Parabens and Breast Cancer

Parabens have been controversial since they were found in breast cancer tumors in a 2004 study. They are used in almost every cosmetic product from deodorant, shampoo to body lotion, etc. It seems almost impossible to find anything without parabens in them, but it is possible ... it just involves so much more work.

Here is a decent article about the subject: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/healthcare/health/healthcare/studies/story/2012-01-13/Does-deodorant-ingredient-affect-breast-cancer-risk/52528952/1

Each person must decide for themselves whether they want to take their own health into their hands or whether they want to wait for a study to tell us what we already know -- parabens are dangerous. I am not waiting around. Cancer makes you so helpless. For a year and a half, I have been taking back the power, bit by bit.

Back to the Body Shop

I have been looking for ways to live as chemical free as I possibly can. Sometimes it seems so overwhelmingly impossible -- we are surrounded by chemicals, but I have to try. I have already thrown out all my chemical filled cleaners and am only using vinegar and water to clean.

I have been on the hunt for "healthier" cosmetics and what a task that has been! Reading the ingredients label on cosmetics has dismayed me and brought me close to tears. I started with my moisturizer and with body lotion -- I am using emu oil as a facial moisturizer and organic coconut oil as a body lotion.

Finding a suitable deodorant has eluded me for a while until this week when a light bulb went off, and I decided to check out that a 1980s favorite -- the Body Shop. I bought all my skincare products from the Body Shop when it came to Malaysia in the mid 1980s. All the principles that Anita Roddick stood for appealed to me. The Body Shop didn't come to the US until 2001, and in that time I had turned to other cosmetics and I never went back to my Body Shop roots.

But this week as I was looking for paraben and aluminum free cosmetics, I ran across a Body Shop deodorant, that had mixed reviews but looked promising. I researched lotion, shampoo and conditioner and other products, and armed with my list, John and I headed to the Body Shop on Saturday.

I'm testing the deodorant today, but all the other products are going into my stocking ... so updates will come after Christmas. I had been worried about reviews that said that the deodorant did not last beyond 8 hours. Well, I put it on at 9 am and it is now 9 pm and I've had a normally active day and it is still going strong -- I don't smell bad! I dusted, hemmed two work trousers, hemmed a towel, mended a shirt, ironed my clothes for the week, and cooked dinner, and I can still smell the deodorant and not some sweaty person, so this one is a keeper.

Not everything in the Body Shop is chemical free -- you have to read the ingredients. That disappointed me -- whatever happened to being "natural"? I cannot imagine that Anita Roddick would have used any ingredient that had the possibility of contributing to giving a woman cancer. I am responsible for myself, so I have to take the initiative ... no one is doing it for me.

An Old Friend

I grew up on a tropical island surrounded by coconut trees but I had just forgotten how versatile it is.  We cooked and baked with it, and used it as a moisturizer for our skin and a conditioner for our hair. In my commitment to try to live as chemical free as possible, I have rediscovered the humble coconut. For the last few weeks I have been using Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil as a body lotion and hair conditioner. I'm now experimenting with using it as a facial moisturizer. I wasn't quite sure about this ... I had concerns that it might be too oily and make my skin breakout. But so far it's been doing well.

 

I like Trader Joe's coconut oil because it is cold pressed which means it is in solid form. I scrape off what I need and warm it in my palm and it melts almost instantly. I use it a little bit at a time and work it into my skin. It takes a little while to be absorbed so don't over oil your skin with too much coconut oil. You'll smell like toasted coconut for a bit and then it really does disappear. Hubby who does not like coconut says he can't smell anything.

 

I work the coconut oil into my hair before I shampoo and then I use my normal conditioner. I do not leave the coconut oil in my hair -- it does make it too oily and I have no itention of walking around with oily hair!

 

 

 

I had my three-month check up with the oncologist and we talked about gene testind because of the Askenazi ancestry from my paternal and maternal side. If the insurance company will pay for it, we'll go ahead and do it. Regardless, my daughter will have to be extra careful with the way she lives her life.



The Miracle Oil

 

I had never heard of emu oil until I joined the breast cancer discussion board. Women who were undergoing radiation treatments were recommending it for moisturizing their skin.

I thought, "why not?" and when the doctor cleared it for use, I ordered a bottle from Amazon.com. The area that I used the oil on, even the area of the tumor that received the radiation boost never burnt. It got a deep tan color but it never burned, and the technicians kept saying how well my skin was doing compared to other people's.

The area that did get a little scorched and painful was the area under my armpit. I simply did not realize how high the radiation went and did not start applying emu oil there until a week or two into the treatment. But I kept gritting my teeth and applying emu oil, and miraculously, I never blistered ... the blackened skin just rubbed off, and beautiful new skin emerged!

When I was done with my radiation treatments in October last year, I started massaging the oil into my scalp and on my non-existent eyebrows. My hair came back much quicker and more evenly than I had expected. And it came back fuller than before. I am willing to give emu oil the credit. After all the crap I had to go through ... I'll take the extra hair.

And now that my hair is looking healthy and growing well, I am using the emu oil as a facial moisturizer. Two drops into the palm of your hand is all you need to oil your entire face. I am using coconut oil as a body moisturizer.

I just ordered my second bottle from Amazon.com and it arrived in a very timely manner from the supplier in North Carolina. I don't think that the $23.10 I paid for the bottle is too much considering that it will last me almost a year.

I am sharing this information because all those women shared it with me ... if it helps another person, then it will be worth it.