Is Your Makeup Contributing to Your Period Pain & PMS
If you’re covering up your hormonal acne with concealer but you’ve never checked the label you could be perpetuating your pimple problems. Eek! It’s a hard truth that cosmetic companies like to keep under wraps but most cosmetics you put on your face and skin contain endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). That means there’s ingredients inside your primer, foundation, concealer, eyeshadow and even sunscreen that have the ability to affect your hormones.
These EDCs are used to make creams creamy, stop them from separating, feel smooth, stay on your skin for hours and stop them from getting gross and mouldy. There are natural ways to make makeup without the EDCs but that generally cost more money for ingredients and research. So we find ourselves with a $500 billion dollar industry that sells toxic products that screw with your hormones and contributes to Period Problems, cool.
As a quick refresher - you want beautifully balanced hormones all month long in order for you to feel good all month long. If you have Period Problems you have hormone problems. It could be that your body finds it hard to make hormones, maybe your body finds it hard to detox and remove used hormones, or it could be that EDCs are confusing your uterus, adrenal glands and ovaries. And it could also be a case of ‘C’ all of the above, no thank you!
I’m going to quickly breakdown what beautifully balanced hormones do in your month long menstrual cycle. When you begin to understand that your periods are so much more than just your period, a world of opportunities opens up to you and you can begin to make real lasting change.
Let’s start on Day 1 of your cycle, the first day of your period. This is NOT the main event of your cycle, it’s just the most obvious. On Day 1 your hormones are at their lowest, a few days into your period estrogen slowly begins to rise, by the middle of your cycle testosterone peaks, this is what causes ovulation which is the MAIN event of your cycle. After ovulation both estrogen and testosterone naturally lower and progesterone rises. If you have well balanced hormones estrogen raises again but progesterone is still the dominant hormone in this second half of your cycle. A few days before your period begins your uterus realises you’re not pregnant and your hormones naturally lower, then bada bing bada boom you get your period again.
This is the story of happy healthy, well balanced hormones and it’s what will have you feeling good all month long. When you put makeup on that contains chemical ingredients things like; phthalates, parabens and bisphenols your hormones have a hard time functioning.
It’s not just makeup but shampoo, conditioners, deodorants and perfumes all contain EDCs. These chemicals get absorbed by your skin and eventually end up in your blood stream where they head to your organs and glands and generally cause chaos. The result is subfertility, infertility, improper hormone production, anovulation (not ovulating), menstrual cycle abnormalities and therefore PMS [1]. There’s no sugar coating the situation friends, if you use conventional makeup it’s contributing to your Period Pain & PMS.
The bad news doesn’t stop there, other well documented issues that arise from the presence of EDCs in the body include low birth weight, gestational diabetes, obesity, certain cancers, certain birth defects, and neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit disorder and autism [2]. Do you need more convincing that your makeup needs an overhaul?
I’m not suggesting your throw your entire makeup bag into the trash today. But doing your own research and having a go-to solution for the next time your mascara runs out is going to help your periods. Start small, find brands that are transparent and even better, find brands that are built on a mission of EDC free ingredients.
Whether you want to get pregnant or are actively trying to avoid pregnancy, EDCs are something you need to become aware of because fertility is a sign of your overall health. That’s why I say your period is like your report card. If you get Pain every month as well as acne, sore boos, bloating and headaches… my friend your period is giving you an ‘F’.
You deserve to feel good all month long. How many days do you loose to your Period Problems every month? It might be inconvenient to find your new fav concealer but by ditching the chemically laden makeup you can fix your own damn period!
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Ready to fix your period naturally and forever? I get really excited when people say yes! If this is you here are 3 ways I can help you 👈 click on the red text and get started on your journey today.
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Rattan, S., Zhou, C., Chiang, C., Mahalingam, S., Brehm, E., & Flaws, J. A. (2017). Exposure to endocrine disruptors during adulthood: consequences for female fertility. The Journal of endocrinology, 233(3), R109–R129. https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-17-0023
Zlatnik M. G. (2016). Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Reproductive Health. Journal of midwifery & women's health, 61(4), 442–455. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.12500
