IT'S NOT JUST INTERNAL

Skin

Did you know that the skin is the largest organ of the body? Yes, really. It’s not just internal like the heart, kidney, or liver. The skin is made up of three different layers- epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous.

The epidermis is the outer most layer. It serves as the protective function and consists of epithelial tissue. Epithelial tissues are cells that are pack tightly together to form a barrier between the inside of the body and the outside world.

The dermis is underneath the epidermis. It is layers of connective tissue. The dermis supports the skin, contains blood vessels, nerve tissue, and muscle tissue. The dermis layer of skin is the one that gives us the “goosebumps” when we feel cold.

The subcutaneous is beneath the dermis layer. It is a connective tissue known as “adipose tissue” (fat). The subcutaneous cushions the skin and protects us from the cold.

As we try to protect our inner organs from toxins we eat, let us not forget to protect our outer organs. Since, the skin is the first thing we notice if anything is wrong. The skin gives us a warning of what irritates our body and how we are healing.

The skincare business is a billion dollar industry. Millions of products are produced for the skin. These products have so many chemical ingredients in which we cannot pronounce and never heard of except for the “scientific world”. The skincare business is a creative business. Why? They can label their product as natural and put a well-known natural ingredient in it. Then mix it with other chemical products. “We” as consumers fall in this trap and buy the products.

Have you ever examined the ingredients on the labels of your skincare products? Can you recognize any of the items? Is the “main” ingredient they advertise on the product at the first top three of the items? Middle? Last? For example, a lotion product that says it has avocado and it’s listed at the very end. Do you think it’s a good product to use? Nope, it is not on the first top items. Therefore, it means the product has less of this “main” ingredient and the product is worthless.

Many skincare and cosmetics products that we buy have ingredients that are not only harmful to our skin but it can hinder long term health, such as, cancer, and infertility. The cosmetic industry uses harmful ingredients because they are cheap and basically don’t care on what effect they cause on the consumer. If they did, then they will eliminate the harmful ingredients.

I would like you to be a Smart Consumer. Here are the most important harmful ingredients that are commonly found in most of these skincare products:

ü SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE (SLS) &

ü AMMONIUM LAURYL SUFATE (ALS) (found in shampoos, toothpaste, facial cleansers, body cleansers, and bubble bath)

ü PARABEN PRESERVATIVES **HIGHLY TOXIC** (found in lotions, cosmetics, deodorants, baby products) **AVOID ANYTHING WITH THE ENDING PARABEN

ü PROPYLENE GLYCOL (found in body creams, cosmetics, and cleansers)

ü ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL

ü DEA (DIETHANOLAMINE

ü TEA (TRIETHANOLAMINE)

ü MEA (MONOETHANOLAMINE)

ü ALUMINUM

ü MINERAL OIL (found in baby oil, scalp products, lotions, and cosmetics) CLOGS PORES

ü TALC

ü FD&C COLOR PIGMENTS (artificial synthetic colors RED#40, YELLOW#5, GREEN#6 etc.)

ü SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCES

ü IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA

ü DIAZOLIDINYL UREA

Don’t be fooled if you see some products labeled as “Natural” or “Organic” on front of the product labels. It can have just one or two of natural or organic ingredients and the rest of the ingredients are harmful chemicals.

Wow, these are not all the harmful chemical ingredients that are out there in the skincare products. These are some of the Main ones that can do damage to your health.

Now that you know, will you switch to a better skincare product?