The story of cosmetics: The ugly truth about personal care products

Finally, an up-beat, easy-to-digest, and non-preachy short film about toxic personal care products!



According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics,

The Story of Cosmetics, released on July 21, 2010 at storyofcosmetics.org, examines the pervasive use of toxic chemicals in our everyday personal care products, from lipstick to baby shampoo. Produced by Free Range Studios and hosted by Annie Leonard, the 7-minute film reveals the implications for consumer and worker health and the environment, and outlines ways we can move the industry away from hazardous chemicals and towards safer alternatives. The film concludes with a call for viewers to support legislation aimed at ensuring the safety of cosmetics and personal care products.

The main messages of this film are:

• many personal care products have chemicals ingredients that are toxic , including those that are linked to cancer or other problems like learning disabilities and asthma.
• less than 20% of all chemicals in cosmetics have been assessed for safety by the industry’s own safety panel.
• claims made on bottles (such as "organic" "natural") are meaningless (unless they are certified by a third party), as is clear when we actually take a look at all the ingredients listed on a product.
• No governmental entity (in this case, the Food and Drug Administration of the US) is making sure that the stuff in our personal care products is safe; the FDA doesn’t assess the safety of personal care products, nor their ingredients. Instead, it is "self-regulated" by the cosmetics companies themselves.
  

This is pretty depressing. But there are things we can do.

• protect ourselves by identifying the best possible choices in the store;
• take action: demand the government to pass laws/regulations to ensure that our personal care products are safe;
• but most important of all, don't fall into the trap that we must use lots of products (the average woman in the U.S. uses about 12 personal care products containing about 180 chemicals daily, while the average man, about 6 products containing about 85 chemicals) to feel beautiful.
  

I did say that the film is easy to understand, right?

Another thing I really appreciated about this film is that it doesn't take ages to download. Here in Jakarta, where the internet connections aren't top-speed, it can be pretty frustrating to try to watch YouTube and trailers of films.

After discovering this film, I have added The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to my link list titled "Raising healthy children sustainably" on the right-hand side of this blog.

Tanjung Lesung Sailing Club

ジャカルタに来てから初めての週末旅行は、ジャヴァ島西海岸にある、Tanjung Lesung でした。ここはホテルや別荘などがあるリゾート地で、我々はその中で Sailing Club に泊まることにしました。私がよく参考にしている Family Guide to Jakarta でよいレヴューが書いてあったし、このリゾートのホテルはネットで調べる限りそれほど評判がよくなかったから。

天気にそれほど恵まれなかったけれど、とても楽しく時間が過ごせました。宿泊用のコッテージは、２ベッドルームと１ベッドルーム。値段はエアコンが両方のベッドルームについている２ベッドルーム、１つの部屋にしかついていない２ベッドルーム、そして１ベッドルーム（エアコン無し）の順に高い。今回は１つのエアコン付きの２ベッドルームコッテージにしましたが、１ベッドルームで十分かな、と思いました。夜は風が通って涼しいので、エアコンはいりません。

ペット可で、子供フレンドリーなのもいいです。子供好きなスタッフが娘を面倒みてくれたので、おかげで我々二人でセイリングや海水浴を楽しむことができました。砂浜には珊瑚や貝がたくさんあるので、海に入るまでがちょっと足の裏が痛くなります。また、ちょっと入るととても細かい砂（粘土のよう！）になっています。ここの砂浜で歩くには、かかとがあるビーチサンダルがあった方が便利。あと、蚊取り線香、蚊よけネットと網戸はコッテージにありますが、蚊もすごいので蚊よけも忘れないよう。

オーナーの David さんはアジアに３０年以上住んでいて、１３年前からここに住んでいるそうです。とてもフレンドリーでおしゃべりで、色々なお話をしてくれました。この Sailing Club の施設はシンプルでテレビなどもないので、インドネシア人のお客さんはあまりいないそうです。また、レストランの料理は美味しいのがうれしいです。お勧めは、カラマリ、豆腐のから揚げ野菜詰め、バナナのてんぷら。子供用のメニューのフィッシュフィンガーも美味しかった。 David さんはベジタリアンなのでベジタリアンメニューも豊富でした。冷凍品は一切使っていなく、全て１から作っているようです。

ホームページにはジャカルタから３時間と書いてありましたが、行きも帰りも約４時間半かかりました。高速を Serang で降りてからの約１００キロの一般道が長い。それほど道もよくないし、広くない道にバスやバイクを追い越しながらの道のりは結構大変でした。Sailing Club のメンバーになると、宿泊費や船のレンタル代が安くなります。現在６０人くらいのメンバーがいるそうです。もうちょっと近かったらもっと気軽に行かれるのに。 それでもできれば頻繁に行きたい、weekend getaway です。

ヘルシー・チョイスでのマッサージ

Healthy Choice とは、ジャカルタで唯一の（だと思う）オーガニック専門食品店です。野菜だけでなく果物もあるし（オーガニックの野菜は Food Hall や Hero、Ranch Market, Kem Chicks でも売っていることが多いが、果物はジャカルタであまり見かけない）、肉や魚も売っています（これらは冷凍）。お魚の dory はとても美味しい！お勧めです。

食品店は品揃いが悪い日もあるのが、残念。冷凍の輸入品と国産では値段がかなり違うので、果物・野菜を買うときをは気をつけれなけれべなりません。例えばかぼちゃや玉ねぎ、オーストラリアから輸入しているのは国産物の１０倍くらいします。雑貨もあるのですが、これは行く度に種類も在庫も少なくなっています。以前は Weleda などの化粧品も置いてあったらしいのですが、今はかなりセレクションが限られています。

ベーカリーもお勧めです。特に、ストロベリーチーズケーキはとても美味しい。食パンも何種類かあって、賞味期限間際になると、１つ買うと１つただになるのでお得です（我が家では冷凍してしまい毎朝トーストしているので賞味期限は気にならない）。

レストランはオーガニックの食材を使っていて、料理するのも（有害のガスを出す）テフロンのなべを使わないなど、徹底しているようです。とても美味しい料理を出すレストランなのに、なぜか人が少ないのが気になります。トイレにはオムツ換え台もあるので、便利です。

また、１ヶ月に 1,000,000 IDR (= 9,700 JPY) 以上買い物すると、会員になることができて、10% - 15% 引きで買い物をすることができます。

さて、先日、気になっていた detox centre でマッサージを体験してみました。試したのは、Hot stone massage（90 mins / 200,000 IDR = 1,900 JPY）とてもリラクシングでしたが、強いマッサージが好きな人には物足りないと思いのでは。次回はオーガニックフェイシャルを試してみようと思います。

お店情報：

Healthy Choice Kemang
Jl. Kemang Raya 32,
Jakarta Selatan
(021) 719 8482

食品店：9am-10pm
レストラン：10am-10pm
デトックスセンター：8am-8pm

他にも、ジャカルタ市内に支店はいくつかあるようです。

インドネシアでのスパ体験

スパ経験が手軽にできるインドネシア。私はマッサージやフェイシャルは定期的に受けるようにしています。日ごろのストレス発散にもいいし、なんといっても１時間～２時間、全く「自分だけの時間」が持てるのがとてもうれしい。

実は、生まれて初めてのスパ経験は、インドネシアでした。2003年にバリへ行った際、バリに住んでいる友人に連れて行ってもらいました。とてもシンプルなサロンでマッサージしてもらった後部屋から出てきたら、友人に、「とってもよかったのね、顔を見ればわかるわ」と言われたほど。その後東京・横浜やパリで色々行きましたが、やはりインドネシアの値段にはかないません。値段が１０倍する割には半年に１回くらいは行っていましたけれど。

フランスでお勧めなのはタラソセラピーとハマム。中でも気に入ったのは：

• フランス南部Saint-Jean-de-Luz にある、Helianthal. 以前もタラソをやったことがあるのですが、ここの１日体験コースをしてはじめて、１週間くらいの滞在コースをやってみたいな、と思いました。
• パリにある、O'Kari。いくつかハマムを試した中で、ここが一番。かなりいい値段するのですが、価値はあります。オーナーの女性は若いころ日本人の男性と付き合ったことがあるらしく、とても親切で、セラピストの教育もしっかりしています。
  

さて、ジャカルタに来てからこれまでトライしたのは：

Blossom Nails のフェイシャル・マニキュア・ペディキュア
一度に３人の女性に囲まれ、一人が手を、もう一人が足を、３人目が顔をしてくれました。時間節約にはなったけれど、これだけの人に囲まれると、リラクシングではありませんね。全部で 450,000 IDR (= 4350 JPY) くらいだったと思います。出来具合は悪くなかったですが、指のネイル・ポリッシュはすぐ欠けてしまいました。色のセレクションもあまりなかった。このネイルサロンは、いくつか支店があるようですが、私は Pondok Indah のアパート敷地内にある小さなサロンでやってもらいました。

これから時間が許す限り、体験・情報をアップしていきたいと思います。できるだけエコロジカルな、自然化粧品を使っているスパを探してトライする予定です。

お店情報：

Blossom Nails
Pondok Indah Apartment Golf Clubhouse
Jl Metro Kencana IV
(021) 766-1122/1133 ext 2802

Gorillas and Dharmas

Following my earlier post about raising multilingual child(ren), I am happy to report that in the past few days June's language skills have developed tremendously. English is still a little weak, although she has added another word to her vocabulary ("gorilla"--and yes, Eric Carle's From Head to Toe has been her favourite book for a few weeks now). Words she currently uses most frequently are kore and koko ("this" and "here" in Japanese, respectively) in Japanese, and in French, la (used as "here"). The amount of babbling has increased tremendously, though most of the time it is difficult for us to decipher what she is saying. She is also pointing at everything and asking what it is. Or at least that's what we think she is doing. She also says "caca" a lot, which, although it means "poo" in French, she is using the word to indicate her (wet or dirty) diapers. She also says o (in the "tail" sense, in Japanese) a lot, due to another favourite book of hers, a series of three books with a Dharma doll (だるまさん) as the main character. I am surprised that despite all the talking we do, it's the books that are teaching our daughter vocabulary.

According to some recent studies, the amount of books one has at home is correlated with the years of schooling a child will complete. This finding is not at all surprising, from my point of view--my father's hobby is buying books (but not necessarily always reading them, to the great frustration of my mother). We grew up surrounded by books, and both my brother and I have our PhDs. What's intriguing is that, according to another study quoted in "Book owners have smarter kids",

simply giving low-income children 12 books (of their own choosing) on the first day of summer vacation "may be as effective as summer school" in preventing "summer slide" -- the degree to which lower-income students slip behind their more affluent peers academically every year.

This finding gives us a lot of hope in putting a stop to the vicious cycle that perpetuates poverty--lack of education. At the same time, I cannot help but wonder about the important role of libraries--libraries are an important place where children from lower-income households can access books.

Fortunately (or unfortunately?), I have inherited my father's hobby, and our house is full of books. I do hope that the shelves full of books will have a positive impact on her--we want to encourage June to pursue higher studies, and will certainly give her every opportunity she needs.

An unproud car owner

I am ashamed to publicly announce that I am now the owner of a new car. Well, ashamed is probably not the right word, but I am definitely not proud about it. But I have discovered that living in Jakarta is very difficult without a car, unless you:

• live within walking distance to your office;
• live within walking distance to a shopping centre;
• live within walking distance to your child(ren)'s daycare(s)/school(s);
• are happy taking taxis (inconvenient unless you are going to a major landmark or know exactly where you are going, and have lots of small bills), bajajs (three-wheeled auto-rickshaws: only good if you want to go short distances, willing to bargain, and are happy inhaling exhaust fumes all the way to your destination), buses (usually not recommended due to the time it takes to get you anywhere, plus the high crime rate), or ojeks (motorcycle taxis: considered pretty dangerous unless you are happy to have scratches or worse to your limbs!) to get around the city.
  

So, I have had to throw away my environmental ethics and purchase a car. A new one, even. And it took me ages to get this car.

Basically, what one needs to do is to identify a car dealer, provide 5 million Rp to the dealer so he would start the process of getting the car for you, provide a down payment for the car (more than half the price of the car) and give a copy of your Indonesian ID card so that the dealer can begin the process of getting the legal papers, then as soon as you provide the rest of the funds, you will get the keys to your new car.

Sounds simple, no? Well, deceivingly so. And deceived I was. It took exactly 6 weeks for me to get the keys to my new car, due to a combination of factors:

• negotiating an international transfer of funds from my French bank account to a local bank account of the car dealer;
• trying to transfer funds via the internet and an ATM from my local bank account (which I could not open until I had my Indonesian ID card, which is issued more than one week after the official visa is issued, which takes more than one week after arrival in Indonesia) to that of the car dealer without knowing that one needs to get a "token" (a small device that looks like a calculator) for all internet transactions;
• the car dealer not happy with my Indonesian ID card;
• the car dealer lying about the availability of the colour of the car that I wanted (things may have been quicker had I wanted a black or a silver car, which are the most common colours you would find on the streets of Jakarta);
• the car dealer not being honest about the time it takes to get the legal papers processed.

It was only after I wrote a not very nice letter to the car salesman's boss, that the whole process was speeded up by a couple of days.

Funnily enough, when I complained about this to a colleague who has been living in this country for nearly 10 years, he said, "what, you got a hew car in 1.5 months, that must be a record!" Sigh.

So the lesson to be learned from this is what, exactly? That one needs to write nasty letters to get anything done in this country? No, what I learned from this episode is to be very careful of people's recommendations. Think twice before taking recommendations of someone unless you are sure that you can really trust this person. I made the mistake of going with the car dealer recommended by my office's driver. Who is rumoured to be taking some sort of commission from car dealers.

Next time I act on someone's recommendations, I am going to be just as careful of the person who is recommending something, as much as of the thing/person that's being recommended.

image taken from www.cardekho.com/Toyota/Toyota_Avanza/pictures

Raising multilingual child(ren)

Having grown up bilingual and bicultural, I am quite determined to bring up June multilingual. From even before she was born, I have spoken English to her, while my husband speaks in Japanese. The nanny we had in France was francophone. Since moving to Jakarta, June has been going to a French daycare 3 days a week. In August, when daycare centres and preschools start again, we are planning on putting her in an English-speaking preschool 3 days a week and a French-speaking daycare 2 days a week. We will soon get a nanny, who will probably speak Bahasa Indonesia to her.

According to the Multilingual Children's Association, there are two most common language systems in multilingual families. The language system I grew up with was "Minority Language at Home", where Japanese was the language spoken and used at home. My parents refused to use English with me, even when it was clearly my preferred language; I am glad that they did, though, because I can speak Japanese fluently. With our daughter, we use the "One Person, One Language" system.

In my job, I work with and encounter multilingual people on a day-to-day basis. From my own experience and from observing others, I contend that there is no one who is "perfectly bi(multi)lingual". While it is true that many people are able to speak two or more languages with ease, it is very uncommon to find people who can use--that is, speak as well as write--two or more languages to the same level of sophistication. There are people who can write well, but I have yet to encounter anyone who can write flawlessly and sophisticated in two more languages, especially when it comes to things that are technical/scientific, and/or require a lot of expertise/specialized knowledge. I am not saying this is impossible--but very uncommon.

For me, it is important for June to have very strong English language skills. Sure, she should be able to speak Japanese fluently, so that she is able to communicate with her extended family members. It would also be nice if she could understand the language of her birth place, France. And of course she should learn the language of any country where she be living in--Bahasa Indonesia, for one. But ultimately, I would like for her to have solid English reading/writing skills, which I expect would be important and advantageous for her future.

Considering that in France, June spent most of her waking hours during the week in a French-speaking environment, and since our move to Indonesia, continues to be exposed to French on a regular basis, it is not a surprise to us that the first comprehensible word June uttered (aside from "mama" "papa", etc.) was French. Words she currently regularly uses are: tiens, de l'eau, doudou, dodo. She also speaks"words" that do not really mean anything in any of the three languages she is exposed to, but she has attributed fixed meanings to them. Since our move to Jakarta, I have noticed that June's English language skills are lagging behind--although I know she understands all languages quite well, her level of English comprehension is suffering, probably due to the fact that she is only exposed to it 1-2 hours a day.

It was thus a great joy to hear two days ago the first English word uttered by June: "apple". We probably would not have realized what she was saying, except for the fact that I was peeling an apple when she spoke the word.

I will be working on increasing June's vocabulary!



image taken from www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/HipparchusGraviation.htm