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Troubled by the chemicals in beauty products, sixteen-year-old Moses Brown sophomore Ava Anderson developed the world’s first line of completely nontoxic skincare products. —Courtney Anderson
The following is an extended version of the interview in our February issue.
What’s the story behind your line?
In fall 2008, my mom saw a news story about a study done by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that tested twenty teens for major chemical categories that are commonly found in cosmetics. Every single one of the teens had every single one of those harmful chemicals in their blood stream. I compared those chemicals to my products to see if anything didn’t have these toxic ingredients and everything did. So I became determined to find safer products.
What makes beauty products so harmful?
Cosmetics and skincare products have been found to contain phthalates, which are known endocrine-disruptors with very bad long-term effects; parabens, which have been found in breast cancer tumors; PEGs; and neurotoxins. The average woman comes into contact with more than 250 chemicals every morning before she leaves the house. Skin is our largest organ and about 60 percent of everything you put on your skin goes straight to your blood stream.
So why not just go out and buy natural products?
I sought out the products that were labeled natural and organic, but once I really looked into them, some of them were just as or more toxic as my regular products. The FDA certifies food as organic, but there are no regulations to label personal care products natural or organic. Through a family friend we found a private label manufacturer and began working with them on a line.
Why aren’t personal care products regulated?
It would be extremely expensive for the FDA to tell big companies to change their all of their product formulations. And currently there’s a big FDA loophole, where the ingredient labeled “fragrance” has nothing to do with the meaning of the word but may be hiding up to 600 other ingredients. So even if you can analyze all of the ingredients that they are listing, and they are all fours, fives, and sixes and the overall score is a five, if it has that fragrance, the true nature of the product could be a ten, but you have no way of figuring it out because they don’t have to reveal what’s hidden in that word fragrance.
What makes your line nontoxic?
Well it’s not completely chemical free, as people may think. There’s an online cosmetics database put together by the EWG. They use a scale that rates skin care products from zero to ten. Ten is extremely toxic and zero has no health implications. This is the first full line in the world that rates all zeros.
Did you know initially that you wanted to do a completely nontoxic line?
Going into it, I didn’t have the idea that I wanted it to be totally nontoxic. I just wanted it to be way less toxic than most companies. But after we created the first formulations, I researched the ingredients, and one of them was lavender oil, which can cause skin irritation at very low doses. That was when I realized that I wanted everything to totally nontoxic.
Are the products sold in stores?
No. They’re sold directly through consultants. We had more than 400 people across the country sign up to sell them before the website launched. We went this route because if you go into a drugstore right now you’ll see many products that are labeled natural and organic and many people already use what they consider to be natural products. So having my line on a shelf wasn’t really going to get the message across the way consultants explaining it at home parties would.
What products are in your line?
Right now it’s a six-piece skincare line with a cleanser, toner, moisturizer, exfoliator, lip scrub and eye makeup remover. Our next thing is going to be makeup, then a baby line, a men’s line, a bath and body line, and maybe even home cleaning products.
Find out more about Ava Anderson products at www.avaandersonnontoxic.com.
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Reader Comments:
This is an incredible skin care line. I have been using the products and love them and have had friends comment on how good my skin looks. It is very exciting to be using products that are completely safe and that produce such amazing results. They smell incredible too!!
Thank you Ava for having the vision to make these amazing products. I've been using them for about 6 weeks and I LOVE them all!!
This is also an amazing business opportunity. I've been able to share this message with so many people and they are absolutely shocked to find out what is in their current products. You are truly changing lives!
Thank you!!!
www.AvaAndersonNonToxic.com/LyndsiandCoreyOBrien
Ava,
You are doing a great job of educating the public about the toxics of the beauty products. The awareness itself is a big job and then you are offering a;ternatives. Keep up the good job.
Vibha
I love this skin care line! It is so nice to know that I am not using products with dangerous chemicals in them!
When I first read about the toxins in products and went online to www.cosmeticsdatabase.com it was very challenging to find something safe, and a company that is a signer of the "Campaign for Safe Cosmetics". When I found Ava I was so happy to see that the company was disclosing all ingredients, that they were all zero's and did not test on animals!
This is an amazing business opportunity because we get to spread this important information to others!
Thank you so much Ava!!
www.AvaAndersonNonToxic.com/LyndsiandCoreyOBrien
I have a 14 year old daughter who like most 14 year olds is critical of everything especially what she puts on her skin. I had her try the Ava Anderson skin care products and she loved them especially the sugar lip scrub. From the mouth of babes this was the only validation I needed. We are excited about the non toxic nature of the products and we look forward to using more of these great products in the future.
J.
Great products ! After attending a non-toxic party I used the database and found all the products I used on my children were 6's and up-moderate toxicity. Thank you Ava for making products that will keep my family healthy for generations to come. I encourage everyone to find a consultant and attend a party because you need to hear what they have to say!!!!
I want to thank you, Ava Anderson, for bringing this issue to light. I have tried to make healthy choices in the food we eat -
We don't drink diet soda and have stayed clear of sweet and low...
However I was surprised to learn about the hazards in personal care products. Just never thought about the personal care products before you really brought it to light.
The nice thing is your products feel great and work! Thanks for the safe solution.
After working out for over 20 years, making consciencious decisions about the hormones/antibiotics in my foods that I bring home to my children and careful attention to chemicals in many other respects I was not as knowledgeable about my personal care products.
Sabottage, is something Ava taught me at 45 that I have been buying into for products I bath, wash and lather my children in and I was shocked!
I brought my 8 and 6 year old to a presentation meeting and they both have parroted about the toxins and pointed out to teachers about hand creams etc. It's amazing and truly the most important campaign the Anderson family has committed themselves to.
Inspiring, healing and preventive are all words that come to mind. "Trade Secrets" = Dirty and toxic!
I have always said knowledge is power and power is knowledge (okay, maybe that was a play on Albert's words - HA!). Take a moment and look up your products, and then look at an affordable alternative.
Walk with us and teach others to make better choices. Thank you!
Thank you for this article about a terrific teen. I was moved by Ava to go look at what is in my family's products. I was shocked. I encourage you to do the same. Make sure you click on the product to see the 0-10 score and disease implications of your product, not just the overall score. Imagine how surprised I was to see my son's AXE has propane and more than a handful of carcinogens and neurotoxins. My face cream, and many other products we used have methylparabens... that are BANNED in cosmetics. Soaps, especially anti-bacterial soaps are shocking on the neurotoxic scale. HOW can all of this be allowed? I never knew it was truly a case of buyer beware. I am a fan of Ava's FB page and get really good articles regularly about all of this and other environmental toxin information to learn more. I will never buy these products again. Thank you for this Ava! Good luck. We are grateful for your work.
Ava's products are amazing. I have large pores with black heads and it has helped my skin so much since I started using the products. I love that is "0" toxin's. I found Ava's products when I was searching for products for my son that is on a Gluten and Casein free diet for his Asperger's. I was doing research online and just happen to come across the Ava Anderson Non-Toxic products. I feel in love with Ava's story and how all the products are "0" Toxins. I became a consultant to share this amazing company with everyone I meet.
Karen Watts