Should Our Daughters Be Allowed to Wear Makeup?

Could allowing your daughter to wear makeup be increasing her breast cancer risk?

Research shows 9 out of 10 girls are wearing makeup regularly by the time they are 14. In fact, the number of girls aged 11 to 14 who use makeup every day has doubled in two years! Yet girls are most vulnerable to the chemicals in makeup - many of which are linked to breast cancer - during the years when their bodies are developing! (Environmental Working Group report, 2008)

The cosmetic industry has been increasingly targeting our daughters over the last decade, with a range of cutesy products designed for young girls. As a mother, I know that I allowed myself to be persuaded that 'kiddy makeup' was okay because it was just the same as playing dress up. I assumed that the products would be extra safe because of the age range it was marketed to, but clearly that was not the case! A look at any of the 'kiddy' cosmetics will quickly show you an alarming range of ingredients whose name you can't pronounce (which usually means chemicals). Do a bit more research and you will find that there are ingredients like phthalates which are linked to breast cancer, birth deformation, asthma and early puberty. You will also find lead, formaldehyde and other harmful ingredients.

A study of teenage girls by the Environmental Working Group discovered hormone-disrupting chemicals (commonly found in cosmetics and body care products) present in their bodies. It found 16 different toxic chemicals in blood and urine samples! Many of these are linked to serious health risks in lab animals, even at low-dose levels.

Many of the ingredients in makeup and skin care products mimic the effect of oestrogen. This is of great concern, because it is widely accepted amongst scientists that it is the increased exposure to oestrogen in our environment that has lead to the rise in breast cancer over the last 50 years. (Breast cancer Network(NZ)report, 2006)

Strategies for protecting our daughters from the chemicals in cosmetics

1)The first thing to do is start reading labels, particularly the ingredients list. As a rule of thumb, if you can't pronounce it - don't buy it! Be suspicious: Words like "natural" or "hypoallergenic" look reassuring, but they may well be misleading.

2)Educate yourself and your daughters. There is a lot of information on the net about the chemicals in cosmetics issue. A good place to start is at www.SafeCosmetics.org. There is also an alarming report that is worth reading, even if it is a bit scientific, at www.breastcancernetwork.org.nz/docs/Insidious%20Oestrogens.pdf">Insidious Oestrogens.

There are also places that will educate your daughter on cosmetic safety. For instance, as part of their Building Social Confidence program, one business - Grace Academy (www.graceacademyoz.com)- is arming girls with the information they need to make safe and healthy choices in cosmetics and skin care. “There are safe products available, if you know what to look for. We also teach girls about natural products they can make themselves.” said Karen McIlveen, principal of Grace Academy, “For instance, the chocolate facial mask is a wonderful moisturiser!”

3)Make your own cosmetics and skin care products! Women often assume that you have to pay a fortune for a product that is good for your skin, but that couldn't be further from the truth! You can easily make natural products in your kitchen, which are often better for your skin than anything you can buy in the shop. You can teach your daughter to make lip glosses, face masks and bubble baths in just a few minutes, knowledge that will save her a lot of money down the track! Download recipes at safe cosmetics, if you are interested.

4)Shop in places that sell organic and natural products. Health stores often have natural cosmetics and skin care products, but again, read the labels carefully. Just because products are in a health store doesn't mean they are free of harmful chemicals.

5)Limit you and your daughter's overall exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals. While our bodies have an inherent ability to get rid of excess oestrogen, many of the man-made compounds can't be broken down and end up accumulating in the body.

One way to reduce the load on our bodies is to use glass containers as much as possible, as plastic containers often have these harmful chemicals. Another way to reduce exposure is to avoid all shop-bought cosmetic and skin care products, including shampoos and deodorants. In fact, some of the worst offenders are sunscreens, with five out of the 6 having oestrogen-like ingredients. Instead seek out products that are made from 100% natural ingredients. You may have to do a bit of detective work at first. For instance, aromatherapy businesses often make up their own skin care products which are natural and wonderful for the skin.

6) Ultimately, you may have to refuse to allow your daughter to wear makeup and skin care products until her body has stopped developing. As she is most vulnerable when her body is developing, taking such a stand may protect her from breast cancer in the long run.

The pressure being brought to bear on cosmetic companies is slowly forcing them to withdraw these chemicals from their product lines. However, it will be some time before it is safe to use shop-bought products. In the meantime, we must protect our daughters from being exposed unnecessarily to products which may cause them harm later in life. Some exposures are out of our control but limiting their exposure to shop-bought products is one thing we can control, and must, for our daughters' sake. For more advice that mothers need to give their daughters, please sign up for more articles at http://advicefordaughters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.
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10 Biggest Mistakes Women Make Before Getting Married

10. Believing in ‘..and they lived happily ever after”. Women are fed romantic ideals from the day they are born. Books and movies aimed at girls invariably promote the big wedding to the perfect man as the ideal ending, from Snow White to Hilary Duff, from fairy tales to Mills and Boon. Is it any wonder women don’t tend to look past the romance of the wedding to the 50 or so years of marriage that follows! The truth is, marriage is hard work! A more realistic perspective would be that marriage is about 20% happiness, 30% contentment and 50% plain hard work! Going into marriage with a realistic attitude will prevent a lot of disappointment.

9. Believing that they can change him. Women have a tendency to gloss over qualities they don’t like in a man, telling themselves ‘oh, he’ll change’ or ‘I’ll work on that’. It doesn’t work, because you can’t force a person to change. If you do manage to bully him into changing, your relationship will suffer. Either accept and enjoy the differences between you or create an environment that encourages him to want to change for you.

8. Believing that he will always be romantic. Often women have very unrealistic expectations based on the way their partner behaved during the courtship phase. Unfortunately, most men heave a big sigh of relief once they have won you because they think ‘hey, I can relax now and stop doing all that girly stuff’! That doesn’t mean you have to give up on romance, just don’t expect a ‘grand gesture’ every day.

7. Losing self. Getting into an intense relationship before they’ve developed a clear sense of their own identity is another common mistake young women make. Without a clear sense of self, women identify overly with their partner and find it difficult to stand up for themselves and their own needs. A woman with a strong sense of identity, however, is a more interesting and equal partner.

6. Giving up friends and interests. With the thrill of being in love, it is too easy for women to put friends and family, hobbies and sports on the backburner. This is a fundamental mistake to make because a) women depend on support networks throughout their lives and b) men just can’t be everything to a woman. It is asking too much of them. It is important to maintain a happy balance in your life.


5. Rushing into marriage. It almost seems to be a race across the wedding finishing line for many young women. Marriage can last an eternity, but your single 20s only last a decade at the most! Don’t rush into it. Just because you found the man you want to spend the rest of your life with, doesn’t mean you have to marry him straight away. Enjoy your youth so that you will not have any regrets later.


4. Not having conversations about serious issues. Talk to your partner about where you both stand on issues that can make or break a marriage. Talk about the number of children you both want, are you intending to stay home to raise them, where your priorities lie, spending styles, dreams and goals, where you see yourself 20 years from now, parenting styles, sharing of responsibilities, etc. You need to know beforehand if his beliefs are incompatible with yours. This alone can determine how happy or conflicted your marriage is.

Also, have discussions about ground rules. Negotiations should be conducted before you sign on the dotted line. Too many of us rush into marriage and then spend the first decade negotiating the details! Sit down and nut out the details before you get married. Work out the basic rules that you both need to follow in order to have a happy marriage. It is important to be realistic, though, and to not agree to any rules that you know are unreasonable. Sex every day may work for him but it probably won’t for you! Also, realize that these rules may need to be renegotiated now and then, such as when you have children.


3. Having sex before sussing out the guy. Research shows that women are genetically programmed to fall in love with someone they have sex with. Make sure that he is someone you have the potential to be happy with, before you jump into bed with him! Afterwards, your hormones are likely to override your commonsense. This is how the Bree Van Der Camps of the world find themselves married to the Tommy Lee Jones of the world! Sometimes this work because your fundamental beliefs are the same but don’t let your hormones make that decision for you.

2. Settling. A lot of women start to panic if they aren’t married by their mid-20s, and god forbid they reach 30 without being married! That ol’ biological clock starts ticking loudly. The result is that they make excuses and rationalizations to themselves about a relationship that is already dull and past its use-by date, or which they know has serious issues. Marrying someone because you are afraid to be alone is unfair to yourself and your partner. Someone once said ‘I don’t want to spend a lifetime turning a bad relationship into an average one; I want to start with a good relationship and make it a great one’. Hear, hear.

And the No. 1 mistake women make is

1. Getting married because they are ‘in love’. Being in love is not a good enough reason to marry. We can fall in love for many reasons – it doesn’t mean the man you have fallen in love with will be a good partner. Choosing a good partner makes all the difference between having a harmonious marriage and a difficult marriage. You need to seriously question how well you two can work together for a lifetime. Do you complement each other? Does he make you feel like a better person or a lesser one?

I fell in love with 3 completely different men before I finally married. If I had married the first man I fell in love with, I would have ended up with an adrenaline junkie which would have stressful for a couch-and-book lover like me; if I had married the second man I fell in love with, I would have ended up with a compulsive cheater; and if I had married the third man I fell in love with, I would have ended up with an emotionally stunted husband. Each taught me a valuable lesson about what I wanted in a husband. The result is that I married a good man who still spoils me 20 years later.

Marriage can be a wonderful experience. It can be painful, frustrating, hilarious, comforting, annoying and tender. How much it leans to either end of the happiness spectrum depends on you making a good choice of partner at the beginning.
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