Enviro Eco Culture Day Spa

Enviro Eco Culture sponsors a Day Spa to raise consciousness about the many toxins in the beauty products we use for our hair, skin, and nails. These toxins contribute to a lowered immune system, which create an environment susceptible to cancer and other debilitating illnesses. You can change your health by changing your buying habits.
Enviro Eco Culture hosts day spas to educate about which ingredients and practices are harmful to your body. We want to create a demand for green beauty products and spas.
Enviro Eco Culture will be hosting day spas on the second Saturday of each month from May through October. We will have the following educational outreach services.
1. Green manicures and pedicures: We will buff the nail to a shiny, smooth surface. We will not use carcinogenic polish remover, polish, nail dryers, acrylics, and toxic lotions, ect.. The hands will be messaged, cuticles cut, (if desired) , nails filed to your preference. The pedicures are the same but with a longer massage on the feet. Custom made oils with essential oils for each client from Mandism Skin Food.
2. Massage therapist is on staff with custom made oils for each client from Mandism Skin Food.
3. Hydrotherapy pool: A resistance pool at 104 degrees to help eliminate toxins from the body and provide a cardiovascular exercise along with a deep stretch.
4. Vegetable juices and Iced herbal teas with fresh mint and other herbs, will be served throughout the day.

The big issue lies at the tips of fingers and toes. Many nail polishes and removers contain formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and toluene, which are considered a carcinogen, meaning that it causes cancerous cell growth. What do those words mean? Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) is a plasticizer to prevent chips and cracks. DBP is an oily liquid that is soluble in fat and slightly soluble in water. It is not very volatile so it does not evaporate readily into the atmosphere. Over 75% of DBP is used as a plasticizer in polymers such as PVC, 14% is used in adhesives, 7% in printing inks and 3% in other miscellaneous uses, including sealants and grouting agents used in construction as well as consumer products such as cosmetics (http://www.greenfacts.org/glossary/def/DBP-dibutyl-phthalate.htm). Formaldehyde does not exist in nail polish. It is used in some nail hardeners but not in the actual polish. A resin, tosylamide/formaldehyde resin, makes the polish tough and resilient. While the resin is manufactured from formaldehyde, once the product becomes a resin, the formaldehyde is chemically changed and essentially no longer present. So while formaldehyde is grouped in with toluene and DBP, it isn’t actually an issue unless you have a reaction to the formaldehyde resin. This means that formaldehyde is not apart of the polish but apart of the treatment products used. Toluene (methylbenzene, Toulon, phenyl methane) is a solvent that makes the polish easy to apply. It is an aromatic hydrocarbon commonly used as an industrial solvent for the manufacturing of paints, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and rubber. Toluene is found in gasoline, acrylic paints, varnishes, lacquers, paint thinners, adhesives, glues, rubber cement, airplane glue, and shoe polish. At room temperature, toluene is a colorless, sweet smelling, volatile liquid (http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic594.htm)(http://www.alllacqueredup.com/2007/05/big-3-chemicals-that-is.html).
One nail polish brand popular with teens and used widely in nail salons, OPI Products uses multiple ingredients known or suspected to cause cancer or birth defects, including formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). The Skin Deep report rated the brand as being of “higher concern,” scoring 5.0 on the report’s safety scale, with 0 being of lowest concern and 5 being of highest concern (http://www.breastcancerfund.org/site/pp.asp?c=kwKXLdPaE&b=1264315).

Most people don't know that these dangerous chemicals are in the nail polish that is used everyday. At the EEC Green Spa, we are free of the chemicals found in many of the polishes and removers. we pride ourselves on all natural ingredients made locally. There is also no paints or solvents being used in our spa. If you have questions about reserving your very own Spa Day or would like to get to be a member of our Spa team then please give us a call 502.459.7755 or email us.

Common toxins found in some beauty products:

1. Fragrance – This blanket term can be made up of thousands of chemicals. Many of them being toxic, cancer causing and come with a long list of side effects ranging from asthma to skin discoloration. Phthalates, another chemical, is commonly used with fragrances to make them last longer. They are linked to birth defects and are considered a reproductive toxin.
2. Propylene Glycol & Butylene Glycol – Also found in windshield wiper fluid. The EPA considers them so toxic they say that skin contact or inhalation can cause brain, liver and kidney abnormalities. In some personal care products, these chemicals are used in very high, industrial strength concentrations.
3. DEA, MEA & TEA – Used in shampoos and bubble baths. They are hormone disrupting and form cancer causing nitrates. Restricted in Europe yet legal in the USA. Increases risk for liver and kidney cancer.
4. SLS & SLES (Sodium Lauryl & Laureth Sulfate) - Strong detergents and degreaser that are found in over 90% of foaming personal care products. Animal studies show eye damage (especially to young), immune system damage and death. can create nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic. Can be retained in the organs.
5. DMDM & Urea – A preservative that releases formaldehyde which causes allergies, chest pain, fatigue, ear infections, immune dysfunction, asthma, heart palpitations, cancer and more!
6. Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) – Petroleum ingredient that is carcinogenic and dehydrates your skin. Increases signs of skin aging and leaves your skin vulnerable to bacteria and disease.
7. Parabens – They are many forms of parabens used as preservatives. Avoid them all! They are strong hormone disruptors and have been directly linked to breast cancer and heart problems.
8. FD & C Color – Synthetic pigments from coal that deposit toxins into the skin. Some colors can even deplete oxygen in the body and cause death. Animal studies have shown almost all of them to be cancer causing.
9. Mineral oil (Petroleum by- product) – Coats the skin like plastic wrap, clogging pores, causing acne and trapping toxins.
10. Isopropyl alcohol- (Petroleum by- product) - Dries and irritates the skin, stripping its moisture and immune barrier.