Make Safer Choices When Deciding on Skincare

Skincare has been in use as far back as ancient civilizations, but they used natural raw ingredients to protect, smooth, refresh and enrich their skin and body.

Unfortunately, harmful ingredients are not absent from the products we use today and trust me when I tell you labels fall short! What does this mean to you? This means you may not always be aware of ALL the ingredients used in your most beloved brands.  

Did you know on average, women use about 12 different cosmetic products every single day that contain synthetic ingredients? Using so many synthetic products daily can mean exposure to high levels of toxic ingredients that can (and often do) impact our health. 

I've said this before - our skin is our largest organ and often times what goes on the body goes in the body! Period. This means these harmful ingredients are adsorbed into ALL our body systems. Think about that for a minute. All our body systems, which can impact our overall health. 

In an article I read recently it stated "Absorption into the body systems occurs when the ingredient breaks right through the layers of skin and enters the bloodstream. At this point, the body can either filter out the chemical through a fluid excretion, change it into another chemical, or the chemical will begin to accumulate inside the body, a circumstance called bioaccumulation." * 

When my husband and I developed health issues (Cancer and Autoimmune Disorder) is when I began to understand the affects these harmful ingredients can have on health. So many of these ingredients could lead to or have been linked to cancer, hormonal issues and skin sensitivities. Many of these ingredients are industrial chemicals that are carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and endocrine system disruptors. Be on the lookout for these ingredients (just to name a few) when picking up your next products:

1) PLASTICIZERS namely phthalates

2) COAL TAR DYES or artificial colors

3) FORMALDEHYDE-RELEASING PRESERVATIVES with names like quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, polyoxymethylene urea, sodium hydroxymethyl glycinate, bromopol and glyoxal

4) PARABENS

5) PERFUMES or SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCES

6) ETHYLHEXYL SALICYLATE also know as SALICYLIC ACID AND BETA HYDROXY ACID

7)YELLOW 5 or TARTRAZINE

8) MERCURY

9) TALC

10) PROPYLENE GLYCOL. 

As you can see, if you cant pronounce it or know what it is, DON'T use it. 

Synthetic ingredients can eventually make their way into the air, water, and earth. So as you can see natural products are beneficial not only to you and your skin but also to the environment. 

So how can you make safer choices? I always say to look for products with ingredients you can pronounce and are indeed natural (if in doubt look it up) and pick a company that cares about the environment. 

Companies that have switched to natural ingredients made the decision to replace harmful synthetic ingredients because they care about you and the earth we share. They know that many of these natural sources contain no pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or GMO's and the growing methods may release fewer chemicals into the environment (now I like the sound of that).