Chemicals in Skincare: How They Are Affecting Your Health
What we place on our skin does absorb in
We know that applying products superficially can make us look great on the outside, but how does it affect us on the inside? We need our skin, for obvious reasons, and it accounts for more than 10 percent of our body’s mass. Chemicals in certain skincare products enter our bloodstream as we apply them to the surface of the skin. By knowing this, looking at the ingredients in skincare products is essential for understanding what is going into our body. Natural, healthy ingredients integrated with products that actually work, create many benefits for the body.
Steering clear of the bad stuff
To analyze each and every ingredient in the bundle of daily products the typical consumer uses can be daunting. Our intention for the products we use regularly are to improve our skin, and conquer troubling characteristics. Things that we soak in, apply and not wash off like lotion and oils, shampoos and conditioners are the more penetrating products that absorb into our bodies. Lesser exposure products like hand soaps, makeup and leave-in hair products also allow chemical residue. To keep things more simple, avoiding certain ingredients may be easier than searching for the various natural ingredients. A good way to do this is to pick a standard and know when to not be overwhelmed by reading tons labels and disregard the ingredient worries entirely.
Products to avoid
Parabens - A preservative with a very bad rap since harmful exposure is still in the works of discovery. Alternative preservatives may be just as bad if not worse, so substitution checks are good to look for.
Formaldehyde - Various ingredients can contain formaldehyde or break down into the chemical. 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol, diazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl, and quaternium 15.
Phthalates - These can disrupt bodily organs and have many negative effects on the body.
Nanoparticles - These can include inflammation and heart problems. Mainly issued by inhalation, which many shelf products can be inhaled regardless of their use purpose.
Fragrance - Hundreds of synthetic chemicals can legally hide under this name, “fragrance”. Many containing phthalates, which cause many issues in the body.
As these chemicals are prominent in many products that are meant to be used daily, there is a serious issue with ingredient awareness today, and marketing has taken over this important concern. There are many other chemicals to look out for, but some product lines keep their ingredients to the minimum and focus on staying natural, and matching the skin’s pH levels.
For nearly every skin problem, there are natural ingredients to solve it. For instance, Manuka honey has many healing benefits, and scientific evidence to back it up. In New Zealand, honey made by bees in the Manuka bush has incredible therapeutic properties. Water is normally the dominant base ingredient in most products. Having aloe vera as the base, will constitute a better product since aloe vera gel has even more benefits than water for the surface of the skin. Coconut oil, cocoa seed butter, shea butter, blue-green algae, olive oil and hemp seed oil are other key ingredients for natural, working products.
Wild Naturals skin care products provide the proper pH balance, the best natural and organic ingredients, and products that really work. Choosing the right moisturizers, shampoos and conditioners without harmful ingredients will have your skin, and the environment thanking you.
