Healthy Natural Skin

Tuesday February 14th
Chemical Free Face Wash – Are You Taking The Right Precautions?
I do not want to be alarmist but the fact is that unless you are using a chemical free face wash, you are exposing yourself to unnecessary risks. Why? Well, the increase in cancer may be due to many factors but we cannot exclude the fact that chemical exposure is one of the major causes.

At the beginning of the last century, only about one in 8,000 people had cancer. Fast forward to the new millennium in which the American Cancer Society has calculated that one in three people may have cancer. We do not know which ones are causing the disease or indeed what the other multiple causes are.

What we do know though is that there are at least 800 variations of chemical compounds which are lurking in personal care products and these of course will include perfumes, face washes and cosmetics of various kinds.

What sort of chemicals are in a typical face wash? What should we do to avoid any contact with these? These are relevant and important questions, I can assure you. We may not know who the culprits are but we know that we have to safeguard our health. It is as simple as that. We always lock our homes in case of a threat from burglars. The same holds true for health issues. Prevention will always be better than cure.

So, the next time you are looking for a chemical free face wash, make sure that NONE of the following ingredients are included in the mix. Give the DEA and MEA ingredients a wide berth. Then reject anything with SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate), the chemical that gives a nice smooth foam to soap and shampoos. This actually had been implicated in kids’ urinary infections because it is still contained in children’s shampoos and bubble baths.

Did you know that the main ingredient in your car’s anti-freeze is propylene glycol That same ingredient is in lots of face washes and hand lotions. It is actually listed by the FDA as a known carcinogen. It can also damage delicate cell membranes causing some skin problems.

What are the ingredients that we should look for in a chemical free face wash? Ideally these ingredients should nourish, hydrate and also restore your natural pH levels. The best possible ingredients to do that are those skin friendly ones.

Let me mention some of the ones that I am using. The first is actually derived from honey because that is such a great healing agent. That prevents breakouts and acne. Then there is the kiwi fruit extract which holds in the moisture and also keeps ph levels perfectly balanced.

As you can imagine, this type of product has been extensively researched but the total absence of nasty chemicals makes this a no-brainer.