Many men and women use skin care products to look good and to slow down the natural effects of aging. A lot of us also use personal care products like perfumes and colognes. Women use around 12 such products on an average day whereas the average man uses about 6.
Unfortunately, most skin care products are formulated with toxic ingredients which are not only unhealthy, but have actually been found to speed up our aging process by as much as 3 times. What! Increase the aging process? What an oxymoron when we consider that we’re using this stuff to look younger!
You probably thought the FDA regulates personal care products. The truth is that the government requires neither health studies nor pre-market testing of skin care products before they are sold. Cosmetic manufacturers are allowed to use virtually any raw material as an ingredient. Almost 90% of the ingredients used in personal care products have not been evaluated for safety by any publicly accountable institution.
But are the ingredients in personal care products really harmful? While some companies make safe products, other companies use known human carcinogens or developmental toxins. Almost all these chemicals can penetrate the skin, and we ingest some directly from our lips or hands. More than one-third of all personal care products contain at least one ingredient linked to cancer.
How about perfume and colgne? Not So Sexy – Hidden Chemicals in Perfume and Cologne, a May 2010 report by the Environmental Working Group says that laboratory tests found 38 secret chemicals in 17 name brand fragrance products, topped by American Eagle Seventy Seven with 24, Chanel Coco with 18, and Britney Spears Curious and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio with 17.
These tests showed that the average fragrance product tested contained 14 secret chemicals that weren’t shown on the label. Some of Some of these chemicals are associated with hormone disruption and allergic reactions. Many of the substances have not been reviewed for safety in personal care products.
Seek alternatives to skin care and other personal care products that contain things like parabens, synthetic fragrances, ureas, 1,4-dioxane, endocrine system disrupters, and others. Reconsider your usage of personal care products that contain butylated hydroxytoluene,lead acetate,butyl acetate, coal tar, formaldehyde, mercury,polyethylene glycol, and butylene glycol.
The intelligent thing to do is to use skin care products that do not contain parabens but contain natural botanicals.
A relaxing and effective way to dump the toxins all of us pick up from the products we use, the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we use and drink, and our environment is by the periodic use of an ionic detox foot bath.