“Cosmetic hides flaws, natural care repairs!!!”
Most of us unconsciously treat our skin like a high-tech fabric; silky yet waterproof, shiny yet warm, sexy yet flexible. The fabric benefits from regular washing in the shower, occasional dry cleaning at a salon, and some ironing before special occasions. Many people believe that the luxurious fabric we are born in should always be spotless and fresh at all costs.
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Rather than scrubbing our assets with sea salt and self-massaging with extra virgin olive oil, we’d rather bake them in a tanning booth and slather on a shimmering lotion to hide imperfections. We use “mattifying” lotions when our skin is oily, moisturizing creams when our skin is dry, and we fight blemishes when they become red, swollen, and very visible.
When it comes to skin care, we tend to be reactive rather than proactive. We prefer fast results and convenience whenever possible. We are so busy fighting the problems of our skin that we have disrupted its balance and destroyed its defenses that no one remembers what it feels like to have normal skin. As a holistic skin care expert, Dr. “Healthy skin is not a quick fix,” says Susan West Kurz, president of Hauschka Skin Care. “If you apply a cortisone cream, the stain will disappear, but the problem in the system will still continue.”
Our skin eats too. The only difference is that we have one mouth, but there are hundreds of thousands of “mouths” on our skin. Each square centimeter of skin contains an average of 255 sweat glands, 8 blood vessels, 23,000 melanocytes (pigment skin cells) and more than 400 nerve endings. Human skin is a powerful sucking organ that seems constantly hungry for anything that touches its surface. Our skin takes every available molecule, every drop of water, every bit of makeup, and every odor molecule and brings it to its cellular “mouth” to taste, chew, and most likely swallow.
Oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, as well as toxic pollutants, enter our skin through three doors: sweat ducts, hair follicles and sebaceous glands, or directly through the stratum corneum. Since the skin is the largest organ in our body, it absorbs much larger amounts of pollutants than the intestines or lungs. According to new estimates, our skin can absorb up to 60 percent of substances applied to its surface. Unfortunately, along with water, vitamins, minerals and oxygen, the skin also absorbs potentially carcinogenic substances that increase our risk of developing cancer at some point in our lives – as if breathing polluted air and eating chemicals wasn’t enough!
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So what happens when a potentially toxic substance crosses the skin’s barriers? Chemicals enter the bloodstream in the epidermis and dermis layer and eventually travel through the body through lymph to be filtered by the liver and washed by the kidneys. However, some substances remain in the body, adding to the systemic burden that can accumulate over decades. When potentially cancer-causing toxic chemicals are absorbed through the skin and carried throughout the body by blood, the offending chemicals can interact with other chemicals in our system. Sometimes these reactions produce substances that cause cells to evolve incorrectly, causing cancer.
Diethanolamine can combine with amines found in cosmetic formulations to form nitrosamines, including N-nitrosodiethanolamine, which is known to be highly carcinogenic. Toxic components can lead to many other serious diseases, including allergies, fertility problems, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. In the best case scenario, they can worsen existing acne or cause an acne-like allergic reaction. If you experience allergic reactions, red skin tags and rash/itching on your skin, you should be alert immediately. This indicates that your body is overwhelmed with too many chemicals and toxic substances.
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Let’s say you’ve been using a fruit-scented shampoo (containing emollients, penetration enhancers, and shine-enhancing silicones) every day for five years that contains 1 percent of the potentially carcinogenic diethanolamine (DEA), a surfactant that helps stabilize suds. This means 2ml DEA per 200ml shampoo. With daily shampooing you will use almost an ounce (31.1G) of pure, industrial strength diethanolamine DEA in one year. Now imagine pouring a glass of this clear, sticky substance and starting to massage it vigorously into your skin. Then you wash it with hot water, which spreads the goo onto your freshly cleaned, warm, unprotected body. Does it make you feel healthier or more beautiful?
Cosmetics only hide skin imperfections, natural products repair your skin and show it as it is. How about going back to normal? Let’s let our skin do its own thing.
We have brought together the healing power of natural certified aromatherapy oils in the HEMPY Miracle series for you, without interfering with their natural scent. Stay tuned to become beautiful and stay beautiful…
