Why Use Natural Skin Care Products?

The skin is the largest organ of our body.
While it was believed that the skin was our protection from potentially harmful chemicals, research now tells us that it is more like a sponge, absorbing up to 60% of what we put on it, hence the rising awareness of natural skin care products.
There are many chemicals in our daily personal care ingredients that are potentially harmful, for example: Sodium lauryl or laureth sulphate (SLS) is a cheap and easily formulated ingredient which provides plenty of bubbles.
SLS is often used in body washes and shampoos.
It is very abrasive and is the cause of many skin, hair, scalp and eye problems, and can even weaken teeth enamel when used in toothpaste.
Just as reading food labels is becoming important these days, we also need to be educated on the importance of reading personal care product labels to avoid harmful chemicals.
Understanding Skin Care Ingredients

1. The beginning of the label will include the surfactant, soap or lubricant.
   Look for ingredients that start with 'PEG' or contain sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate and avoid these.
   
2. Common fragrances and dyes are non essential additives and may be harmful.
   Look for 'FD&C', 'D&C' or 'FRAGRANCE'
3. Preservatives will be added to the product to increase the shelf life.
   Avoid these chemical preservatives:
   • Parabens (propyl, butyl or methyl) - found in breast tumours.
     
   • DMDM hydantoin or Imidaszolidinyl urea - toxic contaminants
   • Methylchloroisothiazolinone or Methylisothiazolinone - causes allergies
   • Triclosan or Triclocarban - Thyroid and environmental concerns
   • Cocoamide DEA, diethanolamine, TEA, triethanolamine, MEA -potentially cancer causing

With cancer, allergies and other medical problems on the increase it is important to be aware of harmful chemicals in our personal care products.
Some levels of toxic chemicals in personal care products may be small, but repeated use and exposure may have long term effects on your health.
There are many natural skin care products on the market today, but BEWARE, a lack of regulations allow products to state that they are natural or organic but still have toxic chemicals in them.
Therefore, it is important to read the product labels to ensure the ingredients are safe.
A basic rule to find natural skin care products is to look for a list of ingredients with names that you can pronounce and read without the need of a science degree.