We often talk about what toxins we may be ingesting by eating food or drinking alcohol and soda, but let’s look at what toxins you might be ingesting by lathering on cosmetics! Many women suffer from all sorts of hormonal issues, not to mention lethargy and cancer, so we need also consider what our skin is eating. Your skin is considered to be the largest organs in the human body and if the famous saying rings true and I believe it does, ‘Beauty really is skin deep,’ then we need to stop slapping on chemicals. A recent report stated that the FDA finds lead in 400 lipsticks! Perhaps it’s the perfect time to consider a cosmetic detox!! I’m in! Are you? Is the pretty packaging really worth it? Is it really worth it to have a nice looking bottle that promises eternal youth on your shelves? What you are buying is crap as some some of salvation that supposed to make us feel better. But is it? I mean it’s so crazy it’s ridiculous when you think about it. And numerous companies are laughing all the way to the bank. Figures reveal that women fork out a staggering £100,000 (or approximately $150, 000 plus) on cosmetics over their lifetime, according to a new study.
I use an aluminum free deodorant that I absolutely love. It’s called Lavera and it’s organic and divine! It comes in rose and vanilla and makes me smell and feel scrumptious. I’m on a mission to get my man on it too! I also use it as perfume and get an extra dollop of divine scent from pure essential oils (NOTE: you must avoid certain ones though when pregnant), rather than designer perfumes that are full of god knows what. The cosmetic business can be very unsexy, unloving and just a money grab from women who want to look and feel beautiful. It could be doing more damage than you realize.
I have no issue or judgment about desiring to look and feel fabulous. It’s a high priority for me because it can make life more juicy and pleasurable when beauty is nourished and bathed in self-loving rituals, NOT harmful acts. I enjoy beauty – other people’s and mine. But beauty to me goes way beyond the physical. Every woman whether she realizes it or not wants to invoke the Goddess archetype that lives inside of her and I believe there is many benefits, but at what price? And are we really invoking our Goddess when we poison ourselves with products that are quite simply way below the standard of any woman? Are we really cultivating beauty? I think not!
My books and coaching programs teach you how to reclaim and cultivate sacred, sensual, endless beauty and feminine power by removing all the hidden toxins in your life. Imagine a super power bottle of your favorite toxin free perfume with a genie that lives inside to grant you your wishes and it never runs out! That’s what the Bodylove Diet is all about! Unfortunately many women don’t fully comprehend or ever experience the power of their own beauty. It has nothing to do with what you buy over the counter. As soon as you trust that beauty and love already belong to you by reclaiming your divinity from within, you can start to become more conscious about what you spend your money on, and in the process help to heal and nourish mind, body and soul.
The famous Dove campaign had some good intentions, but was it just another marketing ploy from a billion giant (UNILEVER) to get us to buy more crap products?! Essentially the message was identical to Bodylove but where are their ethnics? I don’t sell toxic crap. Just because they have a few naked women above size 10 who are comfortable to show their so called flaws (God forbid women have an ass and curves – how revolutionary and creative – please note my sarcasm), doesn’t mean that their products are any good! We need to see past the gloss, and question the real motive. Unfortunately, it’s usually just about getting your dollar and tapping into your fears and insecurities to capture you as a long term client. Don’t get me wrong. I am not a communist! Money is great. Money brings freedom and opportunity and I’ve been working with women for years on asking for more money and helping them remove the shame about building lucrative businesses. In fact I call my business coaching division of Bodylove Diet – RICH CHICKS.
But what really constitutes richness? It is both how we make money and how we spend it and how we live. At the end of the day, it’s a mind set about personal worth and our values. It’s about wanting more and claiming it. More freedom, more choices, more health, abundance, love and happiness and yes in summation more beauty.
If a company is telling us we are all beautiful every shape, age and size, but are then simultaneously selling a toxic product…then it’s not worth your money. Slow down, read the labels, be discerning about your dollars and what you put on your skin… As L’Oreal tells us – You’re worth it, right? We owe it to ourselves and our legacy. Advertising companies know that women are the number one consumers and buyers so collectively we can change the world by carefully choosing how and where to spend our money. The spending power of Aussie mums alone (imagine if we added single women and women without children to the mix) has been calculated at $132 billion a year, according to a report on their importance to the economy.
We can make an incredible change by realizing just how much power we have to both ensure companies produce ethical products and how business is done. As a result, the quality of our health and happiness will fall into alignment. As soon as we spend our dollars on products that are loving, ethical and truly healthy and beautiful, businesses will be forced to meet our demands. They don’t seem to listen much to words and protests unless a huge law suit is set to destroy their business, but they will listen when we stop buying crap. From the food I eat to what I put on my skin to the clothes I buy and the restaurants I frequent, it’s comes to quality over quantity for me. I don’t need more stuff, more crap, big meals, or another room full of clothes. What I do need is high quality products that truly feed and nourish my mind, body and spirit. Less is more and quality is of paramount importance. I would rather buy a $10 to $16 deodorant over a $100 bottle of perfume any day or a $200 plus anti-ageing crème…You’ll never catch me buying one ever! I’d rather slap on some coconut oil or concoct a sea salt facial scrub!
When we buy products that are sub par and harmful we are in effect investing in these companies, and fueling their power and igniting the capital they have to further brainwash us into believing their products are good. We are also harming the environment and often blindly diminishing our health. Let’s look at some of the powerful slogans they use to confuse us. They are clever, I must say. All they do is come up with a female liberation type campaign like L’Oreal – Because You’re Worth It. Olay – Love The Skin You’re In and I will go back to food for a second – Skinny Cow Ice Cream! Have you ever seen a skinny cow? Dairy and sugar and additives ain’t going to make you skinny, healthy or happy, babe, so if you’re not losing weight, there’s a big clue. Dairy and processed sugar needs to go bye bye for optimum health and lasting weight loss.
Caring, it turns out, is a competitive advantage, and one that takes effort, not money. – Seth Godin
Many huge multinationals are run by faceless accountants with no corporate conscious. If we shift where we spend our money we are in fact demanding conscious products that provide real value without incurring any risk of illness. In doing so, we ensure that companies will be forced to innovate and radically improve their product offerings to meet consumer demand. Herb Kelleher has always said that you can motivate a company through love much better than you can through fear.
When the CEO of MC Donalds was asked, ‘What will you be serving in 30 years?’He simply responded ‘Whatever people want’. Just like accepting a crap relationship of any kind we are in fact participating in creating the production and expansion of potentially harmful products. If we all agreed for a year to go on a crap product detox, we would put these companies in a complete tail spin whilst ensuring better health and even more wealth for us. It’s time for more conscious capitalism! The first principle of conscious capitalism is to have a deeper purpose that goes beyond profit. And despite the fears of many, you can be highly profitable whilst creating value for all involved. Here’s a great video that summarizes Conscious Capitalism from the CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey.
Conscious Capitalism: Whole Foods’ way from Conscious Capitalism on Vimeo.
So come on girls, let’s create a real revolution by refusing to buy into the Hollywood type fairy tale advertising that tells us that when we wear or use their products we will be happier, thin, rich and desirable. It’s BULLS*IT and in fact you are poisoning yourself.
My advice: Head to your favorite health food store or online retailer and start using new organic products. Find lush products that you LOVE and that LOVE you in return by truly nourishing the body and spirit. Next, if you want to feel more beauty than you ever have before in all areas of your life, then consider doing a course or working with someone like me to support you to clear the junk in your trunk emotionally and physically. As soon as you release the weight, fear, pain, indecision, anger etc you can reclaim a sense of beauty, peace and inner power. Now, that’s what you really deserve!
With love,
from Ingrid Arna xo
Holistic health counselor and global women’s health advocate and juicy living coach at Bodylove Diet
To book in for a powerlicious beauty enhancing session with Ingrid email Info@bodylovediet.com for the juicy deets! From weight loss, to beauty, babies, business, your love life and financial wellbeing, Ingrid has you covered. Just book in and she’ll take care of the rest!
The top 10 cosmetic toxins:
In this cosmetic toxin list you will find known carcinogens (cancer causing chemicals), mutagens (causing cell mutations – cancer), teratogens (causing birth defects), reproductive toxins (male & female infertility), developmental toxins (hazardous to an unborn child) and skin/sense organ toxicants.
More sites to support your healthy beauty product revolution!
http://www.natural-skincare-authority.com/cosmetic-chemicals.html
http://safecosmetics.org/
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/fda_finds_lead_in_400_lipsticks_20120214/
www.truthdig.com
The most delicious thing happens when you truly, deeply value and validate yourself. Others begin to value you more, babe, because they are reflecting back to you your own beliefs about yourself and what you deserve! Magical, isn’t it?! It’s a delicious manifestation and all it takes is the willingness to think delicious things about yourself. Any crap in your life takes a hike – the peeps that don’t respect you fade away or change their tune as quick as you can say ‘delicious!’ All you have to do, honey child, is change what you say to yourself. Speak sweet-nothings to yourself and give yourself the love you need. Validate yourself and don’t wait for others to do it for you. Trust me, I know from experience. I don’t need permission, approval or validation from others because I give myself the reassurance and love I need to flourish. It’s wonderfully liberating, incredibly powerful and supremely delicious. What happens when you give yourself this gift is that you free yourself from being dependent on the approval of others. Of course, it’s nice to receive praise, but the problem arises when you depend on it as your only source of appreciation. When you depend on it, you run the risk of becoming needy, and that results in unhealthy and disempowering behaviors. Better to think of outer praise as icing on the cake and inner praise is the necessity. This way you get the whole cake, baby! 
