 A Thumbs Up Book Review
Dying to Look Good: The Disturbing Truth About What's Really in Your Cosmetics, Toiletries, and Personal Care Products. . . and What You Can Do About It
By Christine Hoza Farlow, DC
Kiss for Health Publishing
Review by Sally Fallon
Occasionally the Weston A. Price Foundation is asked to add personal care products to our Shopping Guide, a request we have resisted because of the vastness of the task. Fortunately, Christine Farlow has done this for us in this comprehensive compendium of ingredients found in the products we put on our skin, our hair and our toothbrushes.
The skin absorbs many of the chemicals we put on it, even from products that are rinsed off, so it behooves us to show as much care in choosing our shampoo, lotions and makeup as we do in choosing our food. In fact, 55 percent of all personal care products contain "penetration enhancers," ingredients that can increase a product's penetration through the skin and into the bloodstream.
These products end up not only in our bodies, but also in the water we bathe and wash up in. Recent studies show that riclosan (tricolasan), one of the most common antibacterial agents used in soaps, acts like an antibiotic in the way it kills bacteria and may contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our drinking water.
Many shampoos, lotions, makeup foundations and lip balms contain ingredients that are known carcinogens; MSG is also a common ingredient.
Most of the book is devoted to a comprehensive list of ingredients and their effects but Farlow ends on a positive note with a list of recommended products and where to buy them. Dying to Look Good is a valuable resource--thank you Dr. Farlow! The self-published book is available from Kiss for Health Publishing, (760) 735-8101,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
.
Â
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Summer 2006.
About the Reviewer
 Sally Fallon Morell is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (with Mary G. Enig, PhD), a well-researched, thought-provoking guide to traditional foods with a startling message: Animal fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease and optimum energy levels.
She joined forces with Enig again to write Eat Fat, Lose Fat, and has authored numerous articles on the subject of diet and health. Through her New Trends Publishing label, she publishes books on nutrition and health, such as The Fourfold Path to Healing (by Dr. Tom Cowan), Honoring Our Cycles (by Katie Singer), The Untold Story of Milk (by Ron Schmid) and The Whole Soy Story (by Kaayla Daniel). The President of the Weston A. Price Foundation and founder of A Campaign for Real Milk, Sally is also a journalist, chef, nutrition researcher, homemaker, and community activist. Her four healthy children were raised on whole foods including butter, cream, eggs and meat.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed