What does that mean? It is left to us to figure out what we want to use and whether we believe the products are safe for our kids. You may use the EWG’s Cosmetic Safety Database Skin Deep to check out ingredients. Or you may rely on recommendations from other moms. But recommendations may not be the best gauge of a product’s safety - what you think is okay may not be okay to the next mom and vice versa.

I think that issue – what is okay with one is not okay with another mom – came up during a Twitter last week, the #washthemgrow Twitter party. During the party, questions were raised regarding one ingredient – methylisothiazolinone. Jessica Gottlieb tweeted that is was banned in Canada, yet Suave Kids products included it. Methylisothiazolinone is an antimicrobial agent used in shampoos and other bath products in the US. Animal studies have linked exposure to methylisothiazolinone (“MIT”) to stunted development. In other words, chronic exposure to MIT may negatively impact neurodevelopment. Its use is restricted in cosmetics in Canada, although not completely banned. So some moms try to avoid it, while other moms may think it is okay.

The party hosts didn’t seem prepared to respond to questions on ingredients. (And I think that is a lesson learned for all Twitter parties – you must know your subject well. And be prepared for all issues. Can anybody say Nestle fiasco??) With respect to the concerns expressed over the ingredient methylisothiazolinone, Maria Bailey posted Suave’s response on her blog after the party had concluded.

But to be honest, MIT is only one problemmatic ingredient in the Suave Kids products. The Suave Kids Body Wash (the focus of the Suave Kids Wash Them Grow campaign) is supposed to make “bath time a more fun experience with [Suave's] gentle and tear-free formulas . . . ” But the body wash is far from gentle. And I have to say I get a little annoyed at the sheer number of primarily mom blogs simply repeating the Suave media kit information. The blog posts almost universally say that the Suave Kids products are safe, gentle and non irritating. But none of them talk about WHAT IS IN THE BLOODY STUFF, including all the ingredients that are known irritants and/or allergens. Or that many of the products have high scores in the Skin Deep database.

Okay, I get it – people want to win the prizes being offered in the Wash Them Grow Campaign. They are great prizes. Plus, the campaign encourages bloggers to post about the product because the one that drives to most traffic to the sweepstakes will win a year’s supply of the product plus a $100 gift certificate to Build-a-Bear and can give the same prize to 10 of her readers.

But you would think that it would be responsible to at least vet the company claims before repeating them. Or at least read the ingredients. For example, this post suggests that the Free and Gentle body wash is free of perfumes and dyes. Yeah, right. The Free and Gentle body wash contains fragrance. Just look at the last ingredient.

And I fully understand that my issues on what is in the products we use may not concern other people. And I fully understand that there are a lot of more significant issues in the world. Just in the field of children’s environmental health, radon and lead in paint are much more significant issues.

Nevertheless, let’s look at what is in the Suave Kids Free and Gentle Body Wash. The claim: “clinically proven to be mild. The lightly fragranced formula is hypoallergenic so you don’t have to worry about irritating your child’s skin.”

The ingredients:

Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Polyquaternium-10, PEG-150 Distearate, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Etidronic Acid, DMDM Hydantoin, Methylisothiazolinone, Fragrance

So, the second ingredient, sodium laureth sulfate, is an ethoxylated compound. What that means is basically ethylene oxide is added to sodium lauryl sulfate to make it sodium laureth sulfate (“SLES”). The carcinogen 1,4 dioxane is a by-product of the ethoxylation process, and ends up in the body wash as a contaminant, so it doesn’t appear on the ingredient list. If you want to learn more about carinogens in kid shampoos and body washes, read my post on the Toxic Tub report. SLES can also cause eye and skin irritation, which makes the claim that this product is mild odd, and it is inconsistent with the “hypoallergenic” claim as well.

The third ingredient, cocamidopropyl betaine can cause allergic reactions. Cocamidopropyl betaine can also be contaminated with nitrosamines. The fourth ingredient, cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine, may cause immune system toxicity. 

Other ingredients are also of concern. Polyquaternium-10 is a formaldehyde donor, and may result in the release of the carcinogen formaldehyde. PEG-150 Distearate is ethoxylated, meaning that the carcinogen 1,4 dioxane may be present. Tetrasodium EDTA is a salt of EDTA. EDTA is synethesized from ehtylenediamine, formaldehyde and sodium cyanide. EDTA is a peristent organic pollutant. Tetrasodium EDTA is linked to cancer and organ system toxicity. Of concern in cosmetic formulations is that Tetrasodium EDTA enhances the penetration of other ingredients.

DMDM Hydantoin is a human skin toxicant according to a CIR assessment. Also, it is an irritant. Finally, it also is a formaldehyde donor.

Finally, the all inclusive ingredient fragrance. The one that manufacturers don’t have to provide the actual ingredients in the fragrance because of trade secrets. So, we really can’t tell what synthetic chemicals make up the fragrance for this product. But what we can make an educated guess is that the fragrance contains numerous volatile organic compounds and also hormone disrupting phthalates. Phthalates are used to sustain fragrance in beauty products.

Okay so would you recommend this product? I don’t think I would – there are so many better options on the market. However, in the scheme of things, I think wash off products are less of a concern than leave on products such as lotions and diaper cream. So, switch your lotions, diaper cream and any other leave on products first, and then tackle body washes and shampoos. However, if your child takes a bath every night and hangs out in the bath, then you may be more concerned, especially since heat increases volatilization of the volatile ingredients.

Then, on top of that, you have Halloween makeup, which is frequently done as inexpensively as possible by companies that don’t really care about bad reactions because the products aren’t on the market long enough. So you  find not only hormone disrupting phthalates and carcinogenic compounds found in regular makeup but also often heavy metals such as lead and more.

So what’s a green mama to do to make her goblins, ghosts and witches eek-o-scary? Homemade, non toxic Halloween makeup of course!

EDIBLE GOOP (Wounds, Warts, and More)

My favorite homemade Halloween recipe is for “edible” goop. And while I describe this as edible you can eat it but it doesn’t taste all that great.

You can use edible goop to make scars, warts, wounds, etc.

To 1 oz. gelatin (not Jello, but plain, unflavored old-fashioned gelatin, usu. located right next to the Jello), add 2 tablespoons boiling water and stir, let sit for 3 minutes. As you stir, the gelatin will dissolve.

The picture shows the dissolved gelatin after sitting a bit.

Smart Mama Tip: The gelatin doesn’t smell all that great, so you can add 2 to 4 drops of an essential oil if your child doesn’t like the smell. Sweet orange essential oil is a good one to add. If you do add an essential oil, make sure it is suitable for skin contact.

Then pour mixture onto natural waxed paper or other surface. You need to shape the gelatin to make what you want – a wart, a scar, whatever. You need to work fairly quickly, particularly if you are going to mix in some color. The picture on the right is what the gelatin looks like when poured on natural waxed paper.

Add in what you need to create the effect that you want. If you want a wound, add some red coloring. If you want the wound to look old, consider adding some chocolate syrup. If you want a witch’s wart, add some green coloring and perhaps some hair (some bristles from a brush perhaps?). For a ghoulish effect, add cornstarch or flour. For a swamp thing, perhaps dill weed or tarragon. For dead skin, add oatmeal. Get creative! For the leech looking effect below, I added some instant coffee crystals and some brown coloring from water added to coffee crystals.

Let your creation cool and gently peel off the waxed paper.

Once dry, adhere using corn syrup – you just need to let the corn syrup dry.

You can scale up the batches as needed. These look best made the same day that you are going to wear them – they dry out and shrink a bit.

For cleanup of your bowl, just peel the gelatin out – it will all stick together. If some gets stuck, just use hot water to dissolve it a bit to get the dish clean.

HOMEMADE FACE PAINT

Homemade face paint is hard, I think. With pantry staples, I haven’t hit upon a successful recipe to give the same consistency as store bought face paint.

But, with homemade, you know what is in the stuff! No heavy metals, for one thing.

So, the usual recipe for “edible” face paint is 10 tsp cornstarch, 2 tsp white flour, 5 tsp vegetable shortening and 1/4 tsp vegetable glycerin. Mash together with a fork until the mixture balls up. Once this is mixed together, you can add a bit more glycerin as needed. This will make a white base. Separate into different white blobs and add the necessary color. I’ve made a tan (for a lion or cat) using some water collected from coffee crystals. This mixture is relatively “pasty” and will not give you clean lines, but it works. It is edible, although it isn’t very tasty.

Another option is to add basically equally parts lotion and cornstarch. For this recipe, I’ve used 1 tblsp Harley James baby lotion and 1 tblsp cornstarch. (I bought some of the Harley James to try but I still like my Earth Mama Angel Baby.)  The trick to this one is to have a lotion that you like to start – one that gets a 0 or a 1 over at Skin Deep’s cosmetic safety database. The white made with lotion will still be a little translucent, but if you make colors, it will give you cleaner lines, particularly if you use a comsetic brush to paint. Again, I’ve made a tan using water from water added to a few coffee crystals.

Another recipe is 3 tblsp cornstarch, 1 tblsp flour, 1/4 cup water and 3/4 cup corn syrup (light). The corn syrup makes this sweet, so it may be too attractive for little ones. To make this, add the cornstarch adn flour in a bowl. Stir in the corn syrup and water until smooth. Once it is mixed together, divide as needed and add colors.

FAKE BLOOD

For fake blood, use light corn syrup, a dash of castile liquid soap (to make clean easier), and red coloring. Easiest to use is red food color. If you want darker blood or more realistic blood, add a dash of blue or some chocolate syrup.

FAIRY GLITTER

Use aloe vera gel (you can get at almost any natural food store), and mix in some fine glitter. This should be kept away from the eyes. Alternatively, if you have some mineral makeup that you trust, you can use it as well.