BLOG: This weekend: Healthy, Yummy Spa for Your Little Divas!

Trish Ehrlich, Cancer Schmancer Blogger

Chocolate facials, brown sugar body scrub, lemon lip gloss~ sounds delicious!  Whipping up home spa creations with your kids is a great way to slow down, relax, and enjoy a taste of the good life.  A simple trip to the supermarket for some essential ingredients produce luxurious NATURAL treats that will please the most demanding diva without harmful toxins.

Besides the economic benefit to mixing up your own fruity foot bath, making your own spa recipes allows you to spend time with your kids making a shopping list (organizing), mixing & measuring (science & math), and teaching them how to take relax and pamper themselves naturally (health).  There are recipes for masks, facials, foot spas, body scrubs and bath salts.  Simply search “spa recipes for kids” and dozens of tasty options await.  (ie: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/7-homemade-spa-treats-for-kids-1815976)



Why all the hoopla over home made spa products?  Well, I wouldn’t consider myself an overly “organic” person. Buying organic milk and produce, yes- composting- NO!  But Fran’s role in promoting  the Safe Cosmetic Act of 2010, which strives to eliminate chemicals in products shown to have a link to cancer, birth defects, and learning disabilities, prompted me to look into the products I was using on my kids.  Statistics show that 80 percent of all personal care products can be tainted with carcinogens.  80%!  After checking the Cosmetic Safety Data Base (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/parentsguide)  I was amazed that some of the most popular products we were using were potentially toxic to my children.  Needless to say, the products were poured down the drain, the bottles were recycled, and new non-toxic products now line the tub… 


So, to keep your child’s skin healthy & beautiful:


1. LOG ON to EWG’s SKIN DEEP- Cosmetic Safety Data Base to see if the products you are using are potentially harmful to you or your family.  There is a special parent guide to popular baby/child products.   http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/parentsguide/index.php?bybrand=1

 

2. AVOID products containing:  Parabens, xylene, fragrances, petroleum, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and toluene. Go to  http://www.safecosmetics.org  for a look at why these toxins are hazardous.  If you can’t pronounce it- you probably shouldn’t be using it!

 

3. BYOP:  Bring Your Own Polish- Chemicals in many nail polishes contain DBP and toluene which are linked to hormone disruption and cancer.  Purchase polishes that are DBP and Toulene free like Sun Coat Girl polishes, which are for ages 3+ and available in kid friendly “flavors” like Apple Blossom, Princess Purple, and Fairy Glitter (www.suncoatgirl.com ) or OPI nail lacquers.  Bring them with you to the salon for you and your little diva.

 

4. KEEP IT NATURAL, KEEP IT SAFE:  Teach your children to read product labels and to make healthy choices for their bodies both inside and out.  They learn how important saving the earth is- they should learn to value saving themselves as well.  All because kid makeup looks cute in the package doesn’t mean it is safe for their skin.

 

5. ADVOCATE- Join in Cancer Schmancer’s efforts  to support legislation that will keep hazardous cancer causing chemicals away from our children.  Contact your local, state and federal legislators and let them know that you want safer products for you and your family.   (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-g-yerman/what-price-beauty-new-leg_b_730818.html-What Price Beauty? New Legislation Seeks Safety Regulations)