You Care! I Care! Let's Talk About Skin Care! -Part 3

2020 is the year! This is the year I focus on taking care of me.

That doesn't mean Colin and our dog Sammy have to fend for themselves 😂.....

It just means I am going to work on all the things I have pushed to the back burner.

Skin care is #1 on my list! Second on my list is looking at all of our cleaning products and moving towards "clean & toxin free" cleaning agents.

After that, I want to look into personal care items such as deodorant, hair color, shampoo, etc. All things that soak into and affect our bodies.

The other thing I want to focus on this year is my physical health. I want to lose weight that I have been carrying around with me for years (because I love food) but even more than that, I want to get healthy for myself.

I want to improve my gut health bc I know what goes into my body has a lot to do with my skin issues.

Back in 2017 through 2018, my husband and I focused on emotional healing and improving our mental health because we had left a pretty toxic environment from a church so I personally spent a lot of time healing from many things and investing in my mental health and it was a HUGE thing for me! Sometimes you never really know how toxic an environment is for you until you leave it and step back and it can be such a blessing!

So I am taking that same approach now with my skin care and physical health.

I dove right in this month with researching skin care.

The first thing that was important to me was finding cruelty free companies.

I am an animal lover (as if you couldn't already tell) and I don't want to purchase skin care (or cosmetics) from lines that test on animals (yes I eat meat - let's save that debate for another time 😂 )

So I dove in and started researching skin care lines that were cruelty free.

As I was researching, I didn't really know what else I was looking for in my skin care (besides being cruelty free) so I was very open to suggestions from friends and others. I created a post on FB to see what everyone else was using and then I googled "Best Skin Care Lines 2019", hoping to find a few to pick from.

The more research I did (which holy crap, there is so much to research and look at when it comes to skin care) I started realizing that I needed to narrow down my scope besides being cruelty free bc there are so so many skin care lines out there and it was starting to get seriously overwhelming let alone this process would take me forever.

I started asking myself what was important to me and I knew that getting rid of toxins in make-up and our household cleaners has been a goal of mine.

Also, this past year, Max's cancer diagnosis had opened my eyes to the toxins in our foods and I made a big effort to switch us over to organic foods. Also, the past few years I had done so much work with getting rid of toxic people in my life, so why not go further with getting rid of toxins that I put on my skin, that get absorbed into my bloodstream, and that can affect my health and my family's health?

So I started researching clean skin care lines.

Side note: I am listening to "World News Tonight with David Miur" right now while I am working on this blog and he just had a story on about the toxins in sunscreen 😳

As I started researching clean skin care lines these are a few things that I questioned bc I had no idea where to start. I learned a ton and I thought it would be easier for you if I just wrote down what some of my questions were and the answers I got from my research.

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Questions I asked and things I learned:

What makes a skin care line "clean"? This question can go pretty deept but I would summarize a clean skin care line being one that avoids using toxic ingredients, that sources ingredients responsibly, and that keeps the environment in mind.

What toxins should you avoid in skin care? Oh boy. There are so many. If I had to take the top ingredients you should avoid it would be these. I call them the dirty dozen:

Parabens (Methyl, Butyl, Ethyl, Propyl): Parabens are preservatives. If paraben is in the word, you should avoid it. Parabens may contribute to hormonal imbalance and in some studies, research shows that some breast cancer tumors contained 99% parabens.

Phthalates: This is a chemical that is used to increase flexibility and strength of plastics. Names to look for on the ingredient list are: DPB, DEP, or DEHP. Like parabens, phthalates are endocrine disruptors and can cause hormonal and reproductive problems and birth defects.

Polyethylene Glycol or PEG: This ingredient is used as a thickner. The problem with this ingredient is  the process to create PEGs involves using ethylene oxide and 1.4-dioxane; both which are substances that are strong pollutants.  

Formaldehyde: This is a preservative and known carcinogen. It is used in buiding materials and is used in many household products. It has been linked to asthma, neurotoxicity, and developmental toxicity.

Mineral Oil: A petroleum by-product that coats the skin like plastic and clogs pores. This ingredient is very harmful bc it doesn't allow the skin to eliminate toxins. There is sufficient evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of untreated mineral oils. Untreated mineral oils (or even mildly treated mineral oil) can cause skin cancer.   

Siloxanes: It is used to soften, moisten, and smooth. Look for words ending in "siloxane" or "methicone". It's an endocrine disruptor and reproductive toxin. It is harmful to fish and wildlife so why would it not be harmful to us.

Propylene Glycol (PG): This is found in thousands of cosmetics and in processed foods. It is also a common ingredient in E-Cigs and is an ingredient in anti-freeze and paint. The FDA says it is "generally safe". Research shows if exposed to the eyes and facial areas, PG can cause irritation and cause mild conjunctivitis. It is also potentially toxis to our kidneys and liver. It is not safe for infants or pregnant women.

Triclosan: This is a synthetic anti-bacterial agent once used in anti-bacterial soap. In 2016, it was banned from soap using in health-care settings but it is still used in skin care and cosmetics. This is an endocrine disruptor and studies show it contributes to gut inflammation. In studies with mice it has also promoted tumor growth. It may disrupt thyroid function as well.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) or Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES): These are foaming agents used in a ton of products. They are surfactants that can cause skin irritation or trigger allergies.

Artificial or Synthetic Frangrance: Companies and manufacturers are not required to revea what is in their fragrances so a lot of times you will just see "Fragrance" on the ingredient list. There could be hundreds of different ingredients and toxins that fall under "Fragrance" which could be full of carcinogens, allergens, endocrine disruptors and other irritants.

I decided to add in one more ingredient to my list (which makes this more of a Baker's Dozen List!) because it is bad bad bad.

Talc: Talc or Talcum powder is in the same family as asbestos. Research has linked talc to ovarian cancer and is believed to be a lung irritant and carcinogen.


The scary thing is I only named 13 and there are so many more!! 


Heavy Metals to avoid: Lead, Mercury, Arsenic, and Aluminum (just to name a few).


What terms or phrases are regulated? Lack of regulation is a huge issue in cosmetics and skin care. There is close to zero federal regulation on cosmetics and skin care in the U.S. and the FDA only regulates certain things like false advertising or branding. One study I found said that there are over 1,300 chemicals banned in Eurpoean countries due to being unsafe and in the U.S. only 11 of those chemicals are banned. 😳

Another SHOCKING fact about no regulation: The word "Natural" means NOTHING when it comes to cosmetics or skin care. It is a marketing ploy to make you think it is good for you. The word "Natural" in skin care or cosmetics is not regulated at all which means a product that says "Natural" on it can have as many toxins in it as it wants. There are no regulations.

When it comes to cosmetics and skin care, the ONLY way for you to know that you are using a toxin free line is by doing research yourself and reading ingredients (but don't be fooled bc companies can pull the wool over your eyes here, too. Some companies only list "key ingredients" so they don't have to tell you all the other crap they are putting in your skin care. Other companies may list "fragrance" in their ingredients but they could be using hundreds (literally hundreds) of toxic ingredients and shove it under the term "frangrance". You would never know.

So as I was doing my research and coming across all of these toxins and ingredients I should avoid, I started coming across skin care lines that I liked.

When looking at skin care lines I looked at:

-Ingredients first and foremost
-Where they source their ingredients from
-Organic ingredients (this was not a MUST have for me but I prefer it)
-Consistency with ingredients
-Cruelty Free (Leaping Bunny Approved is even better for me)
-Packaging (whether they are green)
-The "Our Story" part of the company. Who are they? What is their mission? The why.
-I looked at pricing but honestly it was the last thing on my list


Again, there is so much research to do and I probably have over 60 hours of research done on both ingredients and lines so I am hoping I can help you through this blog.

Remember, knowing the dirt will help you stay away from the dirt. 

In my next post I will share a few of my top skin care lines with you all and let you know a FB page that has really helped me along with what I am going to use.


Thanks for joining me on this skin care journey!

xoxoxo,
Brenda