I was reading some material on ingredients and had to sit down. I know there are harmful chemicals in a lot of the products that are sold from grocery store and pharmacy shelves but as I continued to read, this became scary.

Think about it, we use products to smooth our skin, remove the ash, eliminate pimples and for general maintenance. What we don’t want is to be attacked by the very products we think are suppose to help us. Your skin, for those of you that don’t know, is the largest organ of your body, so you’re always applying a perfume, moisturizer, deodorant, hair dye or nail polish to some part of you.

When you don’t scrutinize the ingredients, you’re bringing in a cesspool of toxic chemicals that can often affect your health. Toxic chemicals can cause damage to any of your cells in your body.

Researchers from the Herb Research Foundation have found that your skin absorbs up to 60% of chemicals found in your skin care products, which means it goes straight into your bloodstream. This is why a lot of your medications are given to you as creams or patches (e.g. hormone therapy, nicotine patches and anti-inflammatory medication). These creams and patches allow the medication to pass through your skin directly into your bloodstream.

What you put on your skin should be as important to you as what you put in your mouth.

Long Term Effects of Chemical Additives in Black Skin Care Products

Did you know that many of the chemical additives are carcinogenic? Ok, carcinogenic, what does that mean? In plain english, the can produce cancer in your body. So that means look out for your parabens (Methylparaben, propylparaben, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Para-Dioxane (1, 4-dioxane and Polethylene Glycol (PEG).

Another toxic chemical to avoid in bismuth, which is a heavy metal that’s been linked to Alxheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. You’ll find this ingredient in your hair products and nail polish.

Often the word “fragrance” is used interchangeably with essential oils, however, fragrances are typically a synthetic blend of things. When you use a perfume, lotion or shampoo that’s been scented with a “fragrance”, the fragrance can contain hundreds of different chemicals. Some of them may be derived from petroleum or contain neurotoxins.

Propylene glycol is a petroleum based ingredient that has been linked to serious health problems of the liver, kidneys and respiratory tract. Pregnant women can actually pass ingredients to their unborn child because what they put on their skin penetrates through the blood brain barrier. Petroleum by-products have been linked to problems such as Attention Deficient disorder and lower sperm count.

Chemical ingredients can cause allergic reactions such as rashes, minor skin irritation, even lesions on your skin.

Mineral oils, Oh My God. These are petroleum based ingredients. They are not recommended because they lock in the moisture. Locking in the moisture is not bad it’s just that mineral oils don’t allow your skin to breath and absorb moisture or nutrients. Mineral oils trick your skin into thinking it’s moisturize, however, it slows down the natural production of your body’s oils.

Once the mineral oil has worn off, your skin will become dry, irritated and unable to moisturize itself naturally.

Always Choose Natural/Organic

What all this leads up to is for you to be aware of your choice of product and the ingredients it contains. Be sure to choose natural ingredients such as jojoba oils, olive oils, avocado oils, cocoa butter, Shea butter, mango butter, calendula and rose hip oil.  This list could go on and on, however, we’ll save that  for another time.  If you’ve found this article to be helpful, please share it with your friends.

That’s it for this week,

Dedicated To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel

Esthetician/Author/Publisher

Nyraju Skin Care