The Dirty Dozen…Ingredients to Avoid

What you put on your skin can go into your body to affect your health and sense of well-being – either negatively

or positively. You can choose which…if you know the facts (which the “cosmetic conspiracy” wants to hide from you).

As our body’s biggest organ, your Skin is your most important immune defense barrier as well as your largest organ for eliminating waste. Commercial products with harmful petroleum ingredients can plasticize and “constipate” your skin, making germs more likely to get in and toxins less likely to get out of your body.

The result: Neither you nor your skin are as radiant and healthy as you could be!

Every day we use products that we think are safe; but the truth is that products are NOT always safe – and manufacturers don’t have to tell us so. Ever since 1938, when the FDA granted self-regulation to cosmetics industry – such products can be marketed without government approval of ingredients, regardless of what tests show. Most of the 25,000 chemicals used have not been tested for long-term toxic effects. In a typical day, you might be exposed to over 200 different chemicals, many of which are suspected of causing cancer or juggling hormones. EPA tests conclude that ingredients in shampoo, dyes, and other personal care products may be playing havoc with hormones that control reproduction and development.

Start checking all product labels: Avoid these harmful, hazardous “touch-me-not” ingredients!

1) Propylene Glycol (PG): found in anti-freeze. Acts as a “surfactant” (wetting agent and solvent). Penetrates skin and weakens protein and cellular structure. Strong enough to remove barnacles from boats! The EPA considers PG so toxic that workers are required to wear protective clothing and to dispose of PG by burying it in the ground. PG penetrates the skin so quickly that the EPA warns against contact to prevent brain, liver, and kidney abnormalities. There isn’t even

a warning label on products such as stick deodorants, where the concentration is greater than in most industrial applications.

2) Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) & Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES): Detergents that pose serious health threats. Used in garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers – and in 90% of personal-care products that foam. Animals explosed to SLS experience eye damage, depression, labored breathing, diarrhea, severe skin irritation, and even death. Young eyes may not develop properly if exposed to SLS. It may damage the skin’s immune system. It can be transformed into nitrosamines, a potent class of carcinogens. Your body may retain the SLS for up to five days and maintain residual levels in the heart, liver, lungs, and brain.

3) DEA (diethanolamine, MEA (monoethanolamine) & TEA (triethanolamine): Hormone-disrupting chemicals that can form cancer-causing nitrates. Restricted in Europe due to carcinogenic effects, they are still used in the U. S. Americans may be exposed 10-20 times per day with shampoos, shaving creams and bubble baths. Dr. Samuel Epstein (Professor of Environmental Health at the Univerity of Illinois) says that repeated applications of DEA-based detergents result in major increase in liver and kidney cancer. John Bailey of the Personal Care Products Council of the FDA says, “the risk is significantly increased for children.”

4) Sodium Hydroxide: the most recent addition to personal care products. This is a poison (caustic lye) found in drain cleaners and is now found in children’s and adult’s toothpaste.

5) Triclosan: Synthetic “antibacterial” with a chemical structure similar to Agent Orange. The EPA registers it as a pesticide, giving it high scores as a risk to human health and the environment. It is in a class of chemicals suspected of causing cancer in humans. It may produce 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 chronic health risks. It can change genetic material, decrease fertility and sexual function, and foster birth defects. Internally, it can lead to cold sweats, circulatory collapse, and convulsions. Stored in body fat, it can accumulate to toxic levels, damaging the liver, kidneys and lungs, and can cause paralysis, brain hemorrhages and heart problems. Tufts University School of Medicine says Triclosan can force the emergence of “super bugs” that it cannot kill. Its widespread use in antibacterial cleansers, toothpastes and household products may have nightmarish implications on future generations.

6) DMDM & Urea (Imidazolidinyl): Two of many preservatives that that often release formaldehyde which cause joint pain, skin reactions, allergies, depression, headaches, chest pains, ear infections, chronic fatigue, dizziness, and loss of sleep. Exposure also irritates the respiratory system, triggers heart palpitations or asthma, and aggravates coughs and colds. Other side effects include weakening the immune system and cancer.

7) Polyethylene Glycol (PEG): Carcinogenic petroleum ingredient that reduces the skin’s natural moisture. Increases the appearance of aging and leaves you vulnerable to bacteria. Used in spray-on oven cleaners and cleansers to dissolve oil and grease.

8) Liutane or Propane: Found in aerosol products. May be narcotic and cause asphyxiation.

9) Alcohol Isopropyl (SD-40): Drying, irritating solvent that strips skin’s moisture and immune barier, making you vulnerable to bacteria and viruses. Made from a petroleum derivative found in shellac and antifreeze as well as personal care products. Promotes brown spots and premature aging. A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients says it may cause headaches, flushing, dizziness, mental depression, nausea, vomiting, and coma. Fatal ingested dose is one ounce or less.

10) Mineral Oil: Petroleum by-product that coats the skin like plastic wrap, 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. Baby oil is how to buy viagra online without prescription 100% mineral oil.

11) FD&C Color Pigments: Synthetic colors from coal tar that deposit toxins onto the skin, causing skin irritation. Absorption of certain colors can cause depletion of oxygen in the body and death. Animal studies have shown almost all of them to be carcinogenic.

12) Fragrances: Can contain up to four thousand ingredients (including animal urine), many toxic or carcinogenic. Causes headaches, dizziness, allergic rashes, skin discoloration, violent coughing, vomiting, and skin irritation. Fragrances affect the nervous system, causing depression, hyperactivity, irritability, inability to cope, and other behavioral changes.

Waxing Aftercare

– Avoid any

heat treatments for at least 24 hours
- Avoid perfumed products for at least 24 hours
- Exfoliate daily with a non-abrasive scrub to prevent in-growing hairs
- Moisturize daily to prevent in-growing hairs
- If you are prone

to 2 hair

growth cycles leave longer between appointments
- Follow the advice of your therapist to enhance your treatment

Massage Aftercare

– Avoid heavy meals post treatment
- Drink plenty of water to aid the detoxifying process and to rehydrate your body
- Leave on any essentials

oils used in the treatment for at least 24 hours to reap the benefits
- Try to take relaxing bat

hs rather than showers to help relieve everyday stress and tension
- Complete any exercises or advice given by the therapist daily to aid

with individual needs

Manicure Aftercare

– Use a moisturiser daily that contains an SPF as a preventative measure
- Use cuticle oil daily to keep cuticles soft & hydrated
- Use a base coat

specific to your needs to improve nail growth
- Always wear gloves when completing ever

yday chores
- Visit the salon every 4-6 weeks to see fantastic results and as a preventative

measure

Pedicure Aftercare

– Use a hard skin remover between appointments
- Use a heel cream daily
- Wear correctly

fitting shoes to keep feet looking their best
- Follow the advice of your therapist to enhance your treatment

To Squeeze or Not To Squeeze

Beauty Articles from Matis Beauty

The alarm goes off, you roll out of bed and walk into the bathroom only to look in the mirror and see Mt St Helens staring back at you! It’s not the end of the world when this pimple rears its ugly head and yet it can put a dampener over the next few days as you try to fight it and cover it up and it all comes down to squeeze or not to squeeze. And the short answer is, of course, NOT TO SQUEEZE!

Pimples, spots, blemishes, pustules, white heads, whatever you want to call them, they all have a thin layer of skin covering them. And when you squeeze them, you feel, and sometimes hear them “pop”. That “popping” sound is the layer of skin tearing and it is this that causes the scarring. But the worst of our problems does not end there. If you imagine your spot like an iceberg, what we see on the surface is only the tip. The pore underneath the skin is enlarged and full with dead skin, oil, bacteria and puss. Once you squeeze, the bacteria can then spread to surrounding pores creating more breakouts. When in the battle of fighting breakouts in your skin care routine, you first need to discard a few myths about how to treat them;

Myth 1 – Breakouts are caused by dirty skin The result of this myth is that people over clean their skin with harsh cleansing beauty products. Some ingredients in soaps, washes and bar cleansers can actually clog pores and cause breakouts. Over cleaning the skin can cause irritation and surface dryness by striping all of the natural oil from the skin. This results in the skin producing extra oil which will clog the pores and thus you are in a cycle that is hard to break. Using a gentle cleansing skin care routine can clean the skin without causing irritation and dryness.

Myth 2 – You can scrub away a breakout Can you have too much of a good thing? When it comes to exfoliating the skin you can! Some companies tout that you can scrub your way to blemish free skin, encouraging you to over scrub the skin with 7 Day Scrubs, abrasive exfoliators and such like. This will not only irritate the skin making it more sensitive but the motion of continued harsh exfoliating can actually stimulate the oil gland. 2-3 times per week is sufficient enough without irritating the skin and the key word is “gentle”. When you exfoliate the skin, not only do you need to remove the dead skin from the surface, but also you need to exfoliate inside the pore

to allow free flow of oil onto the surface of the skin. The tiny different beads used in all mechanical exfoliators are too big to get inside the pore and can also be

too abrasive to the skin so make sure that the beads are perfectly rounded and also stay away from apricot, nut and salt exfoliators for the face as these are more likely to cause irritation. To exfoliate inside the pore you need to use enzymes. They have various names and can sometimes be referred to as AHA’s, which are a stronger form of enzyme. They work by engulfing the dead skin, similar to the Pac Man game, as it eats and dissolves the dead cells. This is a much more gentle way to exfoliate and more effective within your skin care routine.

Myth 3 – You can dry up a breakout Remember one thing – the only thing you can “dry up” is water and water has nothing to do with a breakout. What you actually do when trying to dry up a breakout, is dry up the water in the skin cells which distorts the shape of them making them irregular and more likely to clog the pore. What you need to do is use beauty products that absorb the excess oil. All skin should have a certain amount of oil as this helps protect against bacteria, but it is the extra oil produced that contributes to clogging the pores and it is this excess that we need to absorb. A breakout usually takes between 2 – 3 weeks to form and so trying to treat the breakout when it appears on the surface when you have done nothing to help prevent it is going to do nothing to stop any more from forming. And In the battle against breakouts, prevention is better than cure! This means that you need to take a look at what you are doing to your skin and what you are using in your skin care routine. In a lot of cases what you are using can actually make things worse.

The key points to remember in your skin care routine are:

- Gentle cleansing with a mild cleanser and a toner that contains no alcohol or stripping agents. If the skin feels tight after toning, the product is not right for you.

- Gentle exfoliation 2 -3 times a week with a product containing enzymes, will help to stop the build up of dead skin.

- A deep cleansing face mask 2 – 3 times a week will help to deep cleanse the pores, But stay away from the typical ‘mud mask’ which dries on the skin.

- A moisturizer is a must even with oily skin. Stay away from heavy, oil based moisturizers that leave a film on the skin.

- Following these simple steps in your skin care routine will help you in your fight against breakouts.

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The following article is substantially drawn from an article published in The Sunday Mirror on 10th June 2007. For the full article, follow the link below:
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