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SKIN CARE BASICS FOR
REAL PEOPLE
THE LIST OF THE
INGREDIENTS 101
SKIN
CARE BASICS FOR REAL PEOPLE.
Looking
younger, having healthy skin is great gift. Some people have
great skin naturally. They do very little to keep skin clear,
even and healthy looking practically using soap and water. For others
keeping skin acne and blemishes free is day-to-day struggle.
Fine lines and wrinkles are the most depressing of all (me
included).
With so many skin care and cosmetic companies around offering
real "cure" for fine lines, wrinkles, acne and blemishes - can
we choose wisely the right skin care regimen that really works?
Everyone is different. For the most part we are on our own when
it comes to choose the skin care. You must know your skin and
your health to make best decision and spend your money wisely. What works for one person may not work
for other person. What makes one product better then other? The
price? Cute packaging? Long list of the ingredients we cannot
pronounce or understand?
I
want to try this and that. It does not work - lets try that and
this - it is waste of money again. WOW, I have great inventory of bottles and
jars, what should I apply to my skin today? Toner, cleanser,
moisturizer, sunscreen, mask, scrub - in what order should I use
all these - I forgot? Why my skin is so red, itchy and flaky? I use
all these expensive skin care products that promised to help my
skin look healthier and younger. I
definitely have bad skin. It is getting worse. I am getting old.
Nothing can stop these wrinkles. Lets go on the Internet to
learn more. I found a skin care forum - they say I have to
use this acid and that acid in a highest concentration possible.
Lets try. Well, I think, I have dermatitis. I need to see a
doctor.
If this sounds like you (and me not so long ago), it is time to
pause and re-evaluate your current skin care inventory and daily
routines. Take your time to educate yourself with the
ingredients. Why it is important to know the ingredients in your
skin care and cosmetic? Because you can determine what could
cause a problem, avoid it, and very possibly save your skin from
further damage.
You do not have to be a chemist or a scientist to get and
understand the basic information about the properties of the
ingredients and their safety. You will be surprised how many
hazardous chemicals in your current lotion or cream. Why do
cosmetic companies use them? These chemicals are cheap, easy to
incorporate into the manufacturing process, have indefinite
shelf life. What could be better for the business?
In my opinion, the skin, nails and hair are the reflection of our life
style, food we are eating, and overall health. Acne is not
necessarily a skin infection, but the reaction on bad
environment, poor diet, hormones and overall negligence to the
skin (multiple skin care products, wrong skin care products,
low-end skin care products, not washing your face before going
to sleep). All these can be addressed and corrected without
taking antibiotics with harmful side effects, or using more skin
care products.
Some ingredients are making headline news promising "erasing
wrinkles". I wish it was true. It would be so easy and
magical. I want wrinkles-free face
FOREVER. In reality, I take steps to prevent wrinkles and make
existing ones less visible by avoiding harsh chemicals, keeping
my skin moist, wearing sunscreen when I am on direct sun (or
sunglasses, big hat, long sleeves), use less make-up and reduce
the amount of useless skin care products I apply to my skin. I give my
skin a break once in a while by applying nothing on the skin
except small amount of botanical oils, just to keep it moist. My
skin say " Thank you". I do believe in power of
anti-oxidants and vitamins. The best so far are: vitamin C, E,
A, green tea. Nothing else I tried made any
difference to my skin.
I want to say few words about mineral oil. Many mass
production skin care companies use mineral oil in their
formulations. It is not my intention to say negative things
about mineral oil - it is a personal preferences. Most
people do not care what mineral oil does or does not do. For
those who knows,
it is hard to find more useless ingredient in skin care
formulations, than mineral oil. It does nothing to
benefit the skin. Even water has its positive function - helps
useful ingredients to penetrate into the skin. Mineral oil just
sits on the top of the skin waiting to be washed off eventually. The
cosmetic companies defend mineral oil as harmless ingredient in
skin care. In reality, many people cannot tolerate it, it might
cause breakouts for others. Skin care manufacturers love mineral
oil - it is cheap, never go rancid, easy to incorporate into the
manufacturing process. For the end users it makes skin care
product easy to spread and provides temporary feeing of skin
softness and hydration. I will be the last person buying mineral
oil based skin care.
Always yours, Yulia
THE LIST OF THE INGREDIENTS 101.
Every skin care product is a combination of the ingredients. How
many people are familiar with the ingredients in their skin
care? Is this important? Should I start questioning what goes
into the stuff I put on my body? Everyone should to avoid
rashes, skin irritation, allergies, breakouts and many other
skin problems associated with the irritating ingredients. The
list of the ingredients will tell you about the products and its
potential to treat your skin effectively, justify the price and
more.
FDA requires that all skin care manufacturers label their
products according to this guidelines. Ordinary people may never
heard of chemicals on the list. It is even difficult to
pronounce. Nevertheless, we have the Internet - you can get the
information about the component safety and possible health risk
by typing its name in the search box. Take your time to read the
information - it might save you time, money and aggravation
dealing with skin problems later.
Let say, I want to buy an eye cream in the department store. I
go to the cosmetic department, pick the tester or sample and put
a small amount on my wrist to see if I like it. The samples
usually have no list of the ingredients (it is often printed on
the packaging). The sale persons can offer very little help to
identify what this cream is made of. They usually equipped with
the standard phrases like" it is anti-aging", "it is good for
you", " it will help to erase your wrinkles", " the company uses
all natural ingredients", " I sell a lot of this cream for
people just like you". After the pause, or if they see you are
skeptical or undecided, you will hear more:" you can always
bring it back, if you do not like it". What is I want to decide
now. I don't have time to come back later with skin irritation,
allergy or breakouts. I am capable of identifying the
ingredients I try to avoid. Someone please help me!
The best yet, when it comes to online shopping. Website is
useful tool to provide customers with complete information about
the product since we cannot physically try the product. Still
many entailer do not offer the list of the ingredients for the
products they sell. Too lazy to type? Afraid of the competition?
Maybe. It is still beyond my understanding how can I buy a
product without knowing what is the content? I buy buy online
often - I want to know what did I pay for. The best examples are
expensive products - still no list of the ingredients. I do
believe that customers are entitled to know the content of the
purchase before they buy.
Always yours, Yulia
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