The philosophy and formulations behind Tronque clean, face-worthy bodycare, arose through my own struggle with ovarian cysts, stage 4 endometriosis, colon obstruction and other uterine complications.

The surgeon described my pelvis during my most recent surgery as ‘spaghetti’ and that it was ‘one of the most difficult surgeries he’d ever performed’. My left fallopian tube was wrapped around a 6cm cyst, and attached to my colon along with adhesions and endometriosis penetrating organs and ovaries. Recovery was long, but almost everything was saved.

I’d always thought I was living a healthy lifestyle – eating well, getting plenty of exercise, 80/20 lifestyle. But following my second extensive eight-hour surgery, I began to question a few things. And shifted my focus from what was going into my body, to what I was putting on my body.

While recovering, I learned so much about endocrine disruptors and xenoestrogens. Armed with a list of the ten top toxic ingredients, I threw open my bathroom cabinet to throw out anything that was ‘toxic’… After throwing out 53 products that I used daily from top to toe, I was left with three products that I felt safe using. This was a sobering moment.

The products I used are considered some of the best in the market. So as you can imagine, I was shocked to find they were some of the most toxic on the shelves of cosmetics retailers, department stores and pharmacies.

This revelation led to months of research into skincare and makeup ingredients. And what I learned made me feel sick. Cosmetics contain industrial chemicals, known carcinogens, phthalates, silicones, parabens, nanoparticles, and other nasties, which can disrupt the body’s endocrine system and cause other biological destruction.

According to the (United States) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, an Endocrine Disruptor “is a chemical that mimics hormones and can bind to receptors in the endocrine system.” When the endocrine system (hormonal system; ovaries, testicles, thyroid and adrenals) is exposed to these disruptors, all hell can break loose, resulting in hormone imbalances, uterine diseases, cysts, pregnancy issues, immune issues, skin reactions and cancerous cell formation.

Disruptors called xenoestrogens, basically mimic oestrogen production in the body by binding to the hormones, ‘acting’ like oestrogen and switching oestrogen receptors on. This can cause oestrogen dominant havoc in both women and men. Females are more susceptible, although men have low doses of oestrogen, which can also become unbalanced if exposed to elevated levels of these xenoestrogens.

The chemicals are mostly used as stabilisers, fillers and preservatives to extend shelf life and bulk out the product’s active ingredients to maximise profit. How each body can tolerate and process these toxins is different. Some people may be more affected or susceptible to certain health concerns than others.

There’s been little regulation by the FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) since the 1970s on chemicals and ingredients used in the cosmetic industry. While only 30 ingredients have been banned for cosmetic use in the USA, 600 are banned in Canada, and 1400 have been banned in Europe. With so many personal care brands based in America, these statistics really worried me.

As new chemicals, nanoparticles and technologies are developed to trigger customer demand, we’re seeing an equivalent increase in illnesses connected to the environment and our lifestyle.

“It’s a dichotomy: using personal care products to look and feel our best, while these products are full of toxins that are causing us harm.” - Tanne Snowden

Formulating without these cheap toxic fillers and preservatives is much more expensive. But at what point does it outweigh the cost of potential long-term suffering? And what’s it worth to avoid this pain and illness?

In 2019, endocrine disruptors were mentioned on the 3^rd page of a Google search for ‘endometriosis’, in a scholarly article that the average person would miss. Luckily, we’re now talking about clean beauty, and more customers are becoming better informed by their own research. 

When it comes to personal care products, we’ve been trained by marketing to assume that what we’re buying is safe, with terms that sound ‘healthy’ or ‘good’ for us. The onus is on us to look beyond marketing and seek our own answers.

Skin is our largest organ. We’ve been covering that highly absorbent organ with problematic ingredients for years. I want to help educate people so they can be more discerning and stay safer with what they put on their skin.

Tronque is the result of my own search for safer skincare. And a way for me to help as many people as possible by offering an ethical, safer alternative to skincare. One that focuses on skin from the neck down. And I wanted to avoid using any of the ingredients I found to be associated with health problems. So other people would never need to ask, ‘could this product be harming me?’.

Treat your body, with the utmost care, consideration, integrity and as beautifully as you treat your face.

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