Senators Diane Feinstein (D-California) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the Personal Care Products Safety Act because regulations on these products have changed little since the 1930s. On average, American women use 12 products containing 168 chemicals on their bodies daily, from shampoo to cosmetics and lotions. Men use fewer products containing on average 85 chemicals daily. On average, teens use 17 personal care products daily, and tests show 16 hormone-altering chemicals in their blood and urine samples. Most of these chemicals are probably safe, but they have not been subject to any kind of independent review to determine safety standards. Attempts to give the FDA the authority to regulate personal care products date back to the Eisenhower administration, but those attempts failed. This time the legislation has the support of companies like Revlon, Johnson and Johnson, and the Personal Care Products Council, who say regulatory reform will promote consumer confidence in products that are used every day. According to Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group (A non-profit organization working to raise awareness on chemical exposures in personal care products), “Cosmetics are sort of the last unregulated area of consumer products law. The FDA has virtually no power to regulate the products we use every day.” The proposed legislation would require the FDA to review five chemicals that are used in personal care products each year. The first set of chemicals will likely be lead acetate, formaldehyde, paraben, diazolidinyl urea, and quaterium-15. The bill would also require manufacturers of personal care products to register their companies, products, and ingredients.

New products are claiming to protect skin from pollutants in the air. A recent Mintel report says that 34% of women in the US are concerned about the affects of pollution on their skin, and cosmetic companies are taking notice.

Products are either being developed or remarketed for the purpose of decreasing damage from air pollution. Products are now being promoted to remove particulates from the skin or neutralize free radicals, which are molecules that can enter the skins cells and cause inflammation.

According to dermatologists, airborne pollution can accelerate normal aging by breaking down collagen and increasing free radicals in the skin.  Experts also say that exposure to pollution over time can lead to skin dullness, wrinkles and dark spots. Using a cleansing brush to decrease the amount of pollution left on your skin overnight along with a topical antioxidant is recommended.

Industry studies are underway to further investigate the effects of pollution on different types of skin, and industry experts say we can expect even more anti-pollution skincare products on the market in the near future.

If you make an appointment for service, time is being held for you in the schedule that you expect to be honored. That time is held for you as a firm commitment, based on the kind of service you have requested. Other clients will call and ask for time to be held for them as well, and the answer will be given “I am sorry, the schedule is fully booked (because of commitments made to clients) .” Not showing up for your appointment and not cancelling an appointment with 24 hours notice means that someone else gets cheated out of service. It also means the stylist ends up with a giant two hour hole in their schedule that is unproductive and won’t pay the bills to run the salon. The same is true when the client shows up on time and says “I just want a haircut today, forget the hi lights,”  and the stylist is still left with a hole in the schedule. Stylists work very hard to stay on time and keep clients from waiting. Of course, in our busy world, we can’t control traffic nightmares, or severe illness, earthquakes, or death, but common courtesy and proper notification to cancel an appointment goes a long way toward making everyone’s world run better. No showing an appointment is very unfair in the working world. If your income were dependent upon people keeping their word and showing up when they agreed to, then you would clearly understand the unfairness of flaking out on a scheduled appointment at the very last minute. No one likes to be treated that way, even you.

In order to counteract the unfairness of those who no show appointments, even after confirmation calls have been completed in a timely fashion, some salons charge a cancellation fee. Some people will try to argue their way out of paying a cancellation fee. Stylists don’t enjoy charging cancellation fees, but what else is there to do? Doctors do it. Its all about accountability. Repeat offenders will end up being asked not to book appointments any more. All of this nonsense can be avoided if the client simply shows up on time as agreed. So please, apply the golden rule, and “Do unto others as you would have done to you.” That’s how it works folks. Plain and simple.

A strange new service was imported to the U.S. from the middle east a few years ago.  With a fish pedicure, you place your feet in an open tank filled with numerous small carp that eat away dead skin from between your toes. This service has been banned in various states, including Washington.

The fish can carry infectious bacteria that causes serious injury to skin and soft tissue, and cross contamination can happen if you place your feet in the same tank where an infected person has been. This process is especially dangerous for anyone with diabetes, cancer, or autoimmune disorders such as AIDS. It is risky to place your feet (some spas offer full body treatments) in tanks where schools of fish produce biologic waste that can cause infection through any open wound.

Some of the fish used have been found to be infected with a strain of streptococcus bacteria that can cause pneumonia and serious infections of the bones, joints and blood. Inspections of imported fish have also shown them to be infected with bacteria that causes cholera and other illnesses, and these strains are resistant to antimicrobial medications.

State law requires all pedicure implements to be sanitized in between clients, and it is impossible to sanitize live fish, or the tanks they inhabit for this procedure. Though intended to be toothless, these fish have been known to grow teeth that can draw blood during a pedicure treatment. Furthermore, these fish are starved in order to excite them to nibbling the dead skin between your toes, and that is simply animal cruelty.

This is obviously a fad treatment that everyone should avoid.

There are more than 82,000 chemicals in common cosmetics and personal care products. The skin is the body’s largest detox organ.  Using chemicals on your skin can hamper natural detoxification through the skin and increase the body’s toxic load.

This is a list of the twelve worst toxins to avoid in your skin and body care products:

Artificial dyes and coal tar — these numbered dyes have names like yellow dye #5 or red dye #4 and are found in most cosmetics, body care products. Derived from coal tar, they also sometimes appear on the label as “CI” followed by 5 numbers such as “CI 75000.” They are potentially cancer-causing and contain heavy metals that are toxic to the brain.

Benzoates — Also known as  benzyl- or sodium benzoate

BHA and BHT — butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydroxytoluene. Both are potential carcinogens and hormone disruptors.

DEA, MEA, and TEA — these make products sudsy or creamy.  Diethanolamine, monoethanolamide, and ethanolamine react to form nitrosamines that are cancer-causing.

Dibutyl phthalate — Also found in baby care products phthalates have been linked to ashtha, birth defects, and cancer.

Fragrance — “fragrance” or “parfum” can actually contain up to 500 other ingredients, many of which are petroleum byproducts and have been linked to cancer, asthma, allergies, and nerve damage.

Lead — rarely listed but frequently found in cosmetics, especially lipsticks.  Check lipstick labels to ensure they say “lead-free.”  Lead harms the brain and nervous system and is difficult to eliminate once absorbed.

Parabens — used to extend the shelf-life of products. Butyl-, ethyl-, isobutyl-, methyl-, and propyl- parabens ens have been identified to be hormone disruptors and a contributing cause of hormonally-linked cancer, and reproductive disorders.

Petrolatum — found in many products including “petroleum jelly”

Sodium lauryl sulphate — acts as a foaming agent and is frequently found in shampoo, body wash. Potential carcinogen.

Stearalkonium chloride — A cheaper ingredient commonly found in many conditioners and creams, caused allergic reactions.

Toluene — an extremely toxic ingredient in nail polish that can damage the nervous system, blood, eye, liver, kidney, and respiratory system.  It may also affect a developing fetus.

Triclosan — an antibacterial additive that contributes to superbugs and antibiotic resistance.