaker bottle. If your baby develops redness that doesn’t go away after treatment with diaper rash cream, change the tactic and use the powder for one day instead.

chapter
14

green
mineral
makeup

w
e all want to look good naturally. In a perfect world, we could face anyone barefaced and confident, but most of us need a helping hand from makeup.

Makeup is one area where many people compromise, opting for ease of application, staying power, and color selection instead of natural ingredients. When was the last time you checked the ingredients of that “vinyl shine” lip-gloss? Something tells me never. After all, we apply paint to such small areas of the skin compared with our bodies that we believe a little makeup isn’t really going to hurt—or is it?

While the jury is still out, troubling research is published every day: lead is found in lipsticks, aluminum lurks in eye shadows, coal tar dyes give color to mascara. While things have certainly improved since the time of Queen Elizabeth I, when her distinguishing white makeup gave her lead poisoning, women are still willing to use toxic makeup for the sake of beauty.

Color Me Healthy

Consider the ingredients list of an average bottle of liquid foundation. Water is at the beginning, followed by silicones, talc, glycerin, paraffin, synthetic wax, aluminum starch, propylene glycol, more mineral oil, more silicones, sodium laureth sulfate, synthetic fragrance, and some FDA-approved pigments. In some foundations, paraffin and mineral oil are listed several times!All of these ingredients have been shown to block skin pores and cause irritation in human or animal studies. Let’s not forget about the potent blend of preservatives contained in any foundation, fluid or powder. These usually include formaldehyde-releasing butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and disodium EDTA, triethanolamine, and the strong contact allergen iodopropynyl butylcarbamate. The only natural ingredients occurring in conventional foundations are usually limited to panthenol, menthol, camphor, beeswax, and beta-carotene. Remove all the irritants, potential and proven toxins, and fragrance, and what are we left with? A pinch of mineral pigments.

No wonder mineral makeup, which is nothing more than finely powdered minerals, is becoming the makeup of choice of health-conscious models, celebrities, and makeup artists. Thanks to the latest technologies, minerals can be milled so finely that they stick to the skin’s surface without any need for additional binding and slip agents such as silicones, and since mineral powder contains no water, there’s no need to use preservatives either.

The bulk of a mineral makeup powder is composed of titanium oxide, a naturally occurring white mineral that can be found in its purest form in white beach sand. Titanium oxide can make up one-quarter of a jar of mineral foundation, serving as a base color and a physical sunscreen. Another key ingredient is zinc oxide, occurring in nature as the opaque white mineral zincite. Zinc serves an important role in skin health, protecting it from inflammation caused by bacteria and oxidative damage. It can even speed up wound healing! Other mineral makeup ingredients include iron oxides and mica.

There has been a lot of debate regarding the safety of bismuth oxychloride, which is found in many popular mineral makeup products. There have been claims that bismuth oxychloride can cause cancer, but authors of such articles and blog posts often confuse bismuth salts (not scary) with pure bismuth (can be quite toxic). It’s the same with titanium and titanium oxide. No one is using pure metal titanium in mineral makeup, and no one is using pure bismuth! According to recent studies published by the Carcinogenic Potency Project at the University of California, tests on animals did not reveal any carcinogenic activity caused by bismuth oxychloride, and studies on animals back in 1975 also failed to find any carcinogenicity of this mineral (Preussmann, Ivankovic 1975). While bismuth oxychloride sounds similar to bismuth chloride, it’s not the same chemical. Bismuth chloride is obtained by treating bismuth with hydrochloric acid and is indeed highly toxic. Bismuth oxychloride, a naturally occurring mineral salt that produces a subtle shimmer in mineral makeup products, has excellent antibacterial properties, and no study has ever shown any carcinogenic potential concerning this mineral.

Another dispute over the safety of mineral makeup concerns its physical qualities. Smoothness and long-lasting coverage in mineral makeup is achieved by pulverizing or “micronizing” minerals into microscopic or even nanoparticle size, but some researchers say that such wonderful qualities of mineral makeup come at a price. Experts from the Environmental Working Group claim that some nanoparticles can have very different, and even toxic, properties than the same chemical in a nonmicronized state.

Scientists are still trying to come to a definitive answer regarding the potential harm of zinc oxide and titanium oxide nanoparticles. The only recent research referring to the irritation potential of zinc and titanium oxide nanoparticles is a 2007 Scottish study showing that zinc chloride in nanoparticle form can irritate the lungs (Wilson et al. 2007). However, be advised that zinc oxide and zinc chloride are two different chemicals. Also in 2007, scientists at Boise State University in Idaho confirmed that while zinc oxide nanoparticles had clear antibacterial action, they had minimal effects on human cells (Reddy et al. 2007). Similar findings— that zinc oxide nanoparticles can kill both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria without harming human cells—have also been reported by researchers of the University of South Dakota in February 2008 (Jones et al. 2008). If you prefer to err on the side of caution, stick to pressed mineral powder and fluid mineral foundations that do not require buffing in with a fluffy brush.

Iron oxide pigments and mica create most color variations in mineral makeup. Most of the iron oxide pigments used in cosmetics are approved by the FDA. When used in extremely high concentrations—for example, during tattooing and permanent pigmentation of eyebrows and lashes— iron oxides can cause irritation, but in mineral makeup the concentration is far lower. If you have a family history of allergies, you will be better off with plant-based kohl eyeliners instead of dark mineral eye shadows.

Mineral Foundations: Not All Alike

Your foundation is going to sit on your face all day long, so going mineral helps you avoid unnecessary synthetic fillers and preservatives contained in a conventional foundation. Cleverly formulated mineral foundations will also help protect your face from sun exposure and excessive sebum production.

Invented thirty years ago, mineral foundations are quickly becoming the hottest-selling mineral makeup product. They come in powder and cream forms, packed in sifter jars and pump bottles. Those who love and use mineral makeup praise the dewy, natural, long-lasting glow and ability to layer the powder over problem areas without added bulk. Most important, pure formulations without synthetic bulk are safer and better for sensitive and acne- or rosacea-prone skin, especially after cosmetic surgeries. Fans of chemical skin care complain that mineral makeup is complicated to apply, drying, not portable, and accentuates wrinkles.

Makeup sensitivity is often the result of synthetic dyes, fragrances, and preservatives. While mineral makeup is made of generally the same color ingredients that have been used in synthetic makeup for ages, it’s the absence of classic irritants like fragrances, silicone binders, penetration enhancers, synthetic dyes, and preservatives that give mineral makeup its special health and beauty properties.

Another big advantage of mineral makeup is its built-in sun protection. With an average SPF rating of fifteen, Bare Minerals has the Skin Cancer Foundation seal of approval as a sunscreen. Jane Iredale claims similar protective effects due to high contents of the physical sunscreens titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. But keep in mind that mineral makeup alone will not give you all the sun protection you need. You aren’t likely to cover your ears and neck with mineral foundation, and even on the face the layer can be too sheer to provide reliable protection. Prime your skin before applying mineral foundation with moisturizer or sunscreen cream with an SPF of fifteen or higher.

What Makes a Good Mineral Foundation?

As always, don’t be fooled by the “all natural” or “all-mineral formula” on the label. Mineral makeup can still contain paraben preservatives and other fillers. Since there is no set regulation for what constitutes a “mineral” makeup, any product containing some minerals as a primary ingredient can be marketed as such—even if it contains a whole lot of synthetic ingredients. It’s the same thing with “organic”: any cosmetic product can be labeled organic if it contains just a pinch of organic aloe vera.

Here are some greener mineral brands that do not use synthetic additives, preservatives, or colorants in their products: Purely Cosmetics, Jane Iredale, Sheer Cover, Laura Mercier, Youngblood, and BeLeeVe. Bare Minerals has excellent additive-free mineral foundations, but some of their mineral powders still contain paraben preservatives. If you prefer to use a mineral foundation without bismuth oxychloride, here are some brands you may find useful: Kathleen Meow Cosmetics, Perfect Earth Mineral Foundations, and Sheer Cover. All these brands are available online only.