What are the Benefits of Using All-Natural Skin Care Products?

Each and every day, women all over this country slather on lotions, foundations, powders, creams, and more to make their skin feel better and so they can feel better presenting themselves to the world.  However, with each smear, smudge, puff, and rub, there is the chance that those women are poisoning their bodies.  The Food and Drug Administration, which is the organization that is supposed to control what is marketed for use on and in our bodies, has done little in the way of regulating what materials go into beauty related products.  It is now being discovered that many of those ingredients are able to be absorbed through the skin and thereby enter the body.  With them comes all of their toxic nature, and no one has taken the time to fully test, over the long term, what the results will be after daily exposure to the long list of chemical elements.

Learning the Dangers: For instance, did you know that in your beauty essentials, there is likely to be found mercury, dioxin, nitrosamines, DEA, cyclomethicone, isopropyl alcohol, and polyethylene glycol.  Each of these has been found to have damaging characteristics.  Mercury can be stored by the kidneys, and other body parts for long periods of time, and poses a serious threat to unborn children.  Furthermore, it has the properties of a neurotoxin, which means that over time it could begin to attack the nervous system.  Dioxin and nitrosamines are both known carcinogens.  DEA is linked to kidney, liver, and other organ damage.  Even isopropyl alcohol, which is used widely, is known to cause severe dermatitis in test animals and is thought to be a primary source of acne in humans.  Thus, one can see how important it is to become familiar with the potentially harmful ingredients in order to make quick and intelligent decisions regarding future purchases.

Shopping Smart: Learning all of the possible toxins that could make their way into the products you use could take a very long time, and is probably not a process that you want to start.  However, it can help to learn those that are most commonly used.  It can also be beneficial to understand the way that these will be listed on the label.  It is mandated that manufacturers list ingredients in order of highest quantity, so that those that make up the largest part of the product come first.  It is typically safe to assume this list can be divided into thirds, and that in the first third will be found those materials that make up ninety to ninety-five percent of the product.  Frequently, these ingredients will include the emollients, humectants, emulsifiers, surfactants, and preservatives.  Emollients provide instant moisture.  The best provider of moisture is water, but it requires the use of oils to keep it from evaporating.  Humectants help keep the skin moist as time goes by.  They provide, in essence, a barrier between the skin and its surroundings, which prevents excessive evaporation resulting in dry skin. Emulsifiers hold ingredients together.  Products without emulsifiers often require that you ‘shake before use.’ Surfactants bring grime to the surface to be washed away.  These will be found in soaps, shampoos, and other bodily cleaning agents.  Finally, there are preservatives, which prevent decay.  Frequently, truly natural, organic products will not contain preservatives.  You can prolong their shelf life by storing them in the refrigerator.  Each of these players is available in at least one natural and one synthetic form.  The prior is more favorable, as many synthetic materials carry toxins and other dangerous elements.  It is important to realize, however, that “natural” doesn’t necessarily mean safe.  It seems that in cosmetics, this term simply means that the product is made of ingredients derived from items found in nature.  What the label won’t share is that in order to manufacture these “derived” substances, there is often a need for not-so-natural chemicals, many of which may be carcinogens or neurotoxins.

You Safe Options: The best bet for those who want to better defend themselves against possible toxins and chemicals is to do research into the chemicals listed on labels to learn more about which present potential harm.  Choosing “organic” products is a safe way to go.  These will typically contain fruit extracts, bee’s wax, and other purely natural ingredients.  One can also, frequently, find recipes for products online and in this way can ensure that nothing harmful is used in the manufacturing process.  Making your own will take more time, but made in large quantities and stored correctly, it can last much longer and cost much less in the long run.  There is a movement happening today that will likely see a revamped cosmetic industry in the near future.  Until then, the consumer must be wise or she will risk real danger to her body and the environment around her.