i can't believe i told friends i'd see this with them...

How the pitch meeting for "G.I. Joe" must have gone.

I can only imagine that it's pretty accurate, judging by the previews. :P

nightsinger and tavern_wench1, we'd better plan on a lot of alcohol afterward (and maybe before...) if we're going to get through this monster. ;)

fun with skepticism and cosmetics!

You might have already heard of Skin Deep: The Cosmetics Safety Database. I ran across it a few years ago and never bothered to look up the stuff I use.

I finally did so a few weeks ago, and was shocked to discover that the foundation I've used for years, Neutrogena Healthy Skin in "Blushing Ivory," contains methylparaben, which, among other things, is a restricted substance in the EU. So I've skipped my usual foundation for the moment, buying something twice as expensive ($30) at Whole Foods... and now I'm being a good little skeptic and doing my research. Because, sure, Skin Deep says that stuff is dangerous... but who are they, and how dangerous is dangerous? They say it's linked with cancer... but, in general, it often seems like someone, somewhere is saying that every damned thing in the world is linked to cancer... probably because longer lifespans now mean that cancer is a whole hell of a lot more frequent than it's been in the past. So, what's the real deal here?

( Additives, chemicals, and questions - how do you know whether something is really safe to put on your skin, anyway? And can a quick application of Google and skepticism help me figure out whether or not I should really be worried about this? )

Long story short, probably going back to my good old Neutrogena once this bottle of Zuzu foundation is empty. It doesn't cover as well, I'm not convinced that it's not partly to blame for a little bit of flare-up that my skin's been doing since I started wearing it, and, more to the point, it's $30 compared to the $13 I'm used to spending, for the dubious benefit of... not containing an anti-fungal that appears totally unlikely to hurt me.