Health

 by: Pamela Cronan-Maddox

“Beauty is a glorious gift of nature.” Homer

What you put on your skin is absorbed through your skin. To be more precise, the skin absorbs approximately 60% of any substance applied to it. Hence the success of trans-dermal skin patches prescribed by physicians to deliver medications.

Unfortunately, most of the skin care products mass produced for the market today, even those claiming to be `all natural’ and/or `botanically based’ products, contain harsh, toxic and even possibly carcinogenic ingredients that actually contribute to disorders of the skin and accelerate the aging process.

There is a growing concern from consumers about the ingredients in the personal care products they use daily. In a recent study by the US General Accounting Office (GAO), 125 ingredients found in cosmetics are suspected of causing cancer. Twenty ingredients have been implicated in causing birth defects. Twenty ingredients may cause adverse neurological symptoms, such as headaches and convulsions. Most of these toxic chemicals are so inexpensive that they are used in extremely high concentrations in many personal care products.

These toxic chemicals provide no benefits or nutrients to the skin. They are the inexpensive alternatives employed to achieve the “feel” or “slip” to the skin that occurs naturally using pure, nutritious, essential oils and vegetable oils. The chemicals used to replace the nutritious components are used in significant concentrations in most skin care products. Their only purpose is to increase the profit margins for the manufacturers. The health of the consumer is completely disregarded.

The trend for natural products is growing because the educated consumer is now demanding these for face and body care. Making the decision to use only natural products is easy. Incorporating this decision into your everyday life becomes more difficult as you try to practice it. It is nearly impossible to find completely natural and organic personal care products on the commercial market. It is offensive to see large numbers of chemically laden personal care products lining the shelves of natural health and food markets. Marketed as “Natural”, these products contain harmful synthetic chemicals; however, few of us have the time to peruse the ingredient lists of our moisturizer, deodorant, body lotion and any of the other products we apply daily. We trust that the products sold in these “natural health stores” are safe for the entire family, and so we believe the advertised claims on the bottles of shampoo, lotion, facial care, etc.

According to industry estimates, on any given day a consumer may use as many as 25 different cosmetics and personal care products containing more than 200 different chemical compounds. If a product claims to be organic and /or natural, its ingredients should be easily recognizable as natural components. Also, the ingredients should be listed in descending order with the most prominent factors listed first.

Nature offers all that is needed for healthy, radiant and beautiful skin.

“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” Aristotle