Customer Reviews

Dying to Look Good : The Disturbing Truth About What's Really in Your Cosmetics, Toiletries and Personal Care Products

5 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book because I wanted to learn more about the good, bad and ugly sides of cosmetic ingredients.

Here are the reasons why I like this book:
-A list of cosmetic ingredients
-A good product classification ranking

Here are the reasons why I don't like this book:
-Overpriced; it actual value should be no more than $3.95
-Lacked serious substance
-Inaccurate recommendation

I found the Ecco Bella and Logona mascaras that she highly recommended turned out to be just as dangerous as I cross-referenced the ingredients using her book; if the iron oxide in the Ecco Bella & Logona mascara can cause skin and eye irritant, lung irritant if inhaled, I would not recommend if I were her.

There are two much better written books out there that I strongly recommend: the Safe Shopper's Bible by Steinman & Epstein and the Home Safe Home by Debra Lynn Dadd. Don't waste your money purchasing Ms. Farlow's book, it is almost a duplicate version of the Safe Shopper's Bible.

This book, DYING TO LOOK GOOD, is truly a life saver. It gets right to the point, without a lot of unnecessary verbiage. The title tells it all. Our cosmetics (like a lot of other modern day products) are killing us--slowly, but surely. Unless we individually take responsibility and clean up our own corner of Mother Earth, we will need to pay the consequences of our own poor choices. Those consequences can only be a decrease in our quality of life.

I was quite surprised by the review written by "A reader from Colorado." She said "The biggest misleading part is that there is no word about the CIR being an industry agent of the CTFA, . . . This is clearly not true, as on page 14 of DYING TO LOOK GOOD, it very plainly states that The Cosmetic Ingredients Review (CIR) was established in 1976 by the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CTFA). I felt that the reader's other issues were equally ill founded.

I personally like this book a lot. Five stars worth! This book fills a need in my life. I now have a compact reference to take with me when I shop for cosmetics which gives objective information about numerous ingredients. It not only tells me what the FDA and CIR say about their safety, but more importantly, gives an independent evaluation of safety, revealing that many ingredients which the FDA and CIR say are safe are in fact really harmful--or at least questionable.

This book is not something you pick up to while away an afternoon. It is a useful reference to be carried with you to help you make wise choices.

At age 54, I finally decided to take care of what I put in my body, so I thought, "Why not what I put ON IT, too?" I purchased Dr Farlow's book with that in mind. I am shocked and appalled at what our government is allowing the cosmetic's industry to put in our make-up and other sundrie items.This may be a small book, but it is gigantic in the info it provides. I plan on taking it with me every time I shop for make-up, and to purchase the products that received good marks.This is a must have book, especially for those individuals with skin problems that might have never known what is causing those conditions.

I found this book to be very useful. I've always wondered about the ingredients on the labels of cosmetics and personal care products, but I never knew where to look to find out what they meant and if they were safe. It's really helped me to shop for safer products for my family and myself. I've had sensitive skin all my life, but it's especially important for me to know what's in the products I buy now because I have two small children who inherited my sensitive skin. I want to be sure that what I'm putting on them is safe and not harming them. This book helps me do that!

After a cancer scare, I purchased Dr. Farlow's Book, "Food Additives: A Shopper's Guide to What's Safe & What's Not". While striving to adopt a healthier lifestyle through proper nutrition, this proved an invaluable pocket reference. When her recent book came out, I purchased it looking once again to receive additional guidance from a trusted friend. I was NOT disappointed. Although I am now very aware of the harmful effects of food additives, I never thought that everyday items such as soap, shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste could be adversely affecting my body as well. As with Dr. Farlow's first book, I really appreciate how easy this book is to carry with me and use as I shop. Now I can be sure the products I buy are safe products for me to use. Thank you Dr. Farlow. Keep up the great work!

I found the book incomplete. The title is misleading, as it is nothing but a dictionary of ingredients, and not "The Disturbing Truth". The dictionary definitions are incomplete and in some cases misleading. The biggest misleading part is that there is no word about the CIR being an industry agent of the CTFA, and nearly everything they say is suspect since they do not have to submit any test results to the FDA or anyone else. I am disappointed because I thought I'd read some "disturbing truth", and what I read were incomplete definitions of some ingredients in products. There isn't anything wrong with it but since it does mislead about the safety of ingredients (saying for some ingredients that "the CIR says this is safe" without showing the other research that says that it ISN'T safe) I wouldn't use it myself to check ingredients. Certainly Ruth Winter's A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients does mention when the CIR panel says something is "safe" but she also explains about the CIR panel and that it is difficult at best to trust their word. Her definitions are also considerably more complete.

In order for people today to protect themselves from harmful ingredients, even walking through a so-called "Natural Foods" or health foods store is not enough.

"Mrs. Gooch's," in Los Angeles, was created by a woman who nearly died. Yes, Sandy Gooch, was fortunate to have a chemist-father, as the story goes, who discovered she was literally dying from the chemicals in a popular soda that many people drink. Often this soda is even recommended to assist with "upset stomach!" Such products are so commonplace and present similar dangers to ANYONE who, unthinkingly, just drinks/eats/wears what is out there because it is convenient, handy or close by.

After Mrs. Sandy Gooch's nearly lethal health challenge was reversed, she decided to create "Mrs. Gooch's" as a way to protect the consumer. It was possible to walk through the store and NOT read the ingredients, because so much care had gone in to protecting consumers. But when "Mrs. Gooch's" Stores were acquired, products began appearing on the shelves with ingredients that indicated it was NO LONGER POSSIBLE TO FEEL SAFE. Yes, products appeared that contained ingredients known to be harmful. Some naturopathic doctors even recommend that all so-called "healthy" oils, for example, are not so healthy and that it may be preferred to concentrate on specific oils that are better or healthier for us.

The point is that NO ONE IS SAFE, even in health food stores. It does not matter, it seems, where you shop. Even ingredients/products promoted as "healthy" or "safe" may not be so, may even contain allergens for some, and that is where your hard, dedicated work to protect consumers comes in:

· FOOD ADDITIVES: A Shopper's Guide To What's Safe & What's Not

· HEALTHY EATING: For Extremely Busy People Who Don't Have Time For It

· DYING TO LOOK GOOD: The Disturbing Truth About What's Really in Your Cosmetics, Toiletries and Personal Care Products

The three books you offer have become ESSENTIAL companions to shoppers everywhere. If people want to make informed decisions, they have to rely on experts like yourself who are trustworthy and who do enough investigating to produce recommendations that will, in fact, protect us from all the many dangers that lurk out there.

As we go about our daily lives, oftentimes NOT thinking about what's good to eat, what's good to clean with, what's good to use as cosmetics, toiletries and personal care products, we may even be using so-called "healthy" products with ingredients touted to be safe and found in health food stores that may, in fact, NOT be so healthy after all. So often, for example, it is possible to come across products that contain ingredients like chemical preservatives with the justification for their inclusion: "They protect against the buildup of harmful yeast" or "They are in very small quantities, so are not harmful," etc. What such products/ingredients contain are POTENTIALLY LETHAL INGREDIENTS TO WHICH ANYONE CAN HAVE AN ACUTE ALLERGIC REACTION OR DEVELOP A LONG-TERM SUBTLE DISEASE WHICH CAN, EVENTUALLY, BECOME LETHAL.

Do consumers want to protect themselves and those they care about? What information is it possible to rely upon? Do we want to walk through product aisles and "hope for the best?" Or, to we want to read books you offer that are so easy, simple and well-researched that, finally, we have a way to protect our best interests?

Yes, your books offer us the safety and reassurance that it is possible to walk through the aisles as protected consumers!

If we care enough about our families and friends and business associates - anyone with whom we may share foods/products with, then it becomes our responsibility to walk through the aisles of any store armed with the protection offered from the many, many hours and years of research to which you have dedicated your career.

Yes it may take some effort and education to protect us, but your books make it so much easier. What is needed now is a way to walk into ANY supermarket, even "natural" foods/products and "health" stores, so that informed decisions can be made. With your books, is possible to choose products that - despite some information being shared to suggest that the products/foods are okay - will protect us in the long run.

It is so true that "You are what you eat."

It is also true that the skin is the largest organ of the body and literally absorbs whatever is placed onto the surface.

Thus the stomach (eat) and the skin (body surface) both are conveyors of whatever ingredients placed onto or inside of our bodies. Even the water we wash with is not something we think about, but it is possible to install filters/showers that will protect our bodies totally immersed by water every time we bathe!

Your books will protect any consumer who does not want to risk the ill health challenges and the eventual dangers that can lead to grave disease(s) and even death!

It is hard to think of anything more important! Do we want to live symptom-free? Do we want to avoid illness? Do we want to "Improve Health Maintenance?"

Everyone touts education as a "ticket to success." Dr. Christine Farlow's books are the TICKET TO SAFETY in living!

Respectfully,

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