CONTENT APPROVED - 'things, held or included in something'
We don't think your skin needs unnecessary synthetic chemicals, so we don't sell them.
All the brands we stock, share our passion for natural skincare and organic ingredients. Each has been chosen for their commitment to truth, quality and holistic skin health.
CONTENT stocks brands that are Soil Association certified, Ecocert approved, manufactured as 100% carbon neutral, donate to developing areas, and create foundations to protect our environment and our health. None of the brands we stock test their products on animals, nor do they instruct anyone to do so on their behalf.
Our sourcing policy, looks beyond the elimination of parabens, petrochemicals, phthalates, SLS, and synthetic fragrances and extends to a further 25 + commonly used synthetic chemicals. We have listed all product ingredients on our website to ensure you know exactly what you are buying. For more details, please refer to our ingredients page.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
The CONTENT concept was created by Imelda Burke, who 6 years ago, became interested in using natural beauty products as an alternative to the synthetic chemical concoctions that are being marketed at women and men today. After suffering from skin problems from early childhood, and having been prescribed many medical treatments, most of which contain toxic synthetic chemicals, Imelda knew there had to be a healthier alternative.
Research lead to the work of the ‘Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' in America, and the sister group ‘The Womens Environmental Network' in the UK. Both groups have been researching and campaigning for legislation to regulate the beauty industry and ban toxic chemicals from consumer products.
Most importantly they have created the ‘Compact for the Global
Production of Safe Health and Beauty Products', which includes a pledge
that any participating company will ensure their products will meet EU
standards within three years, and be free of chemicals known or
strongly suspected of causing cancer, mutation, or birth defects.
This campaign has been signed by 175 companies, and forms the basis for
an ongoing future supply of brands that meet CONTENT requirements.
THE INDUSTRY
Alarmingly, the cosmetic industry does not have a governing regulatory body. It is left to the individual companies to test their own products, which is often done as individual components instead of an end product.
An estimated 100,000 synthetic chemicals are currently registered for use in the US, and fewer than 10 percent of them have been tested for their effects on human health. These chemicals are finding their way into everyday cosmetics.
Although the small amounts that appear in individual products seem unlikely to have any effect - it is the accumulated effect of the, on average, 12 - 20 products a woman uses before she leaves the house every day, this is the real concern.
A staggering 89% of the 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products, have never even been evaluated for safety by the FDA, Luckily the EU have taken the international lead in addressing this problem and in 2003 the European Parliament banned reproductive toxicant such as DEHP and DBP, as well as other carcinogens and mutagens, in both domestic and imported cosmetics.
THE INGREDIENTS
You might wonder why we don't have the term chemical free spashed across our website, a term commonly used in natural skincare.
It's simple, we find it misleading. Why?, well because a common example of a chemical substance is pure water; it has the same properties and the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen. An essential component to human life is infact a chemical.
Instead we prefer to use the more accurate term, synthetic chemical.
We have listed the ingredients we avoid. We like to base this on research and have provided links to this, in particular entries. You can find them in the INGREDIENTS section.
Research is continually being updated, we will endeavour to do the same with this resource area.
Although some synthetic ingredients may, not yet, be proven to cause illness, we believe that some of us, just want to avoid as many synthetics as we can in daily life. Some things we have little control over - this is one area where we do.
Most of the ingredients we do not stock are obvious choices, but many can still be found in 'organic' brands, even those sold in health food stores. Our list is edited, as research and ingredients change. We like to promote awareness, which can be difficult when some natural ingredients sound like science.
If you should be confused about an ingredient, we will endeavour to help.
Please email us at info@beingcontent.com with your queries.
WE AVOID
Aluminium / with the exception of Aluminium Hydroxide
Coal Tar
Colourants / D&C Blue 1 & 6, Ext D&C Green 1 & 3, Ext D&C Red 1 & 3, FD&C Red 33, FD&C Yellow 5 & 6, Acid Blue 3, Acid Yellow 3, Pigment Blue 15
Cocamide DEA
Contaminated Lanolin
Disodium EDTA
Emu Oil
Formaldehyde
GM Ingredients
Hydroquinone skin lightener
Iodopropynyl butylcarbamate
Lead
Lauramide DEA
Mercury
Methyldibromoglutaronitrile
Methylchloroisothiazolinone
Methylisothiazolinone
Mineral Oils
Nanotechnology
Parabens
Paraffin Wax
Petroleum derivatives
Phthalates
Placenta / yes there are still products on the market containing this
Propolene Glycol
Silicones
Sodium lauryl sulphate
Sodium laureth sulphate
Synthetic colourants
Synthetic fragrance
Synthetic SPF
Talc
TEA / abv. tiethanolamine
Tetrahydrozoline Hydrochloride
Tetrasodium EDTA
Toluene
Triclosan
Urea
Urea-Imidazolidinyl
2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1, 3 diol
RESOURCES/REFERENCES
We have used the following books and websites when researching ingredients.
PubMed
An free online data base of medical research
PubMed Central (PMC) is the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
CAM on PubMed is limited to the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) subset of PubMed.
http://nccam.nih.gov/camonpubmed/
Environmental Working Group's Cosmetic Database
EWG's data gives you practical solutions to protect yourself and your family from the health risks we all face from everyday exposures to myriad industrial chemicals.
In 2004 they launched Skin Deep, an online safety guide for cosmetics and personal care products. The aim was to fill in where companies and the government leave off: companies are allowed to use almost any ingredient they wish, and governments don't require companies to test products for safety before they're sold. EWG's scientists built Skin Deep to be a one-of-a-kind resource, integrating our in-house collection of personal care product ingredient listings with more than 50 toxicity and regulatory databases.
Now in its fourth year and third major update, the Skin Deep database provides you with easy-to-navigate safety ratings for nearly a quarter of all products on the market - 28,273 products with 7,231 ingredients. At about one million page views per month, Skin Deep is the world's largest and most popular product safety guide.
A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients
Ruth Winter M.S (6th edition)
A fantastic resource for information on the industry and individual ingredients. Information is compiled from 53 listed references include the FDA and CIR and further Government reports on cancer and toxicity.
Ruth Winter has also written 'A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives'
Mosby's Natural Standard - Herb & Supplement Handbook
Listing 91 commonly used herbs and supplements, and the scientific based evidence, traditional uses, background, safety and side effects associated with each. Every entry is followed by references and was blind peer reviewed.
Edited by 43 Medical and Research professionals, including Dr Andrew Weil, with contributions from a further 108 Doctors and Researchers.
The Complete Guide to Aromatheraphy
Salvatore Battaglia (2nd addition)
An encyclopedia of essential oil descriptions, uses, chemical compositions, and energetics. Each entry is followed by a list of references.
This book also outlines a holistic approach to skincare based the body systems.
Understanding Skin Problems
Papadopoulos and Walker (2nd addition)
Written from a psychological persepectiv. Details approaches to dealing with distressing skin conditions, and information on the mind-body connection and how it can help in dermatology. Complied from 24 listed reference sources.
Healing the Skin
Lueder Jachens (Published in English 2008)
The author is a Dermatologist and Allergen specialist, who after working in medical departments at an Anthroposophical Hospital, set up his own practice in 1992, as a skin specailist in Germany.
Brings together holistic approaches to skincare gathered from his years of experience.
Encyclopedia of Natural Healing
Michael Murrey ND and Joseph Pizzorno ND (revised 2nd edition)
A Classic reference guide for Natural Medicine from Michael Murray, a leading researcher of natural medicine and facality member of Bastyr University in Seattle, and Joseph Pizzorno a prominent naturopathic physician, researcher and co-founder/president of Bastyr University.
Includes 82 pages of references from published research.
Prescription for Nutritional Healing
Phyllis A Balch CNC (4th edition)
A certified Nutritional Consultant, Balch was instrumental in introducing nutrition as a method of healing to traditionally schooled medical practitioners in America. She spent 2 decades woking in the field of nutrition including testifying before Congress on the power of Natural Healing.
The Ayuerveda Encyclopedia
Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha (5th edition)
The most complete and in-depth book on Ayurveda detailing, 85 medicinal herbs, nutrition and a guide to each body system.
Includes referrals to 88 reference books and is peer reviewed.
Ayurvedic Healing
Frena Gray-Davidson
Includes a reference of herb , nutirent and essential oil uses, in the 6000 year old practice of Ayurvedic Medicine.