Electric cars have come into the spotlight as an alternative, "green" technology that makes a shift away from utilising oil as an energy source. Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) have been touted as an environmental advancement over its gasoline fueled counterparts.

Companies like Tesla have seen its stock price rise exponentially ever since the Google founders had invested in the fledgling company in 2009, although the Google founders also recently sold $4.4 billion worth of shares in 2015.

The hype of Tesla has been furthered in the media by its charming, eccentric, soft-spoken founder, Elon Musk, whom it is most likely, half of the global Venture Capital community has a mancrush on.
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Elon Musk, the charming, soft spoken, alpha male Tesla head chief who is an object of admiration by young men and venture capitalists alike.

However, some serious things have to come into focus aside from the hype, and the primary reasons why battery powered electric cars are actually worse for the environment than gasoline cars have been carefully swept under the rug by the mainstream media.

Although battery-electric vehicles have been touted as a zero-emission car, it is actually powered by fossil fuels, either natural gas or shale gas, as that is where the electricity is ultimately derived from. Currently, America is in an energy transitory state, adopting the widespread use of shale gas to meet its energy demand. Shale gas is the gas that is derived from a hazardous environmental practice called hydraulic fracturing otherwise known as fracking - which is the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks and into the ground so as to force open the existing fissures and extract oil and gas. This widespread phenomenon in America has lead to massive protests by residents whose health have been compromised by fracking in their neighbourhoods. U.K. residents have followed in protest after the Conservative Party's announcement of tax breaks for fracking in the U.K.

As a bit of background, in 2012, lawmakers, such as former Chancellor George Osborne was under pressure to quickly cut the national deficit and integrated a lot of the generous tax breaks to bring companies into the U.K. for fracking; however, this was before Toyota would give away all its hydrogen fuel cell technology patents in 2015 which would lead to the revolutionary development of U.K. companies to utilise this green energy technology, not only for cars but to power houses, electronic devices and possibly entire cities. There is no more reason for lawmakers and the Conservative Party to continue to support the fracking industry when there is a much better alternative that does not endanger the future of Britain's population.
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U.K. residents protest against fracking of their neighbourhoods as the Conservative Party announced tax breaks for corporations that want to frack for shale gas.

Fracking leads to methane gas and toxic chemicals to leach out from the well and contaminate nearby groundwater and soil - which is then utilised for drinking water in local communities. Over 1000 documented cases of water contamination have been reported which have caused sensory, respiratory and neurological damage due to contaminated water. The Environmental Protection Agency reported 457 spills related to fracking in 11 states between 2006 and 2012. In 324 of those cases, the EPA said spills reached soil, surface water or ground water.
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Germany, France, Scotland and Bulgaria have banned the fracking for shale gas in their nations.

These environmental hazards have lead the former President Nicolas Sarkozy of France put a permanent ban on fracking in France, following the lead of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who put a ban on fracking in Germany in 2012, whereas American and U.K. legislators have been short-sighted in supporting these industries in a short term bid for cheap energy and have ignored these long-term hazards and potential effects for a quick profit and reduction in the national deficit.
In the Conservative Manifesto, Prime Minster Theresa May says:

The discovery and extraction of shale gas in the United States has been a revolution. Gas prices have fallen, driving growth in the American economy and pushing down prices for consumers. The US has become less reliant on imported foreign energy and is more secure as a result. We believe shale energy has the potential to do the same thing in Britain and could play a crucial role in rebalancing our economy...We will therefore develop the shale industry in Britain.

In fact, this statement is inaccurate. Shale gas has not balanced the American economy, nor has it stopped the American economy from steadily declining due to its numerous foreign interventions, lack of social programmes and its continual rising deficit and inflation of the dollar. The extraction of shale gas from fracking has been a short-sighted attempt to make a quick buck for shale gas companies at the price of long-term environmental hazards that have been slowly poisoning its communities and has lead to increased instability in the earth - leading to numerous documented earthquakes and could lead to a future in which uranium poisoning in our food and water sources could become a dangerous reality.
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The size of UK (in red) vs. the USA (blue outline). Scientists and researchers have determined that fracking in the U.K. could have more dangerous consequences than in the US due to its smaller geographic region.

America is a widespread land - 9.835 million km2 in comparison to Great Britain's 242,495 km2, over 40x the size of the U.K. What the effect of fracking will have on such a smaller land size as the U.K. will not lead to a stronger, prosperous, more stable Britain - but the fracturing of land, poisoning of its people, and ultimately instability in the land, potentially leading to massive disruptions in the natural ecosystem, in addition to potential radiation poisoning from uranium, a key component in fracking. These are long-term effects that will have consequence in 20-40 years time if fracking is to continue to England. However, the companies and the politicians that are profiting from this short-term bid for cheap energy won't be around then to see the damage they have caused. Perhaps the politicians who are still continuing to support fracking in the United States and Great Britain will have comfortably retired in the South of France, where fracking is outlawed.

In the near future, the greatest and most expensive resources will be clean air and water, and these are what the people of the U.K. will be deprived of if we were to follow the Conservative Party Manifesto to support the fracking industries.
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Britain's beautiful countrysides could be a thing of the past if fracking were to continue in the U.K.

Moreover, shale gas is not "cleaner" than coal according to scientists and researchers, it has more insidious, toxic effects that will seep underground, as chemicals, such as uranium among hundreds of others, leak through the earth, poisoning the food and water supply, and wreaking havoc on the natural stability of the land - causing earthquakes and possibly destroying all the beautiful countrysides of England that the U.K. is known for.

But the quest to find a power source for Britain to become self-sufficient has been an elusive one, but the solutions are currently already being implemented and developed at universities such as Imperial College, UCL and also U.K. startups such as Arcola Energy and Intelligent Energy.
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Arcola Energy utilises hydrogen and fuel cell solutions to the energy demand that bypasses the need to be dependent on fossil fuels, as Tesla's battery electric vehicles are dependent on electricity generated from gas.
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Arcola Energy collaborated with Imperial College to launch zero-emissions fuel cell transport buses in 2015.

Hydrogen fuel cells work by combining hydrogen and oxygen through cathodes in a reaction which generates electricity in which the only byproduct is water. Fuel cells produce an electric current that can be directed outside the cell to power an electric motor, mobile phones, illuminating a light bulb or an entire city.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars utilise nickel-metal-hydride batteries (NiMH) that have no byproducts of lead, cadium, mercury nor sulfuric acid. Hydrogen fuel cells are authentic green energy that do not require the dangerous procedures in fracking, and does not emit harmful greenhouse gases as coal and shale gas nor utilise corrosive electric batteries produced from lead acid or battery acid.
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Hydrogen fuel cell powered iPhone6 delivers an entire week of battery life - developed by British startup Intelligent Energy.
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Hydrogen fuel cells cars are electric vehicles that do not utilise corrosive batteries. Batteries produced from lead acid, cadmium or mercury are highly toxic and have environmental hazards as battery acids from these release toxic substances. Tesla utilises electric batteries made from lead-acid which releases sulfuric acid as a byproduct. Recently, Tesla recalled all of its vehicles sold in 2016: 53,000 model S and model x electric battery cars over a "faulty parking brake," however reports point to a problem with their electric battery.
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In addition, there is another rising, wayward problem with lead-acid electric batteries aside from the logistics of electric power: in the U.K., there has been an alarming rise of attacks using sulfuric acid by gang members in which "acid attacks" have grown 250% in the last year alone that deem attention.
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Victim of acid attack in London. Acid attacks are on a dangerous rise in the U.K. by young British white men in gangs due to the ease in which they can attain the corrosive acids and a lack of legislation making these acts less punishable than attempted murder.
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In India, where acid attacks are the most common, the perpetrators are men who have been spurned by women and use these acid attacks to disfigure and shame women. In Britain, the majority of acid attacks are carried out by British while males against other British white males in gang warfare because many of these cases do not reach the court; and unlike guns and knife attacks, acid attacks do not have heavy legislation behind them, making these attacks have less consequences than attempted murder.
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Lead acid car batteries. Sulfuric acid can be easily extracted from these discarded batteries and have become a new source of terrorism utilised by gang warfare amongst young British men.

These perpetrators purchase sulfuric acid or bleach or extract the sulfuric acid from discarded lead-acid electric batteries from cars to produce the corrosive acid to target their victims. These dangerous substances should be controlled and banned in the U.K. due to their growing use amongst disenfranchised neighbourhoods in order to curb a dangerously growing epidemic appearing in British society.
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The byproducts of electric lead acid batteries are corrosive substances that lead to environmental waste and are not "green" technology, yet this is what the Conservative Party wants the people of Britain to accept with open arms, with their push towards fracking and battery electric vehicles when there already exists green technology that can make the U.K. completely energy self-sufficient within 10 years: hydrogen fuel cells.


By Sierra Choi

Americans protest the Vietnam War circa 1965.

According to Plato, a Philosopher King or Queen is the ideal leader; a ruler who has a love of knowledge, intelligence, reliability and who is rational and also strives to live a simple life. This is the kind of ideal ruler in his utopian city Kallipolis.

This idea should be contrasted with our current leaders and icons, from the frugal Bill Gates and Queen Elizabeth to the extravagant pomp and circumstance of President Donald Trump. Currently, Great Britain is at a critical juncture, with the General Election just one week away with the two dominant parties making a case for how the U.K. will lead into the next decade. In the last two weeks, it was reported that 1.2 million new voters, more than half of them under the age of 25 had newly registered to vote, leaning towards the Labour Party. However, all things were offset during the terrorist attack last week that targeted young people at a concert in downtown Manchester.
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People gather to honour the victims in the Manchester bombing. The Manchester attack targeted young people under the age of 25 in a predominant area that favours the Labour Party two weeks before the General Election. The attacker was alleged to be a British citizen whose family had immigrated from Libya.

Whereas the Conservative Party might have hoped to use the Manchester attack as a convenient platform for a stronger military industrial complex and justifications for further foreign interventions against nations like Libya, Jeremy Corbyn has turned the argument around that in fact, it was our foreign intervention in Libya in the first place, and other parts of the Middle East that had lead to the rise of terrorist factions.

Clearly, we are in an era of what Mr. Corbyn has said that the "energy cartels" have dominated our global landscape. The quest to control the sources of oil and gas abroad has lead to numerous foreign "interventions" in which to support our leading energy and defense contracting industries into unprecedented financial gains, a pattern set in the 1970s by President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher when Britain allowed the U.S. to utilise British airbases to bomb Libya in 1986.
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The gruesome execution of Libya's leader, Gaddafi was aired on YouTube around the world. Margaret Thatcher allowed the U.S. to utilise British airforces to bomb Libya in 1986 and Libya was attacked again in 2011, lead by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron, which destabilised the nation, and lead to massive chaos after the public and rather barbaric execution of Libya's leader Gaddafi, which was shown on social media.

Although a "special relationship" was originally established between the United Kingdom and the United States during WWII between President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, when they were united against Germany, fissures in this "special relationship" began cracking during the Vietnam War when Prime Minister Harold Wilson attempted to usurp and curb America's actions in Vietnam. President Johnson at the time told the British Prime Minister, "I won't tell you how to run Malaysia and you don't tell us how to run Vietnam." (source: David Reynolds, 'A "Special Relationship," America, Britain and the International Order Since the Second World War', International Affairs, Vol. 62, No. 1 (Winter, 1985–1986), p. 14)
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One of the worst foreign interventions in contemporary society: the Vietnam War. Americans were united in protest against one of the longest wars in American history that never found any resolution and lasted more than 19 years and resulted in millions dead.

Whereas Jeremy Corbyn had spoken the truth that no one wanted to discuss and say aloud - that in fact, our history of foreign military interventions have lead to the rise of terrorist factions, the Conservative Party has lead the way in shifting the political dialogue into meaningless generalities.

Under the advice of American campaign manager Jim Messina, Prime Minister Theresa May now appears to be afraid to speak the truth, and instead devolves into a carefully rehearsed dialogue of key words reminiscent of the inanity of American propaganda in politics: good vs evil, strength and stability, rich vs. poor, whilst constantly shifting opinions and methods to account for the public's support, vigilantly watching the polls to re-edit the Conservative platform. 

Whilst David Cameron, her predecessor, the silver-tongued Etonian who could convince the public of anything with his humour, wit and analytical mind; Theresa May, under the influence of Jim Messina, seems to have reverted to the style of American Orwellian politics: repetition of key phrases, and generally evading and never answering the question that is asked during interviews, leading the public to view her as inauthentic and a figurehead for the corporations and energy industries that she is supporting.

Jeremy Corbyn has said that we should open a dialogue with the opposition and perhaps that is what is necessary in order to understand why terrorism has been on the rise since the 1970s. Although I think for the skeptical mind, and as a general rule, politicians are not to be trusted, and Corbyn himself has shifted his stance rather suddenly from a no-nuclear power society to now support nuclear power, at least he speaks to the public as intelligent human beings, and not degenerate into a series of Jim Messina-inspired inanities of political campaign management utilising social media for mudslinging, spread of fake news and perhaps even trying to get a cheap emotional reaction out of the public from a national tragedy.
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After the Manchester attack, social media was inundated with fake posts about missing children in order to elicit an emotional reaction out of the public, perhaps as a bid to move support away from the Labour Party to the Conservative Party two weeks before the election in a distinctive campaign management style representative of American politics.

Fake news is the capacity of lies to go viral, spread maliciously by those with either a political or (much more common) financial motive. America strategically utilised fake news in the media to launch a war against Iraq, alleging that "unidentified sources" said the latter possessed weapons of mass destruction, which was later found to be false. Although the Iraq War was beneficial for the defense contact industries and the energy sector, the ramification of short-term profit thinking has lead to the unprecedented rise of terrorist factions and threw both the United States and Great Britain into another financial recession that culminated in the 2008 financial crisis.
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The bromance between President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron; two charismatic leaders who lead the U.S. and Britain to launch a war on Libya. Americans have been criticised for their cultish, blind worship of President Obama due to his likeable personality. President Obama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, paradoxically led the U.S. into multiple foreign interventions and wars and repealed the Propaganda Ban in 2013, in which he dismantled an anti-propaganda law in order to utilise news outlets to spread govt propaganda to American citizens.

Perhaps it's time for the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Great Britain to evolve. Perhaps it's time for the U.K. to set the boundaries and foundations to support our energy industries to move into the next era, not by launching more wars, but through an era of transformation. Perhaps it's time to shift the perspective that the U.K. has just been an obedient lapdog to all of America's modern wars. Perhaps it's time to embrace the reinvention of British soft power into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a revolution that will be propelled by new developments in transportation and energy, and build bridges and trading routes, and not by sending missiles and soldiers into foreign territories and destabilising our earth with fracking in a short-term bid for cheap energy.

Perhaps it's time to finally move away from the short-term profit building economics that has lead our nations into social poverty and begin to start thinking long-term about what it means to be a citizen in our global-interconnected world.


​By Sierra Choi

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Note: some images in this article may not be suitable for sensitive viewers.

In Victorian England and the post-Civil War era in America, the use of heavy metals in cosmetics- such as mercury, arsenic and lead was widespread. The ideal complexion during that era was a pale one that never saw the light of day. Women wore hats and gloves and carried parasols to shield their complexion from the sun's rays.
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Arsenic-laced lotion during the Victorian Era and post-Civil War era were marketed to women for a clear, pale complexion. Notice the advertising that declares the product as "safe - absolutely harmless."

However, the manner in which they achieved the pallor or sickly pale look was often through the use of arsenic. Arsenic wafers (which were eaten) were advertised to lighten a woman's complexion, and was also present in soaps and powders; eye shadows often contained mercury and lead. In addition, large pupils were a desired trait and eyedrops made from the deadly nightshade were used to keep pupils dilated, although its use often lead to blindness. Lead was used directly on the skin through an alum poultrice to treat pimples and other irregularities, which sometimes lead to death.
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Toilette by Jules James Rougeron, 1877. In the Victorian era, a pale complexion, clinched waist and large hairdo were the ideal markers of beauty.

All these cosmetic rituals seem preposterous and farcical to us now, but if we examine our own era, beauty in our day and age verge on a similar level of absurd, toxic beauty.
Whereas women and men of the 1800s and early 1900s used toxic metals, we have chemicals such as phthalates, parabens, talcum powder, nanoparticles, formaldehyde, lead acetate, coal tar, UV filters such as octyl methoxycinnamate and 4-methybenxylidene camphor, triclosan, resorcinol, toulene, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and many other chemicals present in our cosmetics and beauty products.

In addition to these toxic chemicals present in our cosmetics, what would our future ancestors think when they examine our contemporary era and take note of the rampant plastic surgery industries that propel the use of latisse (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) to grow eyelashes in which side effects include eyelid swelling, discharge, and blood seeping into the eye chamber? I also wonder what our future population would think when they examine the widespread use of toxins promoted by celebrities to paralyse muscles in the face to appear less-wrinkled? Botox is the commercial name for botulinum toxin, a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium clostridium botulinum. Other botulinum toxins also include Dysport, Bocouture, Myobloc. Use of these products could cause death and respiratory failure, yet according to their websites, more than 6 million botulinum toxin treatments are administered each year. There has also been stipulation that injection of these toxins are linked to autoimmune diseases.
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Vascular compromise at the site of dermal filler injection. An embolic event- blood clot, is one of many adverse effects that the botox and collagen filler industries do not like to advertise.

Many plastic surgeons and cosmetic doctors do not also point out the obvious that paralysing muscles in the face does not lead to increased pliability and firmness of the skin and may instead lead to thinner skin tissue in which the muscles lose its flexibility. However, these highly profitable schemes do not rest on the conscience of many doctors who administer these types of toxic treatments.

Another odd treatment our future population might examine in which they might note with disbelief and absurdity is injection of silicone into the body. Silicones are polysiloxanes which are polymers that include any inert, synthetic compound made up of repeating units of siloxane, which is a chain of alternating silicon atoms and oxygen atoms commonly known as a type of plastic, but technically part of the rubber family, and has been used to enhance breasts. The non-biodegradable forms of silicone have also been used as injections to fill the appearance of lines in the face. These non-biodegradable fillers provoke a foreign body reaction that stimulates a fibroblastic deposition of collagen around the non-absorbable microspheres and the body forms collagen around the silicone particles.
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A patient who has received continual dermal filler treatments since 2009. Dermal fillers eventually harden the skin, as collagen develops around silicone or silicone fused bovine or pig collagen, leading to an unnatural looking, swollen, hardened skin.

Now you may ask, what kind of person would willingly inject a non-biodegradable rubber particle into their face so that collagen might form around it? Surely the idea of that is absurd now, as it probably will also be similarly noted in future generations. Just as we think Victorians were insane to utilise mercury, lead and arsenic in their cosmetics, future generations will brand our era in a similar way for the widespread use of silicones. There are also silicones mixed with bovine and pig collagen as part of dermatologic practices that can cause severe reactions, such as necrosis (death) of the skin. This happens because human DNA does not recognise the foreign DNA of other species such as bovine (cow) and pig and non-biodegradable materials such as silicone and the body's immune system treats it as a foreign body, and this begins the long process of side effects that could ultimately end up with infected or deadened skin tissue. However, toxic treatments of this variety are a multi-billion dollar business around the world and most doctors are not warning patients of the dangers of these types of cosmetic treatments due to the global marketing of these products as beauty enhancers.

In addition to these toxic treatments, nanoparticles have now entered the sphere of the cosmetics industry. Micellar water has been targeted for use in cleansing products of the face, but what micellar water really is micellar nanoparticles that are water-soluble. Nanoparticles can be absorbed through the skin into our organs, and no one knows the long-term effects of nanoparticles in cosmetic usage, although breathing in nanoparticles present in paint can lead to cancer and other diseases.
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House paints with nanoparticles were originally marketed to prevent deterioration and fading of color, but were found to cause cancer as nanoparticles could be breathed in through the lungs and then absorbed into the body's organs.

However, although Victorian England and our own era has its history of toxic beauty treatments, there also exists, on a parallel level, an awareness and return to natural products. Just as Victorian era and post Civil War era women were eating arsenic wafers to appear pale and pallid, and dusting themselves with arsenic laced powders and mercury laced eyeshadows, there also existed a large Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture of women and men who made their own products from natural ingredients. Perfumes, facial toners, lip salves came from naturopathic recipes made from essential oils, fruit, such as elderberries, flowers and rose water. One of the natural remedies during that time which has endured the test of time is Thayer's witch hazel - made from the witch hazel shrub with tannins and natural b-vitamins, citric acid and grapefruit seed extract.
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​Thayer's witch hazel facial toner made from undistilled witch hazel shrub. The all natural ingredients in this formulation have withstood the test of time. My only complaint about this product is that I would prefer it to be dispensed in a glass bottle and not plastic.

U.S.-based companies have been fairly remarkable in its innovation of non-toxic cosmetics that have quietly been the independent understudy of the major brands which are primarily owned by the Estée Lauder group and L'oreal, and some of the producers of the independent cosmetics space have been producing ethically made beauty products for decades.
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DeVita's focus is on skin care using natural ingredients without harsh chemicals and silicones. I first discovered DeVita's skin care line browsing in health food shops during my undergraduate years.

Cherylanne DeVita is the founder of DeVita Natural Skin Care. She came from an Italian immigrant family in New York City and founded the skincare and cosmetics line in her 40s in 1998 after suffering all her life from chronic cystic acne. One of my favourites from her skincare line is the vitamin C serum, which I have been using since university. Although the formulation has changed slightly over the years from being more of a watery consistency to a more palpable thicker consistency, I find it works really well when used over vitamin e lotion as it is quite potent. This serum I've found really accelerates the turning over of new skin.
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With their minimalist packaging, Ecco Bella produces cosmetics with natural ingredients, using extracts from plants, flowers and essential oils. Unlike products with dimethicones and other chemicals that coat the face, Ecco Bella's face powders allow skin to breathe.
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Sally Malanga is a social entrepreneur and founded Ecco Bella in 1992 and is also an alumna of University of Georgia and NYU. Personally, I find her face powders and blushes an incredible match for my skin tone. The consistency of her cosmetics actually improves the texture of one's skin, and it appears as if one isn't wearing makeup at all but slightly glowing. I am also a fan of her unusual scented perfumes, and Ambrosia eau de parfum is a scent that is strangely reminiscent of previous eras in which its exotic flavours probably isn't for everyone, but rather nice after the drydown.
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Larénim eye shadows come in little pots which can be used with a dry or wet brush. Colours range from sparkling whites to golds to deep matte shades and blacks, which all have an non-irritating eye formulation free of toxic ingredients.

Kirsten Corcoran founded Larénim in 2004 after struggling with skin problems all her life. She comes from a nutrition background, and although she left the company when Larénim was acquired by Nutriceuticals in 2014, she has since founded a fitness and nutrition center in Ohio. My favourite products in her line are her eyeshadows. I have hypersensitive eyes and any sort of eyeliner or shadow usually irritates and inflames my eyes, but I find Larénim's eyeshadows don't irritate at all. They are also versatile, so can be utilised in both its dry form and applied with a brush in water for a wet, gel like consistency.
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Nubian Heritage soaps. These all natural soaps made with shea butter and ethically sourced ingredients offer the best cleansing options for face and body.

Richelieu Dennis and Nyema Tubman had just graduated Babson Colege in 1991, when they teamed up with Richelieu's mother, Mary Dennis to become the founders of Nubian Heritage. Straight out of university, they had no job prospects but were inspired by the healing wisdom and wellness solutions of ancient Nubia. They formulated their beauty products using African black soap and shea butter and first sold it on the streets of Harlem, where they got to interact with their customers and explain the history of their products. I have been using Nubian Heritage's soaps for more than a decade, and I found their soaps are better for cleansing my face than a normal facial cleanser. Although I used quite expensive facial cleansers from high school when I would follow my mother to department stores to receive free Estée Lauder and Chanel gift samples, I have found these soaps work better and doesn't dry out your skin. My personal favourites are the carrot pomegrante soap, lemongrass and tea tree and also the indian hemp and velvetier. Their lotions are also quite thick and rich and I've found a little goes a long way.
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Now Foods avocado oil for the skin. A versatile oil that can be utilised for any skin ailment.

Elwood Richard, was an advocate of health foods in the 1960s during an era when no one had heard of health foods before he founded Now Foods in Chicago in 1968. Now Foods produces vitamin supplements, but they also have a great line of lotions and oils. I like to use their vitamin e cream on my face which I find I can mix with other ingredients. I find this a staple product to have and with this versatile vitamin e lotion, which has 28,000 iu of vitamin e; adding zinc oxide powder dissolved in aloe vera water creates instant sunblock and adding vitamin c crystals and niacinamide powder dissolved in aloe vera water creates a perfect night cream that could be adjusted in strength for your personal preference. Another staple I have found is the Now Foods non-GMO avocado oil. Avocado oil has a long shelf life, unlike many other oils; and can be utilised for any sort of aggressive skin condition and I think generally has multiple uses from hair to body to even using it on your pets to moisturise their paws or noses or rub into their fur and skin after a bath.
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Natto. A fermented soybean product high in vitamin k, anti-oxidants and nattokinase that has been hypothesized to enhance skin's luster and firmness, in addition to other circulatory health benefits that the Japanese have produced and eaten for centuries.

Although in our current era, many toxins are present in our cosmetics, the U.S. has really been at the forefront of the natural cosmetics movement, in which there has been a return to natural products without the use of harsh chemicals. I am also of the opinion that drinking clean, mineral water is the best thing for skin, in addition to eating organic foods rich in vitamin K and B-vitamins to build up the body's natural collagen storage. There are many collagen supplements out there, usually made from animal sources, which do not enhance the human body's own collagen reserves. Many nutritionists and homeopathic doctors believe that being healthy and having good skin is a sign of good internal health, and so to begin the process of having great skin, I think we need to understand our nutritional needs to address what is inside our bodies before we buy into the external, often toxic cosmetics industry that attempt to push their dangerous products and treatments onto the population and try to convince us that they are "safe."

By Sierra Choi

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Disclaimer: This post is for educational purposes only and not intended as medical advice.