BellaSugar

Oh, Baby! Spa Treatments For Infertility

BellaSugar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:00:36 -0700

Blame it on that ever-expanding Jolie-Pitt brood: I've been reading lots of reports about the increasing popularity of fertility spa treatments. This is not limited to big cities, where career women may be postponing having children. In Ohio, BecomingMom, a "Pregnancy Spa and Imaging Center" offers a 50-minute Preconception Massage for $69, and Peaceful Beginnings in North Carolina offers the same at $40 for 30 minutes.

Many spas list causes of infertility as stress and accumulation of toxins, none of which are causes listed on the Mayo Clinic's website. In fact, really the only cause listed that a woman struggling with infertility may be able to change on her own is consumption of too much caffeine. Traditional infertility treatments can be dangerous and expensive so spas have picked up on the need for something more gentle and less invasive, which may be a good thing. But are they peddling false hope? While alternative treatments may be worth a try, it's worth considering why so few of these spas offer infertility treatment for wannabe fathers.

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Do You Think Lipstick Is Safe?

BellaSugar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:00:00 -0700

In 2007, the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics broke the news that out of 33 lipsticks they tested, 61 percent contained detectable levels of lead, a heavy metal known to cause health problems, like infertility and learning disabilities. But now, the FDA has some even more surprising data to throw into the mix. After analyzing 20 lipsticks using a newer method of study, they concluded that while each unit contained traces of lead, the results were, in fact, four times higher than the original outcome.

Currently, there are no set standards by the FDA regarding levels of lead in lipstick. This has the CSC hot on the FDA's case, especially since the average amount of lead is over 10 times higher than what the standard is for candy - an actual edible item. While obviously lipstick is not meant to be eaten, we all Inadvertently ingest a little every now and then. Are you concerned about the discovery of quantities of lead found in lipstick, or do you think with all of the other elements we are exposed to each day, a it's really not enough to worry about?

Do You Need To Worry About Lead in Lipstick?

BellaSugar — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:04:33 -0700

A few of you have written me today, concerned about the claim that lipsticks are laced with lead. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested many lipsticks to detect the presence of lead, which can cause learning, language and behavioral problems as well as infertility. The story's findings:

More than half of 33 brand-name lipsticks tested (61 percent) contained detectable levels of lead, with levels ranging from 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). None of these lipsticks listed lead as an ingredient.
One-third of the tested lipsticks exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy – a standard established to protect children from directly ingesting lead.

Lipsticks with the highest amounts of detectable lead included L’Oreal Colour Riche in True Red and Classic Wine; Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor in Maximum Red; and Christian Dior Addict in Positive Red. For more on the story, and what you can do about lead in lipstick, read more

To understand what the amount of lead means, it's important to understand how lead works in your body. It accumulates over time, and small amounts of lipstick are ingested through wearing it (for instance, when you bite into a sandwich, lipstick rubs off, and you digest it). As I wrote earlier this week, the FDA does not approve or review the safety of finished cosmetics, only the colorants that go into them. Because lead is a byproduct of the manufacturing process, it doesn't show up on the packaging.

So what can you do to protect yourself? The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is encouraging people to write L'Oreal and insist that it create lead-free lipstick. (Consumers in Europe, where cosmetic regulations are tighter, already have lead-free options. Sucks to be North American, huh?)

Before you go into full-blown panic, though, consider this: Toxic substances surround us every day, and simply living has some risk. Wall paint, for example, is allowed to have 600 parts per million, which is thousands of times higher than the lipstick lead levels. Or consider this: If you eat fish, you're digesting similar levels of another poison, mercury-and since you're actively eating fish, you're ingesting more of it. But it doesn't hurt to be an informed consumer. Some brands, such as Josie Maran Cosmetics, are lead- and paraben-free. On Monday, I'll post my review of the line, so you can see how well natural cosmetics work.

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