My guest today is Anthony Vargas, Founder and Owner of Tilth Beauty, and former Vice President of Research and Development for Elizabeth Arden. We’ll be talking about his natural-based, high-performance, gluten-free skincare line, where gluten is found in beauty products, how gluten in skin care products can affect our health, and who should be concerned about gluten exposure through the skin. Based on three decades of experience, research, and development, each Tilth Beauty product has been painstakingly crafted with a unique and potent blend of botanical and industry -proven ingredients without ANY potentially harmful elements commonly found in most skincare products: no parabens, phthalates, sulfates, petroleum-based products, silicones, synthetic fragrances or GMOs, animal/dairy-derived products, or artificial colors. www.debralynndadd.com/debras-list/tilth-beauty
TOXIC FREE TALK RADIO
Gluten-Free Skin Products
Host: Debra Lynn Dadd
Guest: Anthony Vargas
Date of Broadcast: September 04, 2013
DEBRA: Hi, I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. And this is Toxic Free Talk Radio where we talk about how to thrive in a toxic world.
And we do this because it is a toxic world. There are toxic chemicals all around us in consumer products, in the air we breathe outside, in the water we drink. They’re just all over the place. But they’re not everywhere because there are many things that we can do to find products that don’t have toxic chemicals in them and things that we can do to remove toxic chemicals from our homes and our bodies and even things we can do to restore our health after our bodies have been damaged by toxic chemicals. And those are the things that we talk about on this show.
Today is Wednesday, September 4th 2013. And I’m here in Clearwater, Florida where the sun is shining. And today, we’re going to talk about beauty products—not just beauty products, skin care products, luxurious skincare products, anti-aging skin care products that are all natural, some organic, and also gluten-free. We’re going to be talking about why it’s important that everybody pay attention to gluten-free. I’m going to tell you my own personal story about that.
So, before we do that though, I want to talk a little bit about something I was thinking about this morning. And that is, yesterday, we were talking about learning to do new things. And I was telling you a story about how I now, because I don’t have my husband of 26 years to change a tire on my car, need to learn how to change a tire—and many other things around the house that he used to do for me. And I was likening that to having to learn about toxic chemicals.
But there’s another related thing. And that is knowledge. If we have knowledge about something, knowledge and skill, then we don’t have to be the victim of it. If we know where the toxic chemicals are in products, then we have a choice. If we don’t know, we have no choice. We’re just going to buy anything that gets advertised, anything we see on TV.
But if we have knowledge, if we know what toxic chemicals are, if we know what they can do to our bodies, if we know where to find them in products, and more importantly, even how to recognize a product that doesn’t have toxic chemicals, then we have a choice, then we have freedom to choose.
And that’s why we’re here doing this show. That’s why I’m here. I want you to have the same choices that I have and to be able to decide if I have toxic chemicals in my life or not. I want you to have that choice too.
So, today, my guest is Anthony Vargas. He’s the founder and owner of—well, he’s the founder and owner of a company. The brand is called Tilth Beauty. And he’s the former Vice President of Research and Development for Elizabeth Arden. So he’s been working in the business for 30 years. He knows all about what goes on in the cosmetics world. And we’re going to be talking about his new brand, Tilth Beauty and what’s special about it.
Anthony, thanks for being with me today.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Great, Debra! I’m glad to be here on your show today.
DEBRA: And thank you. I’m very happy that you’re here. So, former Vice President of Research and Development for Elizabeth Arden. How did you get from there to Tilth Beauty?
ANTHONY VARGAS: Well, that’s such a great question. And it was about two years ago that I decided to create my own line of products. And I had this vision where I created a line of products that didn’t have any of the questionable ingredients that you’re hearing about in the news everyday—things like the parabens, the pthalates, and sulfates, and synthetic fragrances, and even silicone these days. But also, what was important is gluten-free.
In the last, I would say seven years or so, we were getting more and more inquiries from actually people who had Celiac Disease. They would call us, and they would ask if we had any products that had gluten in them. And the first time we got the calls, we really didn’t have a list of gluten-free products. So we had to go back and look at all of our skincare products and determine if they had gluten in them or not and have a list of the ones that were gluten-free and the ones that had gluten in them. So, when they would call, then we could tell them.
But the calls started getting more and more and more. And then, also, there were a lot of other news stories that were coming out. You heard about the parabens being implicated in breast tumors. Sulfates, they could contain carcinogens within them.
And I looked around at a lot of the products, and I said, “You know, we have a lot of these ingredients within the products that are out there in the cosmetic industry.”
And the European Union is very tough. I think they’re tougher than the FDA is as far as stating which ingredients you can have and can’t have in your products. As a matter of fact, they have a list of over 400 materials that they banned from skin care products or any kind of topical products. And then, yet some of those materials are still here in products in the United States.
I looked around and I said, “You know, I need to develop my line of products without any of these materials so that a consumer doesn’t have to really scratch their when they’re buying my products.” And we go along. We actually put a little sticker on the product saying if it’s gluten-free or paraben-free and sulfate-free.
And yeah, that’s why I decided to do this, because I wanted to give the consumer a line that, basically, they didn’t have to question if they’re putting it on their skin or not.
Now, you have to go the other way too. We have a lot of naturally derived materials in our products. And what people have to also consciously know, if they’re allergic to any kind of a natural type product. You’ve got that lying there too.
And that’s why I decided to do this. We came out with a fairly extensive line of products last year.
It’s something that I think a lot of people are looking for now besides people with Celiac Disease looking for gluten-free products. There’s a lot of people that are looking for products that are paraben-free, sulfate-free.
I was in the supermarket the other day, and I was looking at a lot of the body wash products that are out there on the shelves. And I would say probably over 95% of them still had sulfates in them.
DEBRA: Yes! Yes, they do. They do.
ANTHONY VARGAS: It was very difficult to find one that didn’t.
DEBRA: Well, I think that you’re doing a really good job when you said that you wanted to create a product that consumers wouldn’t question, that they wouldn’t have to question because I know that a lot of consumers want to have those kinds of products exactly. There are so many toxic products on the market that people have to read the labels. And now that you’ve already done that work for them, and only included the safe ingredients, I think, is a really good service, especially since there are so many beauty products to choose from. It’s really good that that was your criteria.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Oh, it absolutely was. And the one thing that you had mention is that a lot of the consumers really don’t read the labels.
DEBRA: They really don’t. And even if they do read the labels, who knows what all those ingredients are. I know that when I started 30 years ago, I was running around with a chemical dictionary because I’d read a label, and I wouldn’t understand it at all.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah, that’s very true.
DEBRA: And even today, I have to look them up.
ANTHONY VARGAS: The ingredients are put on the carton according to the chemical structure.
And there is this body over in Washington that oversees that. It’s what we call the INCI name, the International Nomenclature Ingredients Standards. And they determine what the name of your ingredient is going to be. And it gets this very long name.
You look at it and you’re going to yourself, “Oh, my God! Can I even pronounce that?”
But there’s an easy way to identify some of these materials. The parabens are labeled as parabens. You’ll see them labeled as like “methyl-paraben” or “propyl-paraben” or “ethyl paraben.”
Gluten, anything that has hydrolyzed wheat or triticum in the name or vulgari, you know it’s going to be a gluten product. However—and this is something that people really don’t understand—sometimes, like vitamin E, that could be derived from wheat. But that’s not gluten-free.
DEBRA: Aha! Well, we need to take a break. And we’re going to talk more about that when we come back.
This is Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Anthony Vargas, founder and owner of Tilth Beauty, a line of super skin care product that are gluten-free as well as natural and organic. We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. And my guest today is Anthony Vargas, founder and owner of Tilth Beauty.
And Anthony, before we go on, I’m sure many people don’t know what the word tilth means. And you talk about this on your website. I know you have a page where you explain what tilth is. So tell us what tilth is.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Oh, sure! A lot of people ask that question. And basically, what tilth means is the condition of the soil on how it holds on to moisture, nutrients, and oxygen—which is very related to the skin.
Your skin has to hold on to oxygen, moisture, and also nutrients. And that’s where the name tilth came from.
DEBRA: I love that. I think it’s a beautiful concept. And as soon as I read that on your site, since I did already understand what tilth was (knowing a lot about organic gardening), I hadn’t really thought about it in relationship to my skin, that my skin also needs to hold the moisture and nutrients as you’ve said.
And I have some samples of your products. And this morning, I was trying them out. And when I put—what did I put on—the moisturizing cream I think, I don’t remember what it’s called. It’s in a little jar. As soon as I put it on my skin, my skin just absorbed it like it was a sponge. It just went right in. And my skin feels a lot softer just immediately. And I didn’t realize how dry my skin was until I put your product on it.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Oh, yeah. One of the sayings that I try to stress to editors when I’m speaking to them, or even customers, they don’t realize how important the moisture content in your skin is. Sometimes, they ask me, “If I were to do some kind of routine to keep my skin nice and looking fresh, what would you suggest?” I say, “Make sure you use a moisturizer every day because moisture is key for your skin and is key for the processes for your skin to operate correctly.” Without that proper moisture balance, nothing is going to operate correctly. And it’s going to cause premature signs of aging.
DEBRA: Well, if we didn’t water our garden, the plants wouldn’t grow. So it just makes sense to me that we should be moisturizing our skin. And that was actually something I was never taught. But I got it! As soon as I put your product on my face, I got it!
ANTHONY VARGAS: So that’s a very good analogy. If you don’t water your plants… exactly!
DEBRA: So, I really want to talk more about how to recognize gluten because I think that people don’t know that. And I didn’t know that until I got your press release. But before we do that, I want to make sure that people really understand. I know that people were calling you with concerns about Celiac disease. But I want to talk about why everybody should be concerned about this. And I want to tell my story first, and then I want to hear your answer to that question.
My story is that I have eaten gluten off and on my whole adult life. Many, many years ago, I was told that I was allergic to wheat. I stopped eating wheat for a year. And I didn’t feel any different. And so I went back to eating wheat. And I really didn’t notice how wheat might be affecting me, or I didn’t think about the gluten aspect because there’s gluten in more things than wheat. A lot of different grains contain gluten.
And so, I thought I was doing well to eat rye bread, 100% rye bread, instead of eating gluten, instead of eating wheat.
So then, about two months ago, my current healthcare practitioner said, “I want you to just go on a gluten-free diet.” And the reason he wanted me to go on a gluten-free diet was because it’s starting to become known that gluten can affect your thyroid.
And I’ve been having problems with my thyroid for many, many years. I take a thyroid supplement. But in the last few years, my thyroid blood tests have been off. And various doctors have tried various things. And they just couldn’t get my blood test to show normal on the TSH test for thyroid.
And so, I went on this gluten-free diet. And to my surprise, after 30 days on the gluten-free diet, my blood tests for TSH went from 89—which is like very, very high—to 1.49 which is right in the middle of normal. And the only thing I changed was that I stopped eating gluten.
Now, this is not about Celiac disease. This is about gluten affecting all different areas in your body. And the thyroid is one of them. And the thyroid gland contributes to the whole health of your whole, entire body.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Oh, absolutely! It sure does.
DEBRA: It sure does. And so, if the small amount of wheat that I was eating, the small amount of gluten that I was eating, was affecting my thyroid gland that badly, I sure don’t want any gluten in my products that I’m going to put on my skin. It just makes sense to me for everybody.
I now consider gluten to be a toxic chemical because it affects your body like any other toxic chemical does.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Oh, absolutely! They’re going to be doing more and more research to see what else gluten affects in your body too.
DEBRA: I’m sure, I’m sure.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Oh, absolutely! And like you said, gluten, it’s in oats, it’s in rye, it’s in barley. It’s in all of that.
DEBRA: I just don’t eat any grains at all anymore.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah!
DEBRA: And I feel so much better. I feel so much better because my thyroid gland is working.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah! And it’s one of the things, when you look at the cosmetic products out there, of course, you can see some of them, like I mentioned before, you’ll see like hydrolyzed wheat protein. It’s in a lot of skin care products. It’s in a lot of shampoos because it’s used as a conditioner to help condition the hair and also, the skin.
And then, if you see anything that says like “hordeum vulgari,” stay away from that because that contains gluten too. It’s part of the barley; and then, also triticum.
Triticum is another name for the wheat itself. And if you see that on the label, you should avoid it.
Now, I have mentioned before we went off for the little intermission there that vitamin E can be derived from wheat, and there are some other materials within these products that are derived from wheat, you’ve got to be very careful.
DEBRA: I’m sorry I have to interrupt you again because we’ve got to take another break. But immediately, when we come back from this break, we are going to talk about exactly that (without me telling my story).
ANTHONY VARGAS: Sure, okay.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. I’m here with Anthony Vargas, founder and owner of Tilth Beauty. And we’re talking about gluten-free skincare products. We’ll be right back.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. My guest today is Anthony Vargas, founder and owner of Tilth Beauty which is a high-performance, luxury anti-aging skincare line that is also gluten-free.
So, tell us now, Anthony, about those ingredients that are probably in everybody’s skincare products that are derived from wheat and have gluten in them but don’t say so in the name.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Correct! One of them is vitamin E. It’s very common in a lot of cosmetic products. You see it labeled as tocopherol. And that can come from wheat.
We make sure that we don’t use any form of tocopherol or vitamin E that’s derived from wheat. We get it from other sources that are not from wheat or barley or oats. So it’s going to be gluten-free.
And you know, something else that we do is we actually run a test on the whole product afterwards to make sure. Sometimes, you don’t get the full information from the maker or the manufacture of the raw material. You’ve got to be very careful about that too. You’ve got to scrutinize how they make these ingredients or where they are derived from.
And I think that if a consumer sees that a line says gluten-free, they can rest assure that they’re not going to have any gluten in those products. And I think that’s the only way. If you don’t see it says “gluten-free,” then it could be questionable. And what you need to do is you need to read that label.
DEBRA: Well, you know, it could be questionable in the sense that—I remember when I was researching lead-free lipsticks. I was calling around and I was saying, “Does your lipstick have lead in it? Does your lipstick have lead in it?”, most people didn’t know how to answer the question. They didn’t know that the iron oxide—it’s where the lead is, in the iron oxide. And of course, they had iron oxide. And they had never tested their lipsticks to find out if they were lead-free or not. And so they would just say, “Oh, no! There’s no lead in it. There’s no lead in it. There’s no lead in it.” And yet all these lipsticks where all these places I was calling all had lead in them.
And so, I think that if somebody is concerned about gluten-free, then they need to buy a product that is advertised as being gluten-free so that they know that the people behind making it have some idea what they’re talking about and had an intention to make it gluten-free instead of just asking a company if their product is gluten-free.
ANTHONY VARGAS: You know, Debra, there was actually a study that was done a couple of years ago. And it was presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s annual scientific meeting, and the title of it was Information About Cosmetic Ingredients is Difficult to Obtain. The petition was for Celiac patients.
DEBRA: Wow!
ANTHONY VARGAS: So, somebody did go out and tried and figured this out. And you’re right, there’s a lot of companies that really sometimes don’t know or don’t give out the information. It’s getting a little bit better. And the reason why it’s getting a little bit better is because of the European Union. If you’re dealing or selling products over in Europe, you have to outline all of this.
You have to outline if there’s lead in your products. You have to outline if there’s gluten or anything like that.
And there’s even other materials, like nanomaterials—you know, if you’ve got nanomaterials in your products, you actually have to label your packaging that it contains that now.
DEBRA: Wow! They are so far ahead of us.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah! So, the European Union is way ahead of the United States when it comes to issues like that.
DEBRA: Yeah, but they have been for a long time. I remember in 1990 when I was first writing—I specialize in writing about toxics now. I started 30 years ago writing about toxics. But there was a little time period in between where I was writing about all kinds of green issues. And in 1990, I went to a green products show in Germany because we didn’t have a green product show here. And when I walked in, tears came to my eyes because they had all these products that I had never heard of here.
And they were already there in Germany. And so, we have a ways to go to catch up with Europe.
But at the same time, I went to this green product show, I was walking down the street breathing cigarette smoke because they were all sitting in caffeine with cream all over it, smoking cigarettes.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yes, the Europeans certainly do love their cigarettes.
DEBRA: You know, you go from one extreme to the other over there.
ANTHONY VARGAS: But really, seriously though, I think that the cosmetic manufacturers here in the United States really seriously need to look at keeping these materials out of their products now.
And silicone is another material that’s going to be coming up soon because there’s a problem with them. They’re inert so they don’t degrade. And they’re accumulating in the environment. And you look at your products, and I would say probably 80% to 90% of your products contain silicones.
DEBRA: Hmmm…
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah, but it’s an ingredient I think that the whole industry needs to start looking at.
A few years ago, Canada was looking at banning certain silicones. I was working over at my old job there at Arden, and I was like, “Oh, my God! If they did that, I would be in a lot of trouble.” But the industry and some other people had lobbied, and they didn’t pass the laws. But it’s something that’s still going to be coming down sooner or later.
And if the industry […] gave the same information to the consumer here in the United States as they’re giving to the people over in Europe, it would make it a lot easier for the consumer, but it’s got a ways to go. And that’s why we have our line. You don’t have to worry. We put that right on the label if it’s gluten-free or paraben-free or anything. I know the regulations. I know what materials shouldn’t be in products and which ones are questionable for future use. So I don’t put any of them in our products.
DEBRA: Was it difficult to do that?
ANTHONY VARGAS: We use a lot of naturally-derived materials in our products. And that’s going to be the way to go. We do use peptides within our products. But peptides, basically, they mimic the same peptides in your skin. They’re made from amino acids. And amino acids are the basic building blocks of all the proteins in your skin. So it’s not going to harm you. And that’s why…
DEBRA: So, when you were putting all these together, did you find it difficult to find ingredients? Once you made the decision, was it a big deal? Could every…
I mean, your products are beautiful. They look like any products that you would find in a department store. I mean, somebody who’s accustomed to buying those luxury line skincare products, they wouldn’t notice any difference. It’s not like something that’s not that fine, not what one might expect from a natural product. It’s not a granola product. It is beautiful, it works and all those things.
But couldn’t everybody, all the different brands, just formulate like you? Why do we need to have those toxic chemicals at all?
ANTHONY VARGAS: Well, here is the thing with that. A lot of those chemicals are basically inexpensive. And that’s why they use them because when you’re developing a product, you have a cost of goods target you have to meet. So it’s easy to use those chemicals because they’re inexpensive. Some of the more naturally-derived materials are more expensive. And that’s why.
DEBRA: Yes. And we need to take another break. We need to take another break. We’ll be right back.
You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. And we’re talking about beauty products and cosmetics with
Anthony Vargas, founder and owner of Tilth Beauty. And that’s TilthBeauty.com.
DEBRA: You’re listening to Toxic Free Talk Radio. I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. And we’re here today with Anthony Vargas, founder and owner of Tilth Beauty. We’re talking about gluten-free natural skincare products and cosmetic products in general.
So, before we go on with Anthony, I just want to mention that tonight, 11:00, Eastern time, I’m going to be on with Jeff Renz.
He’s going to be interviewing me tonight. So tune in and we’ll see what he asks me. We’ll be on all for the whole hour from 11:00 to midnight tonight right here where you tune in for this show. You just tune in right at the same place. And you’ll hear Jeff Renz interviewing me.
So, Anthony, tell us about your products now. Just tell us the different types of products you have and how they work together and all their benefits.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Oh, sure! I have a line of 14 products. We have three cleansers, two toners. We had two treatment serums. We have two eye products, two moisture creams. We have an exfoliator. And we have a misting product. And we also have a body lotion.
Now, we start out with the cleansers because that’s what you would normally start out with. And we have three different types of cleansers. We have what we call a cream foaming cleanser because there are certain consumers that like that.
And this one is infused with natural extracts that contain a lot of antioxidants within them, so they can deposit that on the skin.
We have a gel cleanser because sometimes the consumers prefer that. And it’s sulfate-free. All these products are paraben-free, sulfate-free. It’s a great product infused with rose extract within it because Rose has a great propensity to help to regenerate the skin. And it has the rose kind of scent to it too.
And then, we have what we call our oily cleanser. And this one is for the consumer that looks for an oily type cleanser. And it helps to take off the makeup. And that one has the argan oil, the jojoba oil and also caprylic capric triglyceride in it. It’s a very nice organic cleanser.
And believe it or not, a lot of men like the cleanser. They use it for shaving. And it leaves their skin smooth and soft.
DEBRA: Hmmm… I do want to mention…
ANTHONY VARGAS: We had a lot of comments on it for men. As a matter of fact, some of the women who bought the product say that their husbands keep stealing it from them. So they have to keep buying it.
And then, we have two toners. Now we’re redefining how toners are because people believe toners are basically just to remove excess dirt. But we use our toners actually to help treat the skin too. We have a berry extract toner. And it contains three different berry extracts—blueberry, goji beans and cranberry. And they have tons of antioxidants, so they’re going to help protect the skin.
And then we have the Aloe Restoration toner. It’s got aloe and cactus extract. And they help to refortify the skin and the skin’s barrier. It’s great for older, mature skin.
Now, we have some treatment products. We have the A Flawless Serum. And this one contains a proven cosmoceutical ingredient, retinol. It’s a vitamin A. It’s something that your skin needs for its collagen-boosting properties and what-not. And it also helps to basically repair or help repair the signs of sun damage. And it also has Indian ginseng extract and myrtle leaf extract which actually increase the efficacy of the retinol—all in a very nice paraben-free base.
We have a serum for younger consumer which is what we call the Sea Origin Serum. And it has 11 marine extracts. There’s a lot of algae and what-not. I have a seaweed out there that have a lot of properties for protecting the skin, containing antioxidants. It’s a glycoprotein to help moisturize the skin. So it’s a great product for younger consumers to help protect their skin.
We follow that up with some moisturizers. We have what we call the Anti-Aging Firming Moisture Cream. It’s got a lot of natural oils in it. And it will help firm the skin.
DEBRA: I think that’s the one I have.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah! It’s a naturally derived material. And it helps to enhance collagen and elastin production. And a lot of people like that particular product.
And for those who have very dry skin, but don’t need, let’s say, anti-aging benefits, we have the Intense Restoration Moisture Cream.
DEBRA: Actually, that’s the one I have. I was just looking at the box, the Intense Restoration.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah, it’s great! It’s got…
DEBRA: That’s the one where I put it on and my skin just…
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah, they’re going to help to nourish the skin and repair any damage that’s done to your skin’s barrier.
It’s a great product and people really, really love it.
But we also have a body moisturizer. We have what we call the hydration body lotion. And that one’s also a chock full of natural ingredients, butters and oils, that help to again repair the skin’s barrier. And it’s a great product!
It’s not overly greasy. And a lot of people love what it does to their skin.
And then, we have this—well, it’s kind of a product that’s a little bit different. It’s our Refresh Peptide Mist. It’s a product that you would use during the day if you feel that your skin is a little irritated or a little dry. Just pull it out of your pocket book and spray it on your face. And it also helps to set back your make-up.
It’s funny because a couple people really, really loved it. And there was this actor who had asked us for it. He was getting married, and they wanted to put it in their gift bag, which is kind of cool.
And then, we have our Gentle Poppy Seed Exfoliator. It’s totally all-natural, organic ingredients within it. It’s got date seed, poppy seed in it. Great exfoliator! It’s not overly harsh, it’s very gentle on the skin. And it’s a kind of exfoliator where you can just use it on its own or, if you want, you can mix it with your favorite cleanser. So, you can use it two ways.
And that’s our line. It’s a great line. It’s 14 total.
I forgot about the two eye products. There’s the eye product, the serum, The Eye Wonder Serum. And that’s for the woman who has a lot of crow’s feet or what-not. And again, this one has encapsulated retinol in addition to a few peptides that help to alleviate the look of those wrinkles.
And we also have the Resurrect Eye Cream. And this is a great product. It’s more for the woman who has dryness around the eye area because it also helps moisturize. But it has four different peptides in it. It has a couple of peptides that help to alleviate the immediate look of those wrinkles; and then two other peptides which helps to introduce more collagen or boost up the collagen production in your skin and increase the firmness around the eye area, the skin in the eye area. It’s a great product. We’ve gotten rave reviews on it actually.
DEBRA: I really like these products on my skin.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Again, all questionable ingredients are out. There’s no parabens. It’s glutenf-free. No phthalates, no sulfates, no petroleum-based ingredients, no silicones. We keep out anything with EEA and TEA out of them. We don’t use any [unintelligible 34:32] or anything like that in there or any of these acrylic-type materials, thickeners and what-not, that they put in the products.
DEBRA: One thing I want to mention just because a lot of people are asking about fragrances is that I didn’t see any additional fragrance on the ingredients list, but that these do have a very slight fragrance just from the botanical ingredients which is fine with me personally. I mean, you don’t say anything on the label about if it’s fragrance-free or not fragrance-free. So how would you describe the fragrances level of your products?
ANTHONY VARGAS: Well, we don’t put any synthetic fragrances in all of our products. Any time that you smell any kind of a scent, it usually comes from the extracts themselves.
DEBRA: Yeah, that’s what it smelled like to me, yeah.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah, we don’t like to put fragrances in. There’s a lot of problems with that. Fragrances have so many components to them.
DEBRA: Yes, we’ve talked about that on the show.
ANTHONY VARGAS: And there’s a list of about 24 ingredients that if they’re in your fragrance, you have to list it on your cosmetic ingredient list because they’re deemed to be known allergens.
So, any time that there’s a scent in our products, it comes from one of the extracts, not from a fragrance or anything like that.
DEBRA: Good! We’re almost to the end of our time. Do you have any final words you’d like to give us?
ANTHONY VARGAS: Yeah! I think what the consumer needs to do, really, they need to educate themselves. And they really need to look at the ingredients of the products that they’re buying. Typically, I think a lot of the consumers just go by the marketing hype and buy the product. And then, they don’t look at the ingredients. You know, I’m horrified sometimes when I see these products all of a sudden selling like crazy, and then I look at the ingredients list. It’s like, “Oh, my God! Are they kidding me? There’s a lot of these questionable ingredients in this product.”
Consumers need to know what they’re buying. They really, really need to do that and educate themselves.
DEBRA: I agree. Thank you so much for being with us today. I learned a lot. And I like your products. Thank you for coming.
ANTHONY VARGAS: Great!
DEBRA: I’m Debra Lynn Dadd. This is Toxic Free Talk Radio. You can see Anthony’s products at TilthBeauty.com. You can visit my website, ToxicFreeTalkRadio.com. And listen to me tonight at 11:00 p.m., Eastern, with Jeff Renz. This is Toxic Free Talk Radio.
