Cancer And Make-Up - Is There A Link

The cosmetic industry is a huge business around the world that makes billions off consumers every year. Probably each and every one of us use a number of cosmetic products such as soaps, body cleansers, moisturizers, and make-up on a daily basis. In fact, according to a 2004 study conducted by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, women use an average of 12 cosmetic products a day. When we are applying these products on and all around our bodies, we"re probably not thinking about the tearless shampoo we have in our hands as a possible danger to our health. Shockingly, recent studies have shown that a large percentage of common household cosmetic products that a lot of us probably have in our homes right now contain a substance that can be harmful to our health and cause cancer.

Should You Make The Switch To Natural Make-Up

Should you make the switch to all-natural make-up? There are plenty of companies, advertisements, and "experts" who could probably give you a very convincing argument either way. Dr. Roberta Palestine, who did her residency at the Mayo Clinic in dermatology stated, "Natural isn"t always better. Synthetic isn"t necessarily worse. Poison Ivy is natural, but that certainly doesn"t make it good... a chemical is a chemical, what matters is your skin type." There are certainly a lot of skin types out there, and you can bet for every type there"s a number of make-up products for that particular kind.

What Does Hypoallergenic Mean Anyway

The word "hypoallergenic" is a term that probably most of us have run across. It is used in advertising and placed on product labels of shampoos, moisturizers, make-up, and even jewelry. Most people think it means that a product that is hypoallergenic won"t react with their allergies. But is this really what it means? Cosmetics advertisers first used the word in the 60"s. It comes from the Greek prefix hypo, which translates to below or less. So the word translates to "less allergens". Since it"s inception it has been widely adopted and used by advertisers, manufacturers, and marketers to sell products that claim to be gentler on the skin than other products similar to it.

A History Of Cosmetics, Part 1

With all the billions of dollars spent every year worldwide on cosmetics, sometimes we may find ourselves asking, "How did it get to this point? When did it become the norm for me to have to wake up every morning and before I even go out the door I get to paint my face from top to bottom? Surely a woman way back in history didn"t just wake up one day and apply eyelashes, lipstick, eyeliner, foundation, and rouge all at the same time. No, it was, like many things, a culmination of things from the past. Remember the Egyptians? That was over four thousand years ago. Cleanliness and appearance were terribly important to the Egyptians.

A History Of Cosmetics, Part 2

For centuries after the Egyptian empire faded, the fashion norm around the world was a pale complexion. A tanned, sun-dried face was associated with being a commoner who worked out in the field all day alongside her husband. The upper class ladies of course did not participate in physical labor like that so they stayed inside and had white faces. A white, pale complexion was also a symbol of wealth. If you had enough money, then you didn"t have to work. So a pale complexion was extremely important to some people. To get this look, women (and men too) would use a combination of hydroxide, lead oxide, and carbonate in a powder form to paint their faces and bodies.

A History Of Cosmetics, Part 3

The cosmetics craze continued throughout the centuries into the 1900"s and began to see the earliest of the cosmetics industry being formed. Mrs. Henning"s House of Cyclax in London sold many products that you can still buy today from world famous companies like Avon. Another beauty salon owner found herself expanding her products to meet the demands of her upper class clientele from a facial cream that protects women"s skin from the sun to lipstick and face powder. Today, you can find a whole line of cosmetics from Helena Rubenstein. As the years went on, the popularity of beauty salons continued to increase.

Knowing What Moisturizer To Use Is Knowing About Your Skin, Part 1

If we look back in history, it seems pretty obvious that human beings care about their skin. And why shouldn"t we? As the largest organ of the body, the epidermis (the scientific name for skin) serves an extremely important role of keeping the bodies" moisture in while keeping foreign material out. It does this by having a protective layer of lipids that coat the body and protect the top layer of skin. When we work and play in our daily lives, the daily activities will often strip our skin of this protective layer. This is why the skin can benefit from the use of a moisturizer at times. Moisturizers contain oil-soluble molecules that help to restore the skin to its natural condition.

PMS Depression - Are You Plagued By PMS Depression?

PMS Depression or Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of PMS and is diagnosed by the pattern of symptoms. PMS (premenstrual syndrome) is a group of approximately 150 different symptoms that happen in the 2 weeks prior to the start of a woman"s period. The symptoms can be both physical and emotional and are very real. Symptoms were once thought to be "hysterical" and only in the mind of the woman but after years of research scientists have found that over 50 million women suffer from these symptoms each month. These symptoms can significantly interfere with social, occupational and sexual functioning.

Symptoms of PMS - Do You Have The Symptoms Of PMS?

PMS or premenstrual syndrome is a term used to describe a set of hormonal changes that trigger a syndrome in a significant number of women for up to two weeks before the start of her period. More than 5 million women require treatment for symptoms of PMS such as marked mood changes and behavioral changes. Symptoms of PMS will often taper off with the start of her period and then she remains symptom free until approximately two weeks prior to the next period. This is different from PMS Depression. There are over 150 symptoms that have been attributed to PMS. The most common physical symptoms of PMS are crying spells, headache, fatigue, fluid retention, constipation, backaches, cramping and weight gain.

Herbal Combo Eases Menopause Complaints

To see if a fixed combination of the herbal medicines could offer an alternative to hormone replacement therapy, the researchers studied 301 women who had been experiencing menopausal symptoms for at least three months, along with depressed mood. Half took the St. John's wort and black cohosh combo, while the other half took placebo pills. In each tablet, the black cohosh contained 1 milligram of the substances that are believed to be responsible for the herb's activity, triterpene glycosides, while the St. John's wort component contained 0.25 milligrams of the active ingredient hypericine.