Non-Toxic Ways to a More Beautiful You
Make-up, perfume, lip stick, shampoo, bubble bath - we all have our favourites and most of these small items make us feel happy, give us a sense of indulgence and boost our self confidence as we step out into the world.
They are also guilt free as we do not put on weight using them unlike chocolate! Unfortunately most of the commercially available cosmetic items contain a vast array of chemicals that should never touch our skin.
Remember - whatever touches your skin will eventually end up in your blood stream and find its way into all the nooks and crannies of your body.
Toxic substances in cosmetics are nothing new.
In ancient Egypt lead was used as an ingredient.
It made the colours look more vibrant and had an added bonus - it protected the user from particular eye, nose and ear infections which were very common and problematic.
This effect was not attributed to the lead - lots of chants and incantations were used while the cosmetics were produced.
So it was believed that the make-up had magical powers and protected the wearer from all sorts of harmful influences including infections.
Nowadays the use of toxic chemicals usually is due to commercial reasons - they are cheap, easy to produce and give the product the desired qualities.
We are conditioned to expect particular qualities - like lots of foam when shampooing our hair, huge quantities of lather from our soaps and detergents and mountains of bubbles from our bubble baths.
We also expect our pots of cream not to go off even after dipping our fingers into them day after day.
Natural products do not necessarily have the same properties and qualities as the more commonly available skin care or cleaning products but they still do the job they are designed to do.
They often are not as frothy or bubbly as we would like them to be but you will soon get used to them.
The list of toxic chemicals used in cosmetics is long and the problem is that a lot of countries have no stringent cosmetics labelling laws.
The manufacturer can pick the most appealing ingredients contained in the product, list them on the label and not mention the rest.
The Aloe Vera Shampoo or Lavender Soap may sound great but only the minutest amount of aloe vera or lavender might be contained in either of them.
The manufacturers of organic products often pride themselves in listing every single ingredient on their labels.
Nevertheless, there are no guarantees and you will have to do your own research to make sure you end up with something you are happy to put onto your skin.
They are also guilt free as we do not put on weight using them unlike chocolate! Unfortunately most of the commercially available cosmetic items contain a vast array of chemicals that should never touch our skin.
Remember - whatever touches your skin will eventually end up in your blood stream and find its way into all the nooks and crannies of your body.
Toxic substances in cosmetics are nothing new.
In ancient Egypt lead was used as an ingredient.
It made the colours look more vibrant and had an added bonus - it protected the user from particular eye, nose and ear infections which were very common and problematic.
This effect was not attributed to the lead - lots of chants and incantations were used while the cosmetics were produced.
So it was believed that the make-up had magical powers and protected the wearer from all sorts of harmful influences including infections.
Nowadays the use of toxic chemicals usually is due to commercial reasons - they are cheap, easy to produce and give the product the desired qualities.
We are conditioned to expect particular qualities - like lots of foam when shampooing our hair, huge quantities of lather from our soaps and detergents and mountains of bubbles from our bubble baths.
We also expect our pots of cream not to go off even after dipping our fingers into them day after day.
Natural products do not necessarily have the same properties and qualities as the more commonly available skin care or cleaning products but they still do the job they are designed to do.
They often are not as frothy or bubbly as we would like them to be but you will soon get used to them.
The list of toxic chemicals used in cosmetics is long and the problem is that a lot of countries have no stringent cosmetics labelling laws.
The manufacturer can pick the most appealing ingredients contained in the product, list them on the label and not mention the rest.
The Aloe Vera Shampoo or Lavender Soap may sound great but only the minutest amount of aloe vera or lavender might be contained in either of them.
The manufacturers of organic products often pride themselves in listing every single ingredient on their labels.
Nevertheless, there are no guarantees and you will have to do your own research to make sure you end up with something you are happy to put onto your skin.
