by Naïby Jacques

So let me guess.

Every time you need to take care of your skin, you go the beauty section or the beauty shop. You look at all those skin care products that supposedly do something special for your skin. Each and every one of them. There’s an array of them. And you end up buying the ones that are aimed to solve your skin care problem.

Of course, you have to do what’s needed to get rid of your crocodile skin, to eradicate your crater-like pimples, or to erase your dreadful signs of aging. So you probably try or already tried all those products that are touted to you by the cosmetic industry to get the results that you want.

Because you need to put an end to your misery of not having the perfect skin, you need to feel beautiful at once.

But I have a to get this off my chest:

You should stop putting these products on your face.

Here’s why:

If only you knew what were in those products, you wouldn’t do so.

They contain toxic chemicals and can do serious damage to your skin and your health.

That’s the truth! You’re applying toxins to your skin.

Go ahead and pick up a skin care product. Any product. I dare you to say all the ingredients very rapidly.

Are you stuttering yet?

I’m sure you are. But hey, if you’ve used many of these products in the past, that’s not your fault. You may not have realized the extent to which many common skin care products contain suspect ingredients with unrecognizable or unpronounceable names.

So you need to know this…

YOUR SKIN DESERVES THE BEST TLC

When oil spills happen in the ocean, do you know what usually happens?

The whole world screams D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R and stops to pick up the mess.

Oil spills clog beaches. Oil spills kill thousands and thousands of animals like: seabirds, sea otters, harbor seals, bald eagles, and even whales. These animals are just plane decimated.

Now I have question for you.

Would you bathe in it?

Of course not. So why would you put it on your body?

The vast majority of skin care products are petroleum-based. I bet you didn’t see the connection between petroleum and oil. Petroleum is oil. That black oil that contaminates the ocean and kills living organisms.

When you put commercial skin care products on your skin, you’re essentially coating your body with that killer oil. You’re essentially contaminating yourself.

You’re also coating your body with other toxic products.

If you want to have great-looking skin, if you want to maximize your skin’s healthy appearance, you will want to be well informed and choose the absolute best natural products to get the REAL results that you want.

And that means, avoiding these toxic products.

7 HAZARDOUS INGREDIENTS THAT CAN POTENTIALLY HARM YOU

 

1. Parabens. They are heavily used preservatives in the cosmetic industry in an estimated 13,200 cosmetic and skin care products (deodorants, moisturizers and shampoos). Parabens – the most common ones being methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben – allow skin care products to survive for months or even years on your shelves. According to Mercola.com, they have hormone-disrupting qualities that mimic estrogen and could disrupt your body’s endocrine system. They have been linked to breast cancer tumors in a study published in 2004.

2. Mineral Oil, Paraffin, and Petrolatum. These petroleum products coat the skin like plastic – clogging pores and creating a build-up of toxins. Because it’s very viscous (slippery), many products use mineral oil as the main ingredient, as it allows the lotion to be spread easily across your skin. But they can block your pores from eliminating toxins. Blocked pores can lead to blackheads and pimples. They can also disrupt hormonal activity.

3. Sodium laurel or lauryl sulfate (SLS), also known as sodium laureth sulfate (SLES). Found in over 90% of personal care products, they’re used in cosmetics as a detergent and also to make products (body washes, soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and laundry detergent, but also engine degreasers, and garage floor cleaners) bubble and foam. They break down your skin’s moisture barrier, potentially leading to dry skin. And because they easily penetrate your skin, they can allow other chemicals easy access. According to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, SLS is a “moderate hazard” that has been linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, organ toxicity, skin irritation and endocrine disruption. Combined with other chemicals, it may become a “nitrosamine” – a potent carcinogen.

4. Acrylamide. Found in many facial creams, this chemical is a potential carcinogen. It can affect you when breathed in and by passing through your skin. Contact can cause eye irritation, watering and inflammation. It may damage the nervous system causing numbness, “pins and needles” and/or weakness in the hands and feet.

5. Propylene glycol (PG). It comes in several grades and has been used for a variety of uses. Industrial grade PG is used as an active ingredient in engine coolants and antifreeze, airplane deicers, polyurethane cushions paints, enamels and varnishes, and in many products as a solvent or surfactant. It’s common in cosmetic moisturizers and as a carrier for fragrance oils. It may cause dermatitis and skin irritation.

6. Dioxane. This is hidden in ingredients and is not found on ingredient labels because 1,4-dioxane is created when common ingredients react to form the compound. Look for PEG, polysorbates, laureth, and ethoxylated alcohols in your personal care products. These chemicals are often contaminated with high concentrations of highly volatile 1,4-dioxane that’s easily absorbed through the skin and easily inhaled through nasal passages, which are considered extremely vulnerable. Its carcinogenicity was first reported in 1965, and later confirmed in other studies in 1978.

7. Aluminum. In cosmetic products, it lurks in lotions, sunscreens, shampoos, and mostly in antiperspirants and deodorants (including salt crystals, made of alum). The reason is that it’s effective at minimizing or blocking perspiration. But with persistent antiperspirant use, you compromise the detoxification process, known as sweating. Aluminum is also known to breach the blood-brain barrier and has been found in abnormally high levels in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Recent research has also confirmed that metals such as aluminum mimic estrogen, which can cause breast cancer in women.

There’s so much more. To find out if your skin care products are toxic check out SKIN DEEP from the Environmental Working Group, EWG.ORG. This website will rate the toxicity on a scale from zero to ten (best to worst). You’ll be surprised to learn that the women and baby products (were you also using baby oil on your body, girl?) are the highest in toxicity.

So what’s the alternative?

6 BEST WAYS TO GET FLAWLESS SKIN

When you apply stuff on your skin you might think it’s harmless. You might think your skin is just like an insignificant envelope that covers the insides of your body.

But it’s not.

It’s as important as any organ in your body. Because your skin is ALSO an organ. Your skin is your largest organ and most importantly, your thinnest. It’s highly permeable, which means that what you apply to your skin accesses your bloodstream easily, just like the foods you eat pass through your digestive system into your bloodstream.

So why would you put anything on your skin you wouldn’t be willing to eat?

You need to nourish the insides of your body the same way you need to nourish your skin.

These 6 natural ways can help:

1. Hydrate your entire system. Drink lots of water, especially during the cooler months. If you don’t like your water too cold, try to bring it to room temperature to encourage drinking more. Or enjoy more warm green teas and herbal infusions.

2. Eat a healthy diet of mostly raw foods. Raw foods – plant-foods eaten raw, that is – give you the most nutrients (vitamins and micronutrients) because they’re not denatured by heat or detrimental processing methods. They’re also rich very in water, making them hydrating. Choose foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, which also produce a hydrating effect from the inside out.

3. Exfoliate your skin. Use a soft skin brush or scrub your skin with sea salts, like Himalayan salts, to eliminate dead cells that are trapped, bringing up the shinier skin underneath. Caution! Don’t use harsh scrubs as they can also damage your skin and maybe you can do this in wide intervals, unless you’re doing in detox treatment.

4. Sweat your ass off. Evacuate your toxins by going to saunas or by working out. It keeps the blood flow going. If you don’t like working out, you might enjoy dancing like c-r-a-z-y on the Uptown Funk song by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.

5. Moisturize daily with non-clogging natural moisturizers. Simply use natural moisturizers such as coconut oil or Shea butter (my personal favorite). These nourish your skin instead of clogging it, as many toxin-impaired moisturizers do.

6. Use natural facial cleansers to remove make-up. If you can’t stop using make-up just yet, you can at least change your make-up remover. Simply use olive oil or coconut oil. It’s good for both dry and oily skin. I personally prefer the former. It works wonders. You can put it on a cotton ball and clean right under your eyes without having any irritation. And if you don’t like the left over oily sensation on your skin, a little bit of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps (liquid or bar) will do the trick.

I used to have lots of pimples on my face and since I’ve used these alternative ways to take care of my skin, not only has my skin cleared up, but I use very little make-up to cover my then uneven skin tone.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM TOXIC CHEMICALS AND GET RADIANT HEALTHY SKIN NOW

The Environmental Working Group estimates that 99% of the products in North America in about 10,000 products contain one or more ingredients that have never been evaluated for safety.

Why do so many skin care product use these potentially hazardous ingredients?

Because they’re cheap, because they’re readily available, and because they’re easy to dilute.

And the worst part?

They can really hurt you.

You can’t count on the cosmetic industry to really care about you. What they really care about is saving those dollars.

Because money reigns supreme.

The cosmetics industry is a $50 billion a year business (in the US alone). It spends a remarkable $2 billion a year on advertising.

So you need to watch out for yourself. You need to be the captain of your own ship. You need to know what lies in the products you use.

And then use healthier alternatives:

Eating well, using clean and natural products and not to mention doing exercise.

Cleaning your skin is important, just like keeping your internal organs clean and healthy is.

So go grab your containers of skin care products, check each and one of them and decide to really take care of your skin and yourself.

Because nobody else will but you.