The PRODUCT Blog - Pure Ingredients for Gorgeous Hair

Keep it Beautiful

Earth Day is here again - 43 years and counting of celebration and activism to honor and protect the planet we call home. 

Did you know? ...

Earth travels through space at 66,700 miles per hour.  Its orbit around the sun is nearly 600,000,000 miles.  (So, we travel that distance, too, as passengers!)

In its orbit, the earth is tipped at 23.4 degrees; this axis is responsible for our seasons. 

Earth is the only planet in the solar system with plate tectonics. 

Breeze carries about 100 milllion tons of sand particles around the earth yearly. 

About two-thirds of the earth's surface is beneath the ocean. And Google is setting out to map it ...

PRODUCT is keeping it beautiful this Earth Day with a discount in the PRODUCT store - save 22% on any order by using promo code OURPLANET (ends 5/15/12).

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2012!

2010 - The Year of Safe Cosmetics?

Southern California public radio show AirTalk hosted a debate last week (click here to listen) on the merits of proposed legislation to increase transparency in the cosmetics and personal care industry - The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. 

For many years now, advocates for public safety and health have questioned the level of regulation and testing that commonly used personal products like lotions, cosmetics, hair dyes, nail polish and more are subject to.

Environmental Working Group has created an ingredient information database for mass market brands, called  the 'Skin Deep' Cosmetic Safety Database, which is aimed at arming the public with details about what's in our most commonly used personal care products. The hope of legislators introducing the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 is to lift the veil (some would say close the loophole) that allows beauty industry manufacturers to omit trace or inactive ingredients from labeling. In addition, the legislation would require personal care products to be tested for contamination, and to verify accuracy of ingredients disclosure and efficacy claims.

Last week's on-air discussion of the cosmetics regulation issue involved Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author. Her beauty guide, Not Just A Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry, was recommended on the Today Show's web site as one of six 'green reads' along with heavy environmental hitters like The Lazy Environmentalist and Cradle to Cradle. 

Malkan responded to callers' questions about ingredients like sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate, and their curiosity about whether more expensive products are actually more effective. In her opinion, many of high-end brands' effectiveness claims are just so much smoke and mirrors - in reality the benefits across price points are pretty much stable. Malkan suggested choosing products with simple formulations to limit exposure to unknowns and 'unlisteds' like mercury, lead, coal tar and the myriad of chemicals in the ingredient generically listed as 'fragrance.'

Malkan's sparring partner on the subject of HR 5786 was John E. Bailey, Ph.D., who is currently, after a more than decade-long stint at the EPA, Chief Scientist for the Personal Care Products Council. PCPC is lobbying hard against the proposed cosmetics legislation and arguing that its passage would be damaging to small business and to innovation in the industry.

Take a listen to what Malkan and Bailey had to say, and see what you think ...  When state and local representatives head back to Washington this fall, we'll be watching for developments on this potentially eye-opening legislation.

(Photo: House Of Sims/Flickr)

Here Comes the Sun(flower)

Apres le deluge ...  For the past week here in Southern California, we've been pummeled by rain, with the occasional addition of hail, thunder and lightning - just to keep things interesting! 

Today, though, we seem to have turned a corner.  Birds are chirping, the sun is shining and it's good to know that somewhere high in the mountains, the snow pack is somewhat refurbished. 

So it's only fitting that MNN today relayed a story from the Associated Press about the potential use of sunflower oil as an alternative fuel source (it could be used to produce ethanol similar to that created from corn).

Sunflower oil is already big in the beauty industry - it's an essential and effective ingredient in many skin creams, hair care products and lotions due to its high fatty acid content and ability to soften. 

As many areas of the marketplace go 'greener,' we'll likely see more of these naturally occurring multi-taskers - from the kitchen table, to the vanity, to the 'gas' tank, it seems sunflower oil could have it covered!

(AP Photo)

Not-So-Secret Ingredients

The foundation of PRODUCT's effectiveness is the proven benefits of its ingredients - each one serves a purpose, with nothing superfluous included.  PRODUCT's main component, Shea Butter, for example, is rich in essential fatty acids that protect and revitalize hair (and skin!), is highly emollient, easily absorbed, and non-comedogenic (a fancy technical term that means it's not irritating and won't clog your pores).  Shea butter is our base ingredient because it's such a personal care powerhouse.

Another of our ingredients, Aloe Vera, has an abundance of assets as well.  Though we use a different form of the succulent in PRODUCT's recipe, it turns out that Aloe gel (specifically, stabilized gel from the center of the plant) is incredibly effective for soothing gums and teeth, and also obliterates cavity-causing bacteria.  We included Aloe in PRODUCT because its calming properties pacify stressed strands, but weren't even aware that it's prowess extended to dental care!  We came across this juicy bit of health info in last week's Daily Beauty newsletter, courtesy of New Beauty Magazine. 

Just goes to show there's a natural alternative for just about every synthetic, chemically composed product out there ...