Mineral Oils and Parabens In Mario Badescu Products

I'm feeling duped. I thought Mario Badescu was supposed to be a great company that I could trust. After using their products for almost a year I just now discovered that there is mineral oil, petrolatums and polyparabens in their eye creams and moisturizers. As I was brushing my teeth I glanced at the ingredients on the back of the Special Eye cream I had just ordered and was shocked to see propylparaben and mineral oil (they list it as Carnation).  I was quite taken aback by this discovery. With toothbrush still in my mouth I started rummaging through my medicine cabinet to look at the other Mario Badescu beauty products and I found paraffinum which is still another word for mineral oil. SERIOUSLY?! I can't believe I have been paying good money for mineral oil products. Mario Badescu eye creams are $18. I might as well have been using drug store brands at a much cheaper price. But money isn't the issue, I avoid using Equate, Vaseline and many other brands because of the mineral oils, petrolatum and parabens and their potentially harmful effects.

The only reason why I looked at the ingredients is because my friend posted a picture on Facebook and I thought that my eyes looked dry and tired which made start thinking about my eye cream. I wasn't sure if I was just getting old, it was just a bad picture or if my eye cream wasn't working. Low and behold, I think the eye cream might be the culprit of the dry skin around my eyes. Why? Because mineral oil does not add moisture to the skin, it only locks in moisture. But I am using the eye cream to get moisture, not create a barrier! There's no moisture to lock in. Duh! What a waste of time and money.

This is the pic that made me question my eye cream (that's me on the left)

I'm so mad at myself because I didn't do my due diligence. I started using Mario Badescu products on the word of a friend who has great skin. Over a year ago I was having some major problems with acne and skin irritations. My friend and I went to lunch and I was complaining about my complexion and my friend suggested I try using Mario Badescu. Naturally when she made this suggestion I looked at her face more closely and realized her skin was clear enough to not need base or powder. That to me was a testimony in itself. When we went to her apartment she showed me all her Mario Badescu products in her bathroom. Now prior to this she and I had some conversations about beauty products and what ingredients we should avoid like parabens. Because we were in complete agreement in our conversations I assumed that she and I thought alike and I completely trusted her suggestion on MB products. But we all know what happens when one assumes (ass-u-me). So I slowly switched to MB products. The very first item I ordered was Peptide Renewal Cream which does not have any mineral oil. Then I bought Peptide Renewal Serum which also does not any mineral oil. The next few products I ordered were also mineral oil and paraben free. So at that point I ass-u-me-d that MB was a trustworthy company that cares about what people put on their skin. Unfortunately, the next few products I ordered do contain mineral oils and parabens, but at this point I had already assumed all MB products are safe. I also thought that if my friend uses their products then it must be A-OK. On another note, I think I was also fooled by their sleek, white bottles and clean labeling. The white packaging looks so trustworthy like it's stating I am a pure and chemical-free product.  *thumps self on forehead*

Now if you're wondering what is this woman blathering about and don't understand why I'm freaking out then you must not have heard that parabens and minerals oils are bad for your skin. I suggest you Google the subject. Hundreds of articles and blogs discussing the cons of these ingredients will pop up. I am not a doctor or researcher so I can not explain in a scientific manner why they are bad for you.  So here is my assessment in my own laymen terms: mineral oil and parabens are cheap, crappy chemicals that companies add to products to lengthen the shelf life of the product and have a low manufacturing cost. It is no concern to them that their products are pore-clogging and potentially cancer causing because they are making millions of dollars in profit. Mineral oils may contain toxins because it is a derivative of petroleum. This is cheap, cheap, cheap. Any product made with mineral oil should not be high priced. As I mentioned earlier mineral oils only create a barrier between your skin and the air, it does not add moisture. The idea is that it locks in moisture by CLOGGING your pores so the moisture does not escape. But they won't advertise it clogs your pores, they will say that the products keeps your skin silky soft and moisturized.  As for parabens it could possibly be linked to breast cancer because they have found parabens in the removed tissue of women who have had a mastectomies. I suggest using a paraben and aluminum-free deodorant. They may not work as well but it's definitely worth it to be a little smelly and sticky as opposed to having cancer. When you shave your armpit, you may cut your skin, then you put on deodorant and the parabens & aluminum are in closer proximity to your breasts. (Full disclosure: I use 5 different types of deodorant and one of them is Secret. I still use Secret even though it has questionable ingredients. The other safer deodorants are not as effective and I use Secret in social situations that calls for something that will definitely work. However, I do try to avoid anti-perspirant altogether. I think anti-perspirants are even worse because they also clog your pores and you need to sweat to get rid of toxins.) So there is my view of parabens and mineral oil in a nutshell. Since I already deal with a myriad of other health issues I just don't want to take the chance on putting cancer-causing chemicals on my skin and clogging up my pores.

But this isn't just a woman issue, men should also be concerned about parabens.  From Readers Digest Best Health:  In a Danish study parabens could be detected in the blood and urine of healthy young male volunteers a few hours after paraben-containing lotions were applied to their skin. In conclusion since the chemicals could be absorbed, metabolized and excreted they "could potentially contribute to adverse health effect."   Read more at http://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-looks/beauty/parabens-what-are-they-and-are-they-really-that-bad#u4imwhkXmm6ZFpoZ.99

So lesson learned, I will always read the labels of every product I put on my body regardless of a friend's opinion. Now I must find a new eye cream that doesn't have harmful ingredients and won't irritate my skin. Fun.



Back labels of MB products

Here are a few more "good" dermatologist-approved products that have bad ingredients. 

CeraVe Renewing lotion (this is a sample from the dermatologist)

Mederma (yet another sample from the dermatologist)

SebaMed Anti-Dry Night Intensive Cream

Red Velvet Patriotic Pancakes

I absolutely love red velvet anything!  So when I happened to find Red Velvet Pancake and Waffle mix at World Market for only $3.99 I knew I had found a good thing.  The pancakes are delicious and easy to make.

The mix is beige with no hint of red coloring.

Magically turns red when you add liquids.

  

    

Our patriotic breakfast for Independence Day:  red velvet pancakes and blueberry ice milk.

The drink is Mario Batali's recipe from "The Chew" which is made from only 2 ingredients.

To be honest I did not follow Mario's directions.  I dumped 2 cups of blueberries in the blender and added milk, a touch of agave syrup and flax seed oil.  It comes out much thicker like a smoothie you have to eat with a spoon but it is very healthy and delicious.  Since cow's milk gets such a bad rap next time I will try using coconut milk to be extra healthy.

I used aerosol whip cream for the stripes.  

   

Added a touch of blueberries to make it more festive.

   

My family does not like cream cheese so instead of using a cream cheese glaze they used Log Cabin syrup which does not contain high fructose syrup.  

Cream Cheese Glaze

4 oz softened cream cheese

1/4 cup softened butter (half a stick)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Drops of milk 

Combine all ingredients except milk in a bowl.  Using electric mixer beat until smooth.  Add milk until you get desired consistency.

Blueberry Ice Milk
1 cup frozen blueberries
4 cups cold milk
Thaw blueberries and puree in food processor. 
Strain out liquid from blueberry puree.
Divide the strained liquid among 4 glasses.  Top each glass with 1 cup of milk and stir. 

Recipe video link Blueberry Milk

This post was shared at

Beware of Castoreum

Yesterday while watching The Dr. Oz Show I was surprised to learn some very disturbing information from the segment "What's Hidden In Your Food?"  Guest Bruce Bradley revealed hidden ingredients that could be in our foods unbeknownst to us but allowed by the FDA. Bruce exposed that the FDA allows up to 20 maggots in a 3.5 oz of canned mushroom, fruit flies can be cooked into your tomato sauce, and raspberry-flavored hard candy contains castoreum which is juice from the anal glands of beavers.  Yes, you read that correctly.

The FDA allows this because by definition these are natural ingredients.

The term "natural" applies broadly to foods that are minimally processed and free of synthetic preservatives; artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors and other artificial additives; growth hormones; antibiotics; hydrogenated oils; stabilizers; and emulsifiers. Most foods labeled natural are not subject to government controls beyond the regulations and heath codes that apply to all foods.  http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06p0094/06p-0094-cp00001-05-Tab-04-Food-Marketing-Institute-vol1.pdf

Obviously, the FDA and I have different definitions of the word natural when it comes to food.  My point of view is just because an ingredient is not processed doesn't necessarily mean it's a natural food.

I can almost understand why there are maggots and fruit flies with the mushrooms and tomatoes because bugs  live in the garden.  I'm just wondering what genius said, "By jove! I got a great idea! Let's take the juice from the anal glands of beavers and put it in candy to enhance the flavor."

I got a better idea - how about actually putting raspberry in raspberry candy to enhance the flavor?
I also want to know where the manufacturers are getting the anal juice now that skinning beavers isn't common practice.

Yummy!  Contains natural ingredients from beaver anal glands.

Free Sample of SPORTea

Free Sample of SPORTea



I actually drink SPORTea for energy. It is a healthy alternative to sodas and coffee.  It does not contain chemicals and doesn't make me feel jittery or nauseated like some energy products.
Each box costs about $6 - 8.  It's actually not expensive because each box has 7 tea bags and each bag brews one quart of tea.  Brews 28 cups of tea total.
I suggest getting the free sample and see how it works for you.  

Never to Be Foiled Again

Last night as I was preparing tacos and talking to my husband I zealously pulled foil out of the box. The entire roll came flying out like a magic carpet unrolling onto the floor. Oops! It's because I don't have good hand-and-mouth coordination that this happened.  It was no big deal; hubby put the foil in the recycling bin and we ate dinner. But a little part of me still felt guilty about wasting money.

So this morning I was on Pinterest looking for nothing in particular but what should catch my eye is a pin on Reynold's Foil Wrap locking mechanism.  I was totally like "Duh!"  Then I had a flash back to a moment years ago when my husband pointed this out to me.  ("See honey, you do get justified.")  So I thought I would share this tidbit because it's just one of those things that we don't pay any attention to until we need it.  I think this discovery comes in a timely manner as Super Bowl weekend rolls around and many will be entertaining and possibly indulging in a few alcoholic beverages. They too might unroll the foil with a bit of gusto in all the excitement.

 

As long as I'm talking about foil I decided to look on Wikipedia to see which side of the foil to use: shiny or dull?  I once heard on TV that the shiny side has a coating that protects your food.  I always place a layer of parchment paper between the food and the foil  to prevent aluminum contamination.  As I was about to dig further into researching this I got sidetracked by this cute ladybug picture when I scrolled down.  The ladybug reminded me of a Martha Stewart painting tip even thought they have absolutely no correlation.  (Did I mention that I might have ADD?)  As soon as I finish writing this I'm going to dig the foil out of the recycling bin so I can save it for my next paint job.  I'm so glad I'm not wasting after all.

Back to the question of whether to use the shiny or dull side of foil.  I found a site Toxic Cookware that says to use the dull side of the foil.  Now I wonder who's correct.  The person on TV who said to use the shiny side or this website that says to use the dull side?  Can anyone help me with the answer to this question?

This tidbit was shared at:

Sweet Butter Cornbread Croutons

Sweet Butter Cornbread Croutons - need I say more?  What makes them even better is there is 0 trans fat. 

If you like cornbread than these croutons are definitely your bag, baby. Salads taste just so much better with these croutons. I can eat these croutons like chips and it's very hard to not pour the whole bag onto my salad. I think I'll try these with homemade chili next week. Yummy!

Candle Tips

Don't you hate the ugly, burnt-out candle wick bloom that flakes into your candle and the terrible smell after you blow out a candle? Here are 2 easy fixes to those problems.  

Easy fix to problem #1 came from Harry Slatkin when he was a guest on The Martha Stewart Show years ago. The images below are self explanatory. All it takes is a gentle swipe with a dry paper towel and voila you have a fresh, clean wick. Be careful not to break your wick.

The solution to problem # 2 is the Wick Dipper. It's a funny name for a very useful product. I took pics of the box to explain its use.  I picked this item up in a gift shop out of curiosity and when I saw its purpose I knew I had to buy it.  I think if you can't find this product that any long metal object will also do the job but it might not look as fancy.  I give the Wick Dipper two thumbs up. 

 

 

 

Lego Land Discovery Center

When I heard Lego Land Discovery Center had opened in Grapevine, TX I was very excited. My boys and I have always loved Legos and I thought it would be great fun. I assumed it would be a mini version of the Lego Land Park. Unfortunately, Disovery Center did not live up to my idea because it is more like a Chucke E. Cheese rather than an amusement park. And it is geared towards kids aproximately 9 yrs and under. Lots of play and brick building areas for young children and that's about it. There's one room that has buildings of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (pictures below). I assume that each Discovery Center will have buildings referencing the city that it is in. This room is actually pretty cool because we had a local connection to the landmarks.

Before we bought tickets we looked at the website. The online pictures and pop-up map are deceiving because it makes it look like a huge place when actually it is very small. To give you an idea of how small it is aproximately two Discovery Centers would easily fit in a Kohl's store. The site says Rides and Attractions but there is only one ride and it was a kiddie ride.

The ticket prices vary online but walk-up prices are $19 adult, $15 children.  I do not think Discovery Center is worth the price even if I had younger children. They are overcharging for adults because all they do is watch the kids. At least at Six Flags or water parks there is something for adults to enjoy.

In all fairness this is an excellent place for young children. They also have party areas and food available.

Furthermore if you're on the search for hard-to-find Legos you might find it in the store which is at the end of the center. 

Oh, and bring lots of sanitary wipes or gel because many grubby hands are touching all the bricks.

I forced my older son to go because the other child we invited couldn't come.

Cowboy Stadium

Tailgaters outside Cowboy Stadium

downtown Grapevine

various Dallas buildings

downtown Dallas

The one and only ride at Discovery Center.

Because it was a kiddie ride there is weight limitations and we had to ride separately.

3-D presentation

Ball Park in Arlington

Sponge Bob

The lighting in the room changed from day to night to show the lighting in the building and the fireworks.

downtown courthouse