Today's post is for people who are not yet convinced of the importance of pure, natural and safe skin care products and avoiding commonly used ingredients. In this message, I will answer the question posed in the title.
First off, your skin is not just skin deep. Substances you put on your skin (or come in contact with inadvertently) can be absorbed through the skin's porous surface into the bloodstream. Here is a link to an interesting article on skin absorption. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/skin-care_b_1540929 . If we have any doubt about whether we absorb substances through our skin think about the nicotine and contraceptive patches mentioned in this article. Proof positive.
News Flash: Many Personal Care Products Have Toxic Ingredients
I posted an in-depth article on this topic on October 6, so I'm not going to go into as much detail here.
Bottom line?
Hundreds of commons substances used in skin care and cosmetics can cause biological problems. I'm not just talking about a rash that clears up in a few days—though that happens. And I'm not just talking about fringe products that come from sketchy overseas manufacturers.
High-profile brands like Colgate, Estée Lauder, and L'Oréal use these ingredients, just to name a few. Why do they use these ingredients? Because they can reduce bulk manufacturing costs and increase shelf life. These are profit motivated strategies.
Chemicals used in many skin care products have been linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, and organ toxicity. Think about that! Organ toxicity. What organs are we talking about? The brain. The kidneys. The liver. The lungs. The heart. And let’s look at it in a slightly more personal way: your brain, your kidneys, your liver, your lungs and your heart!
And if organ toxicity isn’t bad enough, there’s the Big C. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 1,735,350 new cancer cases diagnosed, and 609,640 cancer deaths, in the United States this year.
Some of these chemicals can disrupt your endocrine system, which is a big deal. To help understand the importance of this the endocrine system is a network of glands that release hormones which have many critical functions including regulating metabolism, growth and development, tissue functions, reproductive and sexual functions, mood, sleep and other important body functions: including calorie conversion into energy. When the endocrine system is compromised, it can result in neurological, reproductive, and immune system problems.
Skeptics reading this might be asking, "Why don't we hear more about people getting sick from their skin care products?" One reason is that most skin care products aren't tested for long term effects like pharmaceuticals are. Many topical products are monitored only for short-term affects (like that rash I mentioned earlier). FDA regulations are very different for the skin care industry than for pharmaceuticals. They concern themselves more with bacteria count than ingredients used.
However, there is a body of testing on the chemicals used. A quick Google search will bring up hundreds of articles on the studies. For example, you can read about parabens here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089062381000078X and phthalates here: https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/chemicals-and-contaminants/phthalates
And, yes, we do hear about people getting sick from skin care products. Here is an article about a child and his parents being hospitalized for mercury poisoning. https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865659003/Your-skin-cream-may-be-making-you-sick.html
It doesn't take a leap of faith to accept that toxins in our environment contribute to the cancer epidemic. These poisons build up in our bodies over time. Since we can't protect ourselves from every harmful substance—like car emissions—why wouldn't we want to avoid them where we can? Specifically, in foods, personal care products, clothing fibers, and cleaning supplies.
Now that we've talked about the really serious stuff like cancer and organ toxicity, let's talk about some other reasons to care about what you put on your skin.
Skin care products can:
Dry out your skin (may contain various harmful alcohols)
Cause acne and eczema
Trigger an allergic reaction
Make you look older
Make your skin look dull
Clog your pores
Increase skin sensitivity
Fail to nourish your skin because the processing methods deplete the nutrients in the ingredients
Waste your money!
Ironically, these are the exact opposite results from what we want in skin care products and what we pay our money for. I hear so many times, from women, that they are sick of buying products that just don’t work. And if that's not enough, often seem to make their skin worse! Okay, I've made my case. I hope I have raised awareness of the importance of pure, natural and safe, non-toxic skin care ingredients.
Our company, Australiana Botanicals, adheres to a design premise of pure, natural and safe ingredients. We use botanical based ingredients, cold pressed fruits and fresh juices, seeds, nuts and berries that have high nutritional value in their own right. We harness the raw power of Australian Outback superfruits. These ancient superfruits have only recently been discovered by western science and have been proven to have some of the highest known nutrient values of any source on earth. Really good things for skin health without any of the risks of “big brand” products using dubious ingredients.
For sure, our products cost more to manufacture than using “traditional” ingredients. But we are more focused on great product rather than great profit. What would you prefer to use on your skin, and more pointedly, your kids?
If you have any questions about the “clean and green” skincare ingredients we use to formulate our botanical skin care products or the methods we use to process them, don't hesitate to send me an email. I would be happy to answer your questions.
