Non Toxic Skin Care

Doesn’t the term non toxic skin care sound redundant?

When we use "skin care products" these products should be taking care of our skin, right?

Surprisingly, most so called “skin care products” on the market today do not really take care of our skin!

In fact, many types of hand and body lotion and even anti aging skin products we might find on department store shelves contain numerous harmful ingredients which are toxic and actually clog our skins pores. which can lead to more wrinkles and fine lines.

These chemical ingredients can also be very harsh on sensitive skin.

Choosing a non toxic skin care product should be easy. Yet if you scan your department store shelves, nearly all the skin care products contain parabens and many other toxic chemicals that can alter hormones or even cause cancer. Many of us use some kind of moisturizing lotion daily to prevent dry skin. You may be wondering if the dry skin lotion you currently use is a non toxic skin care lotion.

Below we will discuss five things you need to know to determine if your current skin care products are non toxic skin care products or eco-friendly skin care products!

Five Skin Care Facts You Need To Know:

• Secrets of the personal care industry
• How to tell if a skin care product is safe
• "Dirty Dozen" skin care ingredients to avoid
• How some skin care products actually damage skin
• What to look for in choosing non toxic skin care

1. Secrets of the Personal Care Industry

I was surprised to learn that one major company private labels 500 different names. This is called “common vat production.” The products sold at expensive department stores are the same as those sold in discount stores. The fragrance or the color may be the only difference. The ingredients are the same - same products, different label!

An $85.00 wrinkle cream was evaluated and the actual cost to produce the product was less than 25 cents. Often, the cap on the bottle costs more than the product inside.

What about the FDA? It is concerned about what the label claims, not the ingredients. Government regulations for cosmetics were developed 40 years ago when scientists believed that lotions and other cosmetics applied topically did not have a significant impact on the body. Now it is well known that topical applications are rapidly absorbed into the body. In fact numerous medications are now being administered topically because of their rapid entry into the blood stream. Quite literally, we are what we absorb, which is why non toxic skin care products are so important to your skin's health.

2. How to Tell If Your Skin Care is Non Toxic

Do you know how so many of us now read food labels? We watch our salt and sugar intake, we count "carbs", and we avoid too much fat.

Simply put, we want to know what we’re putting into our bodies.

It is just as important to learn how to read labels on the soaps, creams and lotions that we put on our bodies and try to use only nontoxic skin care products. There are unique cancers risks associated with many of the skin care products sold in stores today. In fact it is nearly impossible to find non toxic skin care products on department store shelves today.

Dr. Samuel Epstein, chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition made this statement in regards to why using safe natural skincare is so important. He states that mainstream industry cosmetics and personal care products (CPCPs) are the single most important, yet generally unrecognized, class of avoidable carcinogenic exposure for the overwhelming majority of citizens in major industrial nations. The reasons for these unique risks reflects a combination of individual and interactive factors such as:

• Interaction between different ingredients: even though a specific ingredient might not be in itself a “frank” carcinogen it might be a “hidden” carcinogen that may, under certain conditions, have carcinogenic properties when it combines with other ingredients in a product.
  
• High permeability of skin: the skin is highly permeable to carcinogenic and other toxic ingredients, especially following prolonged exposure throughout the day, and over a lifetime.
  
• Effect of wetting agents on skin permeability: the permeability of skin to carcinogens, besides other toxic ingredients, is further increased by the presence of wetting agents or surfactants, probably the most common class of ingredients in the majority of CPCPs.
  
• By-passing detoxifying enzymes: carcinogens in CPCPs pose greater cancer risks than does food contaminated with carcinogenic pesticides and other industrial carcinogens because they are not detoxified by the liver but reach the general blood circulation without protective detoxification.

3. The "Dirty Dozen" Skin Care Ingredients

How can you tell if you have non toxic skin care?

Below are the twelve most hazardous ingredients found in personal care products. Look below to see if any of these harmful or carcinogenic ingredients are in your skin care products:

• Parabens (methyl-,ethyl-,proyl-,butyl-,isobutyl-) or Phenonip
  (a paraben blend): are chemical preservatives found in a great number of personal care products. Parabens mimic estrogen which disrupt normal hormone function. Exposure to external estrogen's have been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer.
• Phthalates: found in 72% of all personal care products, often listed as "fragrance". This harmful toxin is used so widely that one million tons are produced each year. Yet phthalates are known to cause birth defects and reproductive mutations, particularly in males. Phthalates disrupt the production of testosterone critical for the masculinization of the male species which results in low sperm counts, testicular atrophy and possibly testicular cancer, undescended testicles and birth defects such as hypospadias, where the opening of the urethra occurs on the underside of the penis. Phthalates also mimic estrogen which may effect breast tissue, causing breast cancer in women. Phthalates have been banned in the European Union but are still allowed in American cosmetics and skin care products.
• Diethanolamine (DEA),Triethanolamine (TEA) and Monoethanolanine (MEA): found in moisturizers, shaving cream, shampoo, body washes and bubble bath. They are hormone disrupting chemicals that can form cancer-causing nitrates. Dr Samuel Epstein (Professor of Environmental Health at the Univ. of Illinois) says that repeated application of DEA-based detergents result is major increase in liver and kidney cancer.>/Li>

• Sodium Laural Sulphate (SLS) & Sodium Laureth Sulphate: found in 90% of products that foam such as shaving foam, hair mousse and foam bath products. Animals exposed to SLS experience eye damage, depression, labored breathing, diarrhea, severe skin irritations, and even death. Young eyes may not develop properly if exposed to SLS. May damage skin's immune system. Can be transformed into nitrosamines, a potent class of carcinogens. Your body may retain SLS for up to five days and maintain residual levels in the heart, liver, lungs and brain. It is also common source of children's eczema and skin irritation, and when found in toothpaste, it may be related to mouth ulcers.
• Polyethylene and Propylene Glycol: (like anti freeze for your car radiator) are carcinogenic petroleum ingredients that reduce skin's natural moisture. Used in moisturizers, hand sanitizers and shaving creams as a thickening agent.

• Isopropyl Alcohol (SD-40): found in toners, moisturizers and cosmetics. Is a drying, irritating solvent that strips skin's moisture and immune barriers, making you vulnerable to bacteria and viruses. Made from petroleum derivatives found in shellac and antifreeze. May promote brown spots and skin premature aging. The Consumer Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients says it is an eye and respiratory irritant, which may cause headaches, flushing, dizziness, mental depression, nausea, vomiting and coma. Fatal ingested dose is one ounce or less. Benzyl Alcohol, found in many skin care products is also a severe eye and respiratory irritant.
• Mineral Oil: Petroleum by-product that coats the skin like plastic, clogging the pores. Interferes with skin's ability to eliminate toxins, promoting acne and other disorders. Slows down skin function and cell development, resulting in premature aging. Used in many products (baby oil is 100% mineral oil!) Any mineral oil derivative can be contaminated with cancer causing PAH's (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons). Manufacturers use petrolatum because it is unbelievably cheap.
• Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (Quats): chemical preservatives which may be a primary cause of contact dermatitis. They will be listed as benzalkonium chloride, cetrimonium bromide, quaternium-15, and quaternium 1-29.

• Formaldehyde-Producing Preservatives: (hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, and diazolidinyl urea): These preservatives can become formaldehyde donors, in that they release small amounts of formaldehyde into the skin which can become cellular toxins. Formaldehyde can cause many health issues including joint discomfort, chest pains, and chronic fatigue.

Triclosan: Synthetic "antibacterial" agent used in antibacterial skin cleansers, toothpastes, and household products. Has a chemical structure, similar to "Agent Orange". The EPA registers it as a pesticide, rating it as a high risk to human health and the environment. Is suspected of causing cancer and produces dioxin, a hormone disrupting chemical with toxic effects measured in the parts per trillion: that is only one drop in 300 Olympic size swimming pools! Hormone disrupters pose enormous long-term risks which can change genetic material, decrease fertility and sexual function and foster birth defects. Stored in body fat, it can accumulate to toxic levels, damaging the liver, kidneys and lungs and may cause paralysis, brain hemorrhages and heart problems. Tufts University School of Medicine says Triclosan can force the emergence of "Super Bugs" that cannot be killed, forcing nightmarish implications on future generations.

• Silicone Derived Emollients: chemicals that coat your skin like plastic wrap-and even worse, can accumulate in your liver and lymph nodes, which can promote tumor growth. These emolients include, dimethicone, dimethicone copolyol, and cyclomethicone.
• Paraaminobenzoic acid (PABA): found in sunscreens and skin ointments such as for dermatomyositis. Has been associated with liver problems and anorexia. May cause breathing problems, tightness in throat or chest, chest pain, skin hives, rash, or itchy or swollen skin, upset stomach or fever. Vitiligo (patches of white skin) have also been reported with using PABA.

Click here for a comprehensive list of harmful ingredients found in many personal and skin care products.

4. Why Some Skin Care Products Harm Your Skin

By now it should be clear to you why non toxic skin care is so important. Another thing you should know is how some skin care products actually damage your skin.

For example, most of the lotions, creams, and moisturizers on the market today contain mineral oil, glycerin, or propylene glycol. These ingredients suffocate and congest the skin, trapping moisture in, giving the false sense of helping your skin. But your skin is meant to breath and let moisture in and out. It simply isn’t necessary to trap moisture in with these chemicals. Sadly, these ingredients are used because they are cheap.

However, there is natural skin care technology that does not seal off the skin to keep in moisture. It lets the skin breath and respire. What you want are non toxic skin care products that have ingredients that are plant based that will nourish your skin with anti-oxidants and that moisturize naturally. You do not have to spend a lot of money on quality, effective nontoxic skin care products that help, rather than damage, skin.

Using products that moisturize and nourish your skin will help it heal and balance its moisture content to help prevent further wrinkles and help restore more youthful looking skin.

5. Secrets to Finding Non toxic Skin Care

If you have read this far, then you are likely pretty serious about wanting to know how you can find non toxic skin care products. The place to start by reading labels and avoiding the hazardous toxic skin care ingredients listed on this page. Don't assume that personal care product labels that say "natural" or "organic" are completely safe. A toxic carcinogenic by product called 1,4-dioxane has been found in many popular “organic” or “natural” labeled products. 1,4-dioxane is generated through a process called ethoxylation, in which ethylene oxide is added to other chemicals to make them less harsh. The toxin 1,4-dioxane is also created during this process.

You may be wondering where to turn to for non toxic skin care products. I know I have wondered the same thing. You certainly cannot find them on you local store shelves. You even have to be careful what you are choosing in your so called health stores because some of the products found there may still not be safe! You must check your labels carefully and choose from companies that are committed to producing only safe non toxic skin care and other personal care products.

Please read my full skin care report to learn even more about non toxic skin care and which healthy skin care products I use and recommend.