There's Lead in Your Lipstick by Gillian Deacon

Published by Penguin Group Canada

Each morning we spritz, soak, and slather ourselves in 127 different chemicals, many of which are toxic. Each time we draw a bubble bath for a child, lather foaming cream for a shave, or deodorize our underarms, we expose our bodies to innumerable chemicals with limited research on their long-term health effects. The cosmetics industry is not required to prove an ingredient is safe for human health before it is used in a consumer product. Shocking, but true.

Gillian Deacon is a breast cancer survivor who decided to write this book when learning about the many toxins that are placed into so many of our beauty products and I am so glad she did. Gillian shares with the readers that she was reading Stacy Malkan's 'Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of Beauty' while waiting to have an ultrasound to help diagnose her possible breast cancer. That book inspired this brilliantly researched, informative and invaluable resource that literally shocked me to hell.

Never have I been so relieved that I am not a person who likes to wear make-up. More shocking though are the amount of products that seem to contain ingredients that are known, or suspected to cause breast cancer. In one chapter that really grabbed my attention, Gill Deacon shares the following facts:

• More American women have died of breast cancer in the last 20 years than the number of Americans killed in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined.
• Many of the big cosmetics corporations that position themselves as leaders in the struggle to eradicate breast cancer - holding annual fundraisers and pink-ribbon campaigns - are in fact, makers and marketers of products that contain many ingredients known or suspected to cause breast cancer.
  

More shocking still, in other chapters, was the sheer volume of baby products - products we believe we can trust to use with our precious young, that contain crazy amounts of toxins. Baby powder for example.

• Talc is still found in some baby powders and as a moistureabsorbing ingredient in products like eyeshadow, blush, and deodorant. Talc is similar to asbestos in its chemical composition. It is linked to ovarian cancer and is also a probable respiratory toxin. Watch for ingredients listed as talc, French talc, or cosmetic talc.

What also concerned me, was info about baby shampoos from a brand that I had long trusted when my children were babies. Shampoos that contained ingredients that cause developmental issues, among other things. I was horrified. The news isn't all bad though. In addition to sharing a great deal of information along with the encouragement to make your own well-informed choices, Gill Deacon provides countless sources for truly natural and safe products that we can use without concern. Or at least, with the knowledge we are harming ourselves less. I especially liked that recipes for making your own products were included. One of my favourites is:

Make It Yourself: Moisturizing Mask

Greek yogourt is also very moisturizing and can be used as a base for this mask.

1/2 medium to large avocado
1 to 2 tbsp honey 5 to 15 mL

Puree ingredients together in a blender or whip by hand.
For dry, sensitive skin, add one tablespoon of oatmeal and one tablespoon of water.
Mix together into a smooth paste and apply to the face and neck area, leaving on for about ten minutes.

From There’s Lead in Your Lipstick by Gillian Deacon (Penguin Canada). Copyright © Backbone Inc. FSO Gillian Deacon, 2011

One of the resources spoken of in the book, was EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetic Database. I rushed to check it and was astounded at how many of my usual products are in the higher hazard range. To be honest, this book troubled me a great deal. So much so that when reading about shampoo and body wash, I sprinted out of bed and checked the bottles in my bathroom for the dreaded ingredients and was dismayed to see so many of them present. This book is a definite wake-up call and I have decided because of it, that our home is going to be a more natural environment and not just with personal hygiene products, but with general household cleaners and more.

I can't recommend this book enough. Please read it. In order to help people to transition to healthier products, the author has also created a wallet-sized tip sheet with important things to remember. You can find it by clicking on the image below.

I'm also happy to announce that as part of this blog tour, a prize is being offered. The prize contains a copy of There’s Lead In Your Lipstick and an Eco Kiss kit from the folks at Saffron Rouge (combined value of approx. CDN $48.95.)

It's open to Canadian residents only. Simply drop me an e-mail at: theliteraryword [at] gmail [dot] com with the answer to the following question (answer can be found at Gillian Deacon's site):

What is the title of Gillian Deacon's other bestselling book that is a friendly how-to guide to making simple changes in your day-to-day life for a cleaner, healthier world?

The first person to e-mail me with the correct answer will win the goody pack!

To check out other reviews from fellow blog tour participants, visit the links below:

April 11 Rayment’s Readings, Rants and Ramblings

April 12 My Ever Expanding Library

April 13 Jacob’s Beloved

April 14 Bella’s Bookshelves
April 15 Cindy’s Love of Books
April 18 Rowangarth Farm
April 19 Lost for Words
April 20 Curled Up With a Good Book and a Cup of Tea
April 21 A Bookworm’s World

April 22 KimWerker.com
April 25 A Mom After God’ Own Heart

April 26 The Literary Word (You are already here!)
April 27 Just a Lil Lost
April 28 In the Next Room

Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuzsi Gartner

Published by Hamish Hamilton an imprint of Penguin Group Canada

Better Living Through Plastic Explosives offers the reader a glimpse into numerous lives. Slowly peeling back the layers of each existence until a sometimes brutal, sometimes funny, often quirky and always riveting story forms within the pages. A wartime photographer, angel-possessed teens, rebellious adopted children, terrorist turned housewife, and movie industry folk are just some of the colourful characters that Zsuzsi Gartner skillfully writes into being.

I love short story collections so I was thrilled to see this title land in my mailbox. The title piqued my curiosity almost immediately but I waited until I was certain I could read this with little interruption. I am so glad I did. Once I picked this book up, it was difficult to put down and everything around me ceased to exist as I dived into the pages. The writing style is truly eloquent and painted such vivid imagery in my mind as I explored each piece. What I really found unique about this book is that each story has a quality that never fails to tease and stimulate the intellect. Once upon a time, I would likely have considered these stories to be lacking, to be needing a little more 'fleshing out' so to speak, but today I find myself truly appreciating that they inspire me to give more thought to the characters and their experiences.

I was asked at one point, which story was my favourite and I had selected the story 'Once, We Were Swedes' in which a wife mourns the loss of intimacy within her marriage. I had also answered that I suspected I would have problems choosing favourite tales by the end of the book and I was not disappointed. There are so many and each is brilliant in its own way though I definitely place 'Summer of the Flesh Eater', 'The Adopted Chinese Daughters' Rebellion', 'We Come in Peace', and of course 'Better Living Through Plastic Explosives' a little higher above the rest. What I loved a great deal about this book too, is the stories strike me as being able to stand up to repeated reading. I can't help but feel that due to the previously mentioned inspirational quality, I could read this book time and again, and not suffer any loss of enjoyment.

I hadn't heard of this British Columbia based author until now but I was thrilled to see that Zsuzsi Gartner also wrote a collection of stories titled 'All the Anxious Girls on Earth'. A collection that I know will be a welcome addition to my bookcases in the near future. Not since Norman Levine have I felt so drawn to a story collection. It's simply dynamite (Yes, I can hear the groans from here! *laughs*)

I haven't checked out other reviews of this book yet (I always avoid looking until my own is written) but I am looking forward to checking out what other people think and will be most curious to see what my fellow blog tour participants think. I know that Bibliomania reviewed this on the 18th April and you can find that review here. Other stops on the tour are In The Next Room - April 21st here, and Bella's Bookshelves - April 26 here.

Additional reviews can be found at Reading for the Joy of it and Pickle Me This

Don't forget to check out the author's website at http://www.zsuzsigartner.com/

The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer

Published by Riverhead Books an imprint of Penguin Group Canada

Eleanor Roosevelt High School has a new drama teacher, Fran Heller. Fran and her son Eli are new to Stellar Plains, New Jersey but with their newly painted colourful house and Fran's equally colourful personality, they are quickly making their mark. When Fran chooses the school play for the year, Lysistrata (in which women stop having sex with men in order to stop a war), strange things start to happen around the town. As if touched by magic, the women and girls in town are turning away from their partners with no idea as to why. Formerly healthy relationships turn sour as the women worry about this new development, the men feeling unwanted and equally as confused. Will life ever return to normal?

I wasn't expecting this book to be such a deep read. While the book blurb piqued my interest, the story line seemed pretty transparent and as such, I imagined I would breeze through this book in no time. Instead, I found myself reading a well developed tale, filled with characters I became quickly invested in, and enjoying the experience a great deal. Meg Wolitzer takes a serious and sensitive subject, blends it brilliantly with a dash of humour, a great deal of compassion, infinite honesty, and a sprinkle of surprise in order to bring us this wonderfully written novel.

I loved following the developments in each relationship, stealing a glimpse during their most intimate, turbulent, and vulnerable moments. It's impossible to read this book and not feel an empathy with one, if not many of the characters within. The author teases and tugs at the full range of emotions in the reader which I found quite exhilarating. That said, I still, weeks after reading this, have trouble trying to express fully what I thought of it. It's a book that is difficult to really describe as it's pretty different from anything else I have read but I did enjoy reading it and found myself mulling over the content in-between reading sessions. It's also a book that I feel would be great to re-read. I plan on reading it again this summer, without my reviewing cap on, so that I may savour it more completely. I also plan on obtaining a copy of Lysistrata and other works by Aristophanes.

It's definitely worth a look and you can see an excerpt here

Author's website: http://megwolitzer.com/