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If you have landed on this site, you are probably already a health conscious woman or one that is at least working on it. Congrats on the healthy diet and exercise that are most likely already a part of your life or at least on your mind. Nobody can deny the benefits of exercise and eating healthy. Health awareness has been promoted in the last few decades, but unfortunately it is not the case of our biggest organ - skin. Not many people know that because our skin is porous, it soaks up what we put on it, just as our body soaks up what we put in it. Now, this could be a great thing if we nourish our skin with antioxidants that are great for the skin or if we supplement it with anti-aging actives that will protect it from the environmental damage, slow down the break down of collagen and ramp up the process of cell renewal. Unfortunately, most of the time it is not the case, and it could be just the opposite as what most women put on their skin is cheap fillers, chemicals, and toxins that are nothing else to the skin than what empty calories or junk food is to our bodies, and pretty much add the proverbial fuel to the fire. Here is some food for thought. If you are going to buy skincare, would you rather spend money on "junk food and empty calories" that you can't even taste, or on something that will not only make your skin look better, more effectively fight off aging, and be healthy instead of bad for you? If you are health conscious, and yet not in the habit of looking into skincare ingredients yet, we hope to inspire you to do that instead of buying it based on what the product feels and smells like, as well as what you read on the website about it or on its front label. Ingredients is where the truth about a product lies. Skincare companies, for good reason, do not want you to study ingredients. They prefer you read a description of a product on their website or what the front of the label says about it. There they can tell you whatever you want to hear as cosmetic industry is not regulated by FDA for efficacy, but for safety only. If you have ever wondered why the product you bought did not deliver on the promise, you may now know why. Let's look at an example and a description of one of a very popular eye cream: " Make eyes look 10 years younger. [ Brand Name] Eye Cream is clinically proven to address the 3 signs of eye aging: puffiness, dark circles and wrinkles. Powered by pure [Brand Name] Retinol and our exclusive mineral complex. Dermatologist tested. Clinically proven to visibly rejuvenate the delicate skin around the eye instantly: smooths the appearance of lines and wrinkles. In 4 weeks: under-eye puffiness and dark circles are visibly reduced with a brighter looking eye area. In 12 weeks: crow's feet and wrinkles are visibly reduced by 50%. Clinically proven. Designed for dramatic results but gentle enough for daily use around the delicate eye area. Dermatologist tested. Non-comedogenic. Hypoallergenic. Non-greasy". Sounds great, right? And most women will go for it, but here is some food for thought. Take everything you have just read with a big grain of salt, and instead look at the ingredients below: Water, glycerin, lactose, C12-15, alkyl banzoate, cetaeryl ethylhexonate, Peg-100 stearate, PEG-8, Stearyl Alcohol, Trometamine, Panthenol Carboner, Isopropyl, Myristate, Methylparaben, Disodium EDTA< Propylparaben, Magnesium Aspertate, Zinc Gluconate,cetearyl ethylhexanoate, PEG-1chlorhexidine digluconate, retinol, polysorbate 20, copper gluconate Even if you do not know much about skincare, you can probably tell that the above ingredients are mainly chemicals. These chemicals are preservatives, thickeners and other fillers. Do you really think they are going to make your eyes look 10 years younger and reduce your wrinkles by 50%? . To compare, have a look at the label below. Even if you again do not know much about skincare, you can probably see how much love was put into the creation of the Cutting Edge eye cream. Outside of some preservatives that are necessary in even certified organic ingredients to prevent from mold, bacteria and yeast, the below eye cream below is abundant in natural antioxidants and oils that fight environmental pollution and protects delicate area of the eyes with utmost care. In addition to all the botanicals, this eye cream features best of the best anti-aging actives, such as peptides, retinol, coenzyme q10, powerful acids and vitamins that are proven to help firm, repair and brighten the eye. In addition to the top quality of the ingredients, the label has a certification of authentication and your assurance that the product is made with certified organic ingredients. If you are an animal and nature lover, you should also notice that the eye cream was never tested on animals as there is no need to test what natural for safety, and that the packaging is also ecofriendly. Best part is that Cutting Edge is actually much less expensive than the one above. |
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If you do not know a lot about the ingredients, we want to recommend a good rule of a thumb when choosing a skincare product and to look at it in a similar way to the way you look at food. Buy a product filled with organic ingredients to nourish your skin, and one with scientifically proven anti-aging ones to supplement it, just as you would nourish and supplement your body. In fact, remember that what you put on your body, often gets inside of your body, too and can for example disrupt your hormones. Some skincare products are like greasy hamburgers full of additives or like candy. They smell great, taste great, but are not good for you. Unfortunately, the smell, the color and even the feel is often synthetic and not good for both the body and the skin. They are often used to distract a consumer from what matters - the ingredients, and to get you hooked. Fragrance is not a nutrient, but it is often made up of toxins that your skin feeds on. In fact, one of the studies 3 have found that fragrance is 100% absorbable by our skin. Do you really want those toxins in your body as it is often made up of toxins ? Color, unless it is a product with a high concentration of Retinol, which is yellow, means that what you put on your skin has artificial dyes in it. And finally, what often gives a skincare product this nice feeling, chances are that it has for example, one of the most loved by skincare companies ingredients-Dimethicone. It makes the product feel great on the skin, and women love it, but it unfortunately clogs up your pores, creates a film on the skin, and provides no other benefits than the feeling and the barrier against the environmental pollutants. Additionally, it is really bad for our planet as it takes about 400 years for it to degrade. but would you not rather provide that barrier with ingredients that are healthy and add nutritional value to your skin, especially if they also feel good on your skin? To sum up, if you are health conscious, and also look for efficacy in skincare products, buy them based on the ingredients and not based on what the product smells like, feels like, what color it is and not even what the front label says about it. What you see in commercials and ads is not regulated by FDA other than for safety, so take it with a big grain of salt. Most companies will spend more on advertising than on their products, and even packaging will cost them more than what is inside. If you do not want to learn about each and every ingredient in a product, a good rule of a thumb is to see if the product has mainly organic and natural ingredients as well as be able to recognize some anti-aging superstars and avoid what is toxic. Finally, remember that price has often little to do with the quality, and that you do not have to pay an arm and a leg for a good quality product, but it is also a red flag if a product seems too cheap. High quality, especially certified ingredients do cost much more. Finally, do not forget to set the right expectations, and know that skincare can only do so much, and you can read more about that in Part 3. |