The Green Room

Lisa-Dawn from Kitchener, ON writes:

I love Lindsay Coulter’s Recipes, and I was just wondering if she had any for moisturizers: hand lotion, body lotion, facial moisturizer, etc.

Lindsay responds:

You’ll find my suggestions for lotions and moisturizers in recipe list #4 . My personal favorites are Beauty Balm (for the face) and the cocoa butter lotion for the body.

Another tip is to make your own body scrub (with good oils) and make the body wash (with mild castile soap) - you’ll find then that you don’t need to moisturize at all!

Another thing that you’ll learn is that lotion is lotion is lotion. You don’t necessarily need hand, body and face lotion specifically, we’ve just been marketed to shop that way.

M.M. from Toronto, Ontario writes:

I’ve made a batch of Lindsay’s herbal tea shampoo recipe and I noticed that the castile soap turned into a solid once mixed with the rest of the ingredients. I bought a liquid version of an unscented baby-mild, hemp pure-castile soap of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap brand at a health food store. Is that the wrong kind? Should this soap be reacting this way? Would vegetable glycerin have been better?

Lindsay responds:

I haven’t ever had the problem you described. It sounds like you got the liquid castile soap which is great, because they do make a bar version. My batches have always remained liquid but perhaps did yours get exposed to cold? I can imagine it might harden if the solution became too cold. Did you make sure the tea cooled before you added the soap? I’ve only found that adding hot tea to the soap can turn it green, the shampoo that is, not your hair. Finally, were your proportions right? It’s a 1/4 cup liquid castile soap to 3/4 cup distilled water (maybe your water had impurities).

Jennie Thorner from Vancouver, BC writes:

I would like to compile a list of companies known for testing on animals. I want to make sure I’m making wise consumer choices and would like a reliable source to tell me which companies test on animals. A list or more information would be much appreciated!

Lindsay replies:

Testing on animals is not a topic that we have become involved in to date. The good news is that I plan to profile "labeling" in general in a future David Suzuki Nature Challenge newsletter . It will translate what certain labels mean, like fair trade, FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), EnergyStar, etc. It will also show you how to make your own products by using simple ingredients not tested on animals!

Personally, I was recently doing a search for such a list and found one in a book called "The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience." Animal testing still happens today and there is no regulation around the labeling of "cruelty-free," "no animal testing," "not tested on animals," etc. The bottom line is to look for the White Rabbit logo .

Below is the long list I copied from the book, but I’d suggest you get the source as it has more detail and an explanation of how they derived the list. Also, because the David Suzuki Foundation is a non-profit organization we cannot recommend brands that we are for or against. You see, we just don’t test them or watchdog the companies. It’s really up to you to decide.

If this sort of thing interests you, I’d suggest you pick up "Not Just A Pretty Face ." I just finished it on the weekend and it’s a very empowering read! So, who tests on animals as listed in the book "The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience."

* Chesebrough-Ponds: makes Ponds, Vaseline
* Church & Dwight: makes Aim, Arm & Hammer, Close-Up, Nair
* Clairol: makes Aussie, Daily Defense, Herbal Essences, Infusium 23
* Clorox: ArmourAll, Glad, Liquid Plumber, Pine-Sol, Soft Scrub, SOS, Tilex
* Colgate Palmolive: Ajax, Fab, Mennen, Palmolive, Soft Soap, Speed Stick
* COTY: Adidas, Calvin Klein, Glow, The Healing Garden, Jovan, Kenneth Cole, Marc Jacob, Rimmel, Stetson
* Dial: Purex
* Helene Curtis Industries: Finesse, Salon Selectives, Thermasilk
* Johnson & Johnson: Aveeno, Clean & Clear, Neutrogena
* Kimberley-Clark Corp: Cottonelle, Huggies, Kleenex, Kotex, Pull-Ups, Scott Paper
* L’Oreal USA: Biotherm, Garnier, Giorgio Armani, Lancome, Maybelline, Ralph Lauren, Redken, Soft Sheen, Vichy
* Malaleauca
* Olay
* Pantene
* Pfizer: Ben Gay, Listerine, Lubriderm, Plax, Visine
* Playtex: Baby Magic, Banana Boat, Ogilvie
* Proctor & Gamble: Cover Girl, Crest, Iams, Max Factor, Tide
* Reckitt Benckiser: Easy Off, Lysol, Mop & Glo, Old English, Resolve, Spray N’ Wash, Veet, Woolite, Coppertone, Dr. Scholl’s
* S.C. Johnson: Drano, Edge, Fantastik, Glade, OFF!, Oust, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles, Shout, Skintimate, Windex, Ziploc
* 3M: Post-it, Scotch
* Unilever: Axe, Dove, Lever, Suave

Cheryl Swan of Calgary, Alberta writes:

I stopped buying into this cosmetic industry’s claims in 2002 and it changed my life (I have a lot more money left at the end of each month, for one thing). I only wish I could get my friends and co-workers on board with the idea of giving up their expensive cosmetics and other beauty products, but they all think I am just "preaching".

I once read that the cosmetic industry is a $30 billion business in North America, and it was pointed out in the article, that every night the users are washing these products off and sending them down the drain and into the sewer systems. If preservatives (and other toxins) are being added to beauty products to prevent the natural decay of plant and fruit extracts within those products, what exactly happens when these products are put into our sewer system? Have there been any studies done on the effects these products are having on the environment (our river beds, city water supplies, etc.). Do they break down? Do they end up in our tap water and ultimately ingested by us?

Lindsay Coulter responds:

Sounds like you stopped exposing yourself to the chemical soup a while back! I’m sure you’re aware of these facts but perhaps you want to pass them on to your friends:

• The average adult uses nine products/day containing about 126 chemical ingredients; some women use 15!
• About 10,500 chemical ingredients make up our personal care products.
• Only 11 per cent have been tested for safety.
• Tests aren’t done by agencies like Health Canada, but by the companies themselves!
If you want to get away from preaching, suggest friends or family members check their personal care products on the Skin Deep website at www.safecosmetics.org.

In Canada, the industry runs at about $5.3 billion annually, and you’re correct in making the wildlife and aquatic life link. You can learn a lot more about their impact in various websites and books, like Ecoholic. Author Adria Vasil includes many facts about chemicals we use on our bodies and their impacts on the environment. Definitely worth the read is her chapter on pharmaceuticals and things like the results of birth-control-pill-laden pee going into our sewage system.
There have been a lot of studies and I’ll highlight only a few facts below since unfortunately, there are too many to mention:
• Swedish Society for Nature Conservation did a study with dandruff shampoo and fish in a 1,000 L aquarium. The active ingredient of interest was zinc pyrithione and half the fish died within four days. Although the ingredients are said to breakdown in water, 80 days later they could still detect it.
• Triclosan is the chemical you’ll find in antibacterial soaps. It is accumulating in our rivers and sewage sludge where it can turn into carcinogenic dioxins when exposed to sunlight in water. If your county or municipality spreads sludge on food crop fields as fertilizer then, yes, you could say it may end up in the food chain.
To help convince your friends, why not host a fun spa day? I also make up batches of safe cosmetics and cleaning supplies and give them as gifts.
On the upside, some nail salons use polish without toluene and formaldehyde, which is great not just for clients but also because they’re finding estheticians and hair dressers (exposed to hair dye) will high levels of illness.
Here’s a book that may interest you, it’s called ‘Not Just a Pretty Face”: http://www.notjustaprettyface.org/?cat=3