Why I created the Paxi Organic Skincare line
I created this organic skincare line after recent research got me thinking of all the chemicals I was exposing myself to everyday. According to a study on personal care products done by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), study participants used an average of 17 personal care products each day. The EWG detected 16 chemicals from 4 chemical families in blood and urine samples from 100% of the girls in the study. Now this was a small study done with only 20 young ladies completing it; but for ALL of them to have damaging chemicals from their personal care products in their blood and urine really caught my attention. And these weren’t just innocent chemicals not doing any harm. Studies linked the chemicals that were found to potential health effects including cancer and hormone disruption. These tests featured the first-ever exposure data for parabens in teens, and indicate that young women are widely exposed to this common class of cosmetic preservatives, with 2 parabens detected in every single girl tested. Read more about the study here.
How does this happen? Doesn’t the FDA regulate these chemicals?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only some authority to regulate cosmetics but our current laws leave them powerless to screen for chemicals that have been linked to cancer and cause harm to the reproductive system, among other health effects. The federal law designed to ensure that personal care products are safe has remained largely unchanged since 1938. The European Union has spent the past two decades restricting or banning approximately 1,400 harmful chemicals and ingredients from personal care products. In Canada, the number of restricted ingredients is around 600. The number of chemicals banned in the United States? 30. Thirty. The United States hasn’t passed a major federal law to regulate the safety of ingredients in personal care products since 1938. There are current legislators working on bills to change this, but in the meantime buyer beware. This is why I chose organic skincare products as often as I can.
Can chemicals really harm you if you don’t ingest them but only put them on your skin?
Good question and something I really hadn’t thought about until I started digging in deeper. Your skin is the largest organ in your body, accounting for more than 10% body mass and providing many functions including:
• Protection
• Tactile sensation
• Calorie reservation
• Vitamin D synthesis
•Temperature control
•Lubrication and waterproofing
Studies show that absorption of chemicals through the skin (called Dermal Absorption) can present the most significant exposure pathway of chemicals entering the body. Why? Because chemicals enter the blood stream and can cause health problems not only at the site of entry but throughout the body, because they travel in your blood. The rate of dermal absorption depends on the thickness of the outer layer of the skin. The skin thickness varies widely depending on body area and for example, the skin on the soles of your feet are generally 10 times thicker than the skin around your eyes and other sensitive areas of your body. Dermal absorption occurs more quickly when chemicals are put on the thinnest, most sensitive areas of your skin. Reading that really got me thinking…what IS in all that eye cream and anti-aging lotion I had been using?
Pigments, Contouring, Lighteners and more
Many of the current beauty trends are spreading more quickly through social media tutorials. With social media so present in our society, the pressure to look good has never been higher. Many of the top Instagram Influencers are beauty and makeup based and have tremendous influence over what is trending in cosmetics and skincare. With lack of regulation in the industry, it is important to know what you are purchasing and where it comes from. According to the New York Times (August 2017), imports of personal care products have doubled in the last decade and imports from China have increased 79% in the last five years. In this article, the FDA noted that 20 percent of imported personal care products tested in its own labs had adverse findings. These findings included:
• Skin whitening creams with high levels of mercury.
• Eyeliners containing an ingredient which has been found to contain significant lead levels.
• Hairsprays containing methylene chloride, an ingredient banned in cosmetics and that has been linked to deaths from its use in paint strippers.
• Cosmetics kits with high levels of Citrobacter, Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus bacteria.
• Eye makeup containing color additives, banned for decades because they are hazardous to eyes.
More frightening is the fact that most of personal care imports are never inspected. Of the nearly 3 million imported shipments of personal care products, the FDA was only able to inspect less than 1%. Sadly, the FDA lacks both the authority and the resources to fully address the public health risks cosmetics can pose. While the agency can inspect imported cosmetics, foreign manufacturers currently have no obligation to tell the FDA where they are located, what products they are making or what ingredients they are using. There is also no obligation to disclose if they are made using good manufacturing practices or in clean facilities. Even “natural” products aren’t truly the same as our organic skincare.
Recent legislation, The Personal Care Products Safety Act, would give the FDA these basic authorities and would also require fees from the cosmetics industry, significantly increasing the agency’s ability to address health risks from cosmetics.
Why I created the Paxi Organic Skincare line
Surprisingly, many of the natural products that I looked at still had an alarming number of ingredients that weren’t completely natural, and many weren’t organic. Others that were pure, were VERY expensive. Others didn’t provide the coverage or moisture I had been used to with other types of products. Never one to be afraid to roll up my sleeves and jump in, I began creating my own facial oils and creams using only organic products. I tested these out on myself and my friends, coming up with formulations for different skin types. Based on this I have created a line of products using Organic Ingredients at a price that is affordable that allows skin to thrive. I have also partnered with a lab, working with them to create improved formulations and USDA Certified Organic cremes and lotions. Introducing thePaxi.com and the Paxi Skin Care Line. Order today and let me know what you think! Feel free to contact me with any questions through Paxi@thePaxi.com.
