Skin is your body’s largest organ and one of the most crucial parts of your immune system.
When you take proper care of it, like using clean skincare products, the most gratifying reward may be that you look young and healthy. But healthy skin is more than skin-deep. The most important reward is that you’re taking powerful steps to defend against — and possibly even help overcome — a wide range of health issues.
You may have heard of probiotics and the “microbiome” inside your gut. Well, there’s an equally important microbiome on your skin that consists of around 1,000 species of good bacteria. And that’s just one of the key components of healthy, beautiful, and toxin-free skin.
Skin abuse comes from two directions. First and most important is the inside-out. The same things that are good for your overall health, like eating plenty of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, exercising, and getting deep and restful sleep, are also good for your skin.
But that’s not the whole story. If you’re like most people in the modern world, your skin is constantly bombarded by potential toxins in the air and in the water. But the very things we put on our skin to protect it from these unavoidable stressors can also pose a toxic burden to our skin as well as to our overall health.
If you’re not very carefully reading the labels of everything you apply to your skin, chances are very high you are unknowingly abusing your skin from the outside-in.
When you apply creams, serums, makeup, and other cosmetics, always remember that your skin eats what you put on it.
Now, just like your mouth can’t consume a watermelon whole, your skin can’t eat everything applied to it.
The molecules have to be small enough for the skin to consume, which is why, for example, applying collagen onto the skin is worthless. Collagen molecules are far too large to penetrate the skin.
However, many of the over 10,000 chemicals allowed in cosmetics in the US have molecules that are small enough for your skin to absorb. And the bad news (for Americans!) is that many of them have also been banned by over 40 other countries.
When you feed your skin problematic chemicals, it can be even worse than if you were eating them with your mouth.
Why?
Because when you consume something through your mouth, it goes through a rather long digestive system that includes various “barriers” whose purpose is to weed out and dispose of toxins — most notably through your liver.
With your skin, though, whatever it eats can make its way directly into your bloodstream.
So, with that in mind, please take note…
Each day, the average woman in the US uses 13 different cosmetic and makeup products containing an average of 114 ingredients.
Many of these ingredients are artificial chemicals.
If you take a close look at those cosmetic labels, even on many products proclaiming themselves “natural” or “organic,” chances are you will find problematic chemicals listed in the fine print.
And common sense would dictate that, in the same way we now know that eating foods with artificial ingredients is not good for you — feeding your skin artificial anything is not good for you, either.
Sure, some of these artificial ingredients may provide very short-term benefits, but the havoc they wreak on your skin and your overall health can be all too real.
And this means not merely making your skin look older than it should over the longer term. It also means harming your skin’s microbiome and otherwise degrading your skin’s ability to protect against toxins.
From 2003 to 2019, TEDx produced and shared scientific evidence of endocrine disruption with nonprofit organizations and government agencies. They identified over 200 possible endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are still in widespread use. Many of them are in skincare products. And they can wreak havoc on your hormones — potentially leading to a wide range of serious health issues, from reproductive problems to cancer.
(And, by the way, in the case of skincare products, many contain penetration enhancers designed to make chemicals infiltrate your skin deeper… That means they can push those toxins into your body even more aggressively!)
There are many “worst-offender” chemicals to watch out for in cosmetic and personal care labels. And to list them all here would turn this article into something of an encyclopedia.
The smartest approach, as you’ll see in more detail below, is to only choose products that are USDA Certified Organic (or equivalent independent certifications in other countries) to ensure 95% or more truly safe, organic ingredients.
With that noted, here are five common offenders to watch out for:
Parabens are cheap preservatives that are put in a lot of cosmetic products. But they mimic estrogen by binding to estrogen receptors on cells. Research has shown that the perceived influx of estrogen may, in some cases, trigger reactions such as increasing breast cell division and the growth of tumors.
What’s in it? No one can be sure. Companies are not required to disclose the chemicals they use to make up a “fragrance” in their products. But suffice it to say, if all the label says is “fragrance,” you might do well to assume that it’s a noxious chemical cocktail, linked to allergic reactions.
Avoid phthalates at all costs. These chemicals are associated with a range of issues, including reproductive dysfunction, congenital disabilities, asthma, type 2 diabetes, and ADHD. They’re used in many products like moisturizers and skin lotions to make them more liquid-like.
These chemicals are used to prevent bacterial growth. On the surface, you’d think that would be a good thing. Remember, though; your skin contains a microbiome of beneficial bacteria. And triclosan and microban don’t discriminate between good and bad bacteria. They may even be contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” and other dangerous illnesses.
SLS is a common ingredient in a range of cosmetic and personal care products. It makes soaps foam and also acts as a thickening agent. But it can be dangerous, thanks to byproducts in the manufacturing process that have been linked to kidney and liver dysfunction.
Like the conventional food and pharmaceutical industries, the conventional cosmetic industry is a powerful beast, producing over $170 billion in annual sales.
They don’t want their highly profitable boat rocked.
In other words, just like other aspects of your health, it’s up to you to make the changes you need to make because the conventional cosmetic industry is not going to do it for you anytime soon.
You might think that you can avoid dangerous chemicals by sticking to cosmetics labeled “organic” or “wild-crafted” or “natural.” But there’s something crucial you need to know:
Words like “organic” and “wild-crafted” and “natural” are thrown about very loosely to cajole people into buying.
When you look closely at the label, though, it may refer to only one or several ingredients being organic.
Worse still, beyond this one or several organic ingredients, it may also contain a variety of synthetic and harmful chemicals.
This is often referred to as “greenwashing.” But I can think of a few other words for it too, like bamboozling and conning.
How can they get away with it?
Well, in the cosmetics industry, especially, these sorts of claims are not highly regulated and largely have no legal definitions.
Even “natural” beauty cream may contain cancer-causing petrochemicals.
The great news is that your skin is highly receptive to positive change.
Regardless of how old you are or what issues you may have, your skin may be the fastest and easiest thing you can improve on your body.
This is great news for your health because the skin is such a crucial component of your immune system. And it’s also great news for your appearance because the right changes and habits will lead to your healthiest-looking skin (and once people take the right steps, they’re often pleasantly astounded at just how healthy-looking that is!).
Here are three Golden Rules to follow when looking for clean skincare products:
If you are looking at an advertisement for the product online, does it show the full ingredient list of the product, such as in the FAQ area at the bottom of the page? (If it doesn’t show the full ingredient label, there’s typically a reason.)
Look for the USDA Certified Organic designation or a similar designation per your country that guarantees verification independent of the company.
For independent verification as USDA Certified Organic, it means the product must prove:
On farms that supply USDA Certified Organic ingredients, organic producers use more natural processes and materials in their farming systems. These processes contribute to soil health, manage pests and weeds more naturally, and promote the conservation of biological diversity and ecological balance.
USDA Certified Organic standards prohibit the use of sewage sludge, synthetic fertilizers, and genetic engineering. They also require producers to maintain the integrity of organic crops, preventing contact between organic and conventionally grown crops, as well as contact with prohibited pesticides and fertilizers.
So what do you want to feed your skin? Good, healthy, nourishing (and organically grown) skin food. In the section below, we’ll cover clean, safe ingredients to look for when choosing skincare products.
Below are 10 of nature’s most powerful ingredients to support healthy, radiant skin and clean beauty, presented in countdown style to the big #1.
However, of course, there is some subjectivity to any list like this.
Everyone’s skin shares many similarities, but each person’s skin — and what each person would like to improve with their skin — is also unique. As such, certain ingredients may rank higher for you personally.
Chosen for their effectiveness and the range of benefits they can provide, these are the top 10 natural anti-aging ingredients to look for in clean beauty products.
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