Let's Shed Some Light on Product Ingredients!
If you have been in for a treatment with me you know that skin is the largest organ of the human body. It is the "suit of armor" that protects our immune system from UV damage, Micro-organisms and toxic agents. Facial skin is also the very first thing we see when we meet someone allowing for gauging of age, health, and visual attractiveness. With that said the importance of practicing proper, yet individualized skin care cannot be understated.
Over the Counter ( OTC) What’s going on YOUR skin?
Every once in a while, I get the urge to walk into CVS, mall kiosks, Walgreens or the Aisles of my local grocery store and nonchalantly browse the skin care aisles. I love to pick up different plastic bottles with the fanciest label claiming to have discovered a more, purer form of collagen or some advanced wrinkle-eraser ingredient.
I also like to speak to people and see why they are choosing what they buy. I do this so often my youngest daughter calls me the “Long Island Medium” of Skincare. (I LOOOOOVE that Show, BTW!) So, you can imagine how I am reacting after picking up the 3rd or 4th bottle of snake oil….er ...product. With my consumer “hat” on, and reading all of the promises made to me on these labels I think…“I’m sold”..
But these companies don’t fool me. Instead of falling for these sneaky and attractive marketing ploys or getting captivated by words that promise beautiful skin without hardly ANY effort, I simply turn over the bottle and READ the label. Have you ever just scanned the several lines of ingredients laden with scientifically vowel-heavy words that you can’t pronounce? I wonder how many consumers or my clients have the same reaction as I do when I think about applying these formulas to their precious skins? Then again, I have wondered more times then I could count if consumers are even reading the labels to begin with?
I Challenge You to Think Before You Buy Think about the average female consumer (yes that means you!)…If you think about the approximate number of products she uses on her skin daily, it averages out to be using products containing over 170 different ingredients. This makes you rethink what you are putting on your body doesn’t it? Think about all the cosmetics you use in a day, they include toothpaste, face creams, make-up, soap, deodorant, perfumes, hair conditioner, lip balm, sunscreen, body lotion, shaving products....the list is exhaustive. And Moms, what about your children? On any given day you might rub, spray, or pour some combination of sunscreen, diaper cream, shampoo, lotion, and maybe even insect repellent on their skin. Bar the teens who shop at places like Bath and Body…Unfortunately, there are no strict policies in place when it comes to these nasty chemicals and toxins, except our own common sense and policing what our children are using. If you take the time to research the products you currently use you will be shocked at your discovery, many of the products are made with the same ingredients as the products you use to clean and de-grease your car. The truth behind many mainstream beauty products is that they are brimming with toxic chemicals, use product testing on our animal friends, exploit human rights and pollute our planet.
Capitalizing on Simple ingredients…Getting Educated & Being Informed Let me give you an example of a simple ingredient that is found in A LOT of OTC products, especially cleansers. I'll start it with a little story for you. Oprah has always been very inspirational to me. As a stay at home Mom during the 90’s, I hung onto a lot of what she had to say and that included the products she touted during her “Favorite Things” episodes which aired annually. I remember when Oprah once called Arbonne one of her favorite product lines and she sang the praises of their astringent facial cleanser calling it a "lifesaver" One of the main ingredients? Witch Hazel (A little side note, I am not here to bag on Arbonne) Let me clue you, about 75% of the top name, OTC (over the counter) cleansers have one very effective ingredient......witch hazel. Besides clear nail polish, my grandma used this stuff on mosquito bites to heal the skin and to take away the annoying itch. Witch Hazel is also THE effective MAIN ingredient in OTC astringents made for acne. But what I have learned as a skin care professional is that there is not one clinical study that shows any astringent performs better than the original, the best and most effective - Witch Hazel.
The true issue about products is educating yourself about ingredients, knowing the frequency of use of the different products and knowing how to apply them so they are effective and last.
And as Promised ...Here's Why Your Dry Skin Products Aren't Working
To keep the cost of production low and increase profits, not every large skin care company uses the best ingredients due to cost issues. Instead, there are some companies who use potentially toxic ingredients in their dry skin cream formulations. What's more, many OTC product companies use synthetic moisturizers that mask but never heal the obvious signs of your dry skin. So, sadly consumers are sent on a hamster wheel or buying more sub-standard lotions that never quite achieve your skin's natural needs, resulting in you buying more of their dry skin cream in hopes that their promises will eventually work.
Moisturizers are designed to add moisture onto the skin. However, they don’t do a whole lot to repair what I call in treatment the “Natural Moisture Barrier”. So what goes on day after day is an endless cycle of constant moisturizer application onto the skin without healing and curing the dry skin. Moisturizers are meant to restore the moisture to the skin on a very temporary basis, but after continued use, these products actually send a message back to the skin saying it doesn't need any further moisture to be produced by the body for the skin, and so we can end up with the opposite condition where the skin is less hydrated than prior to using the moisturizers. Many of you have heard me say “Alipoid” or “Oil Dry” when I see this in your skin. And if you’re not exfoliating, you're making things even more worse, risking acne type breakouts or congested skin.
This is why serums are important. Oil-dry skin is caused by a damaged skin barrier that is no longer producing natural oil and functioning properly. You skin's barrier is designed to keep the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. When that barrier stops working, your skin is robbed of its own natural oils that keep your skin moisturized, leaving it dry and cracked. A serum with specific ingredients designed to strengthen the skin's natural moisture factor and natural barrier will assist with healing dry skin…as well as assisting with other issues that are secondary to your dry skin. Think of a serum as prepping the skin with active ingredients. Almost like when you have your car waxed. You are shielding the paint color from environmental damage.
In the End
I could sit here and talk about product ingredients and proper skincare. The best thing a person can do to become educated about their ingredients is to seek the advice of a professional, read books such as the “Consumers Guide to Cosmetic Ingredients” or another source that has been very helpful to me is the online version of the Environmental Working Group.
I am a firm believer in 75% of what you do at home dictates the success of your skin care woes. Im available for Consultations and beginning in the fall will start holding round table evenings for clients who are interested in learning more. Watch my blog and Facebook page for more info on upcoming dates.
Have a Day as Beautiful as You are!
Angel
