Nobody enjoys beauty ads. The models selling the cosmetics, face creams, or hair products always look condescendingly perfect. It doesn’t help that we know they are produced by makeup artists and animation wizards. Their flawless skin causes us to frown upon our own blemishes and wrinkles.
Their slim bodies make us self-conscious about our own weight. Their luscious hair uglifies our locks whether we think our hair is too thin, too puffy, too curly, too frizzy, or too much anything. Then we go out to buy whatever the model is selling because we are desperate to be perfect just like her. Of course, we would never admit that aloud, but that’s how we feel.
The Dove campaign is different. The models they use are real women and girls just like us. Dove ads feature real people talking about their insecurities about their looks and bring them to realize they are beautiful they way they are. It warms our hearts and makes us feel good about ourselves.
We buy Dove because we’d rather listen to the company that tells us “you are already beautiful” than the ones who scream “you are ugly and that’s why you need this product right now!”
For the company that advertises “real beauty,” we’d expect them to use natural ingredients. However, many of the Dove products feature toxic components!
Dove’s Beginning
Dove began in 1957 when the Lever Brothers produced an original ‘beauty bar.’ They advertised they product was ‘much better for your skin’ as opposed to other soaps because it was mild and contained ‘one-quarter cleansing cream.’ Their logo featured the bird silhouette that we see today. The models were typical for beauty ads at the time, slender, red lips, and girly.
In the late 60s, Dove began to advertise with ‘real women,’ testifying before a supposedly hidden camera about Dove’s soap bar moisturizing effects.
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In the late 80s, these testimonials evolved to focusing on one woman ‘Jean Shy’ who reflects on a compliment someone gave her about her skin after using Dove. This is the first shift of the company to promote inner beauty.
In 1991, the “Litmus tests’ began, advertising the the low alkalinity of Dove’s soap. ‘Dove is mildest. Bar none.’ This campaign went worldwide.
Dove began selling new products such as deodorants, body lotions, cleansers, and shampoo. Hand and face care merchandise followed a couple years later.
The official Dove Campaign for Real Beauty website was launched in 2004. The next year, in Canada, the Dove Self-Esteem Fund was initiated to combat eating disorders. They began to release videos such as ‘Evolution’ which displays the unrealistic portrayal of beauty from the media, and ‘Onslaught’ which features the torrent of pressure from the press that consumes innocent little girls’ body images and self-esteem. This is when Dove truly entered our hearts.
Today, Dove is the world’s number one cleansing brand. Their sales are over $2.5 billion U.S. a year, in over 80 countries, where countless girls and women began to feel more confident about their looks and bought the products of the company that supports their individual beauty. (1)
What went wrong?
Top Dove Products That Are Full of Harmful Ingredients
Item #1: Dove Daily Moisture Shampoo
Supposedly, this product contains the following perks:
- Help protect hair from daily wear and tear
- Make hair softer and 5X smoother than non-conditioning shampoo
- Leaves the hair feeling silky and manageable
- Progressively nourishes, keeping hair healthier in the long run
- Formulated with Pro-Moisture Complex
- Suitable for daily use
But what does it really contain?
Ingredients:
Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Glycol Distearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance (Parfum), Glycerin, Dimethicone, Dimethiconol, Acrylates/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Copolymer, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium Edta, Amodimethicone, Dmdm Hydantoin, Peg-45M, Tea-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Cocamide Mea, Lysine Hcl, Arginine, Peg-9M, Cetrimonium Chloride, Ppg-9, Propylene Glycol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Mica (Ci 77019), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Yellow 5 (Ci 19140), Red 33 (Ci 17200).
Item #2: Deep Moisture Body Wash
Their Claim:
- #1 Dermatologist recommended
- Softer, smoother skin after just one shower
- NutriumMoisture™ technology gives natural nutrients to the skin
- Nourish deep into the surface layers of the skin
- Help maintain your skin’s moisture barrier during cleanse
- Mild, gentle formula that is kind to the skin
- Suitable for daily use
The inside view of these ‘natural nutrients’:
Water (Aqua), Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Lauroyl Glycinate, Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil Or Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Dmdm Hydantoin, Stearic Acid, Citric Acid, Bht, Tetrasodium Edta, Methylisothiazolinone, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate.
Item #3: Dove White Beauty Bar
Here is the original product that initiated this company. It hasn’t changed and the declaration is still the same:
- #1 Dermatologist recommended
- Classic moisturizing formula
- Dove doesn’t dry skin like ordinary soap
- With ¼ moisturizing cream and mild cleansers, helps retain skin’s moisture
- Makes skin softer, smoother and more radiant than ordinary soap
- Suitable for daily use on hands, face, and body
The formula is the same as well, but the ingredients sound less charming:
Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate Or Sodium Palmitate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Water, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate Or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Edta, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891). (2)
What do these words even mean?!
The Reality Behind the Ingredients
Here are ingredients rampant in Dove products and what they truly can do to your body.
- Methylisothiazolinone – Studies have found this chemical to contribute to neurodegenerative disorders and seizures. They are looking to conduct further research on this toxin. (3)
- Fragrance/Parfum is a common skin irritant and the leading cause of dermatitis from cosmetic use. Studies suggest that this is rising skin sensitivities. (4)
- Tetrasodium Edta is made from formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Also, it is a penetration enhancer, meaning it dissolves the protective skin barrier, pathing the way for other toxins to sink into your tissue and perhaps even your bloodstream. Although the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel deemed this chemical “safe,” since it is not well-absorbed into the skin, they did suggest caution when mixing this preservative with other hazardous ingredients. (5)
- Sodium Tallowate – Vegans, cover your eyes! Sodium Tallowate, featured in the classic Dove Beauty bar, is derived from the fatty tissue of cattle. The FDA declared this additive to be safe, but according to them, GMOs are fine too. (6)
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate – About 16,000 studies testing the cumulative effect and long-term exposure of SLS linked it to:
- Irritation of the skin and eyes
- Organ toxicity
- Developmental/reproductive toxicity
- Neurotoxicity, ecotoxicology, endocrine disruption, and biochemical or cellular changes
- Possible mutations and cancer (7)
True Beauty Should Not Come at Such a High Cost
As Dove believes, women should define their own beauty, yet health hazardous have never and never will be beautiful.
It’s time for us to take beauty into our own hands.
Here are simple DIY recipes you will love more that Dove.
Sources:
(1) Lucy Saddleton. The evolution of Dove. ://strategyonline.ca/2007/12/01/tributedove-20071201/ Published: December 1, 2007. Accessed: October 6, 2016.
(2) Dove. http://www.dove.com/us/en/washing-and-bathing/beauty-bar/white-beauty-bar.html Accessed: October 6, 2016.
(3) Shen Du, BethAnn McLaughlin, Sumon Pal, and Elias Aizenman.Signal-Regulated Kinase Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase-Dependent Pathway.The Journal of Neuroscience, 1 September 2002, 22(17): 7408-7416; http://www.jneurosci.org/content/22/17/7408.short Published: September 1, 2002. Accessed: October 6, 2016.
(4) Dr Ahmed Abdullah, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.I.C.S. Ingredients and their Bad Reputations: Wading Through the Fact and the Hype. http://www.dermascope.com/ingredients/ingredients-and-their-bad-reputations-wading-through-the-fact-and-the-hype#.V_cSC5MrLq0 Accessed: October 6, 2016.
(5) Toxnet. TETRASODIUM EDTA. CASRN: 64-02-8 https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+5003. Accessed: October 6, 2016.
(6) Cosmetic Info. Sodium Tallowate. http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/sodium-tallowate Accessed: October 6, 2016.
(7) Dr. Mercola. Deadly and Dangerous Shampoos, Toothpastes, and Detergents: Could 16,000 Studies Be Wrong About SLS? http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/13/sodium-lauryl-sulfate.aspx Published: July 13, 2010. Accessed: October 6, 2016.
Source: www.healthy-holistic-living.com