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Why Women Should Choose Organic Skincare
Why choose organic skincare?
If you are a woman it’s important that you use organic skincare and natural makeup products. Why is this? Recent reports published has shown presence of paraben chemical compounds in 99 percent of breast cancer tissues sampled. This is truly a startling figure and should make all women think twice about what they are putting on their skin.
The research study examined 40 women who were being treated for primary breast cancer. In 60 percent of the cases, five different paraben chemical compounds were present.
In 60 percent of cases, five of the different esters were present.
What are parabens?
Parabens are chemicals which produce estrogen-like properties. In the development of breast cancer estrogen is one of the hormones which is involved. They are used because they are cheap preservatives.
Where are parabens found?
The main way that parabens find their way into breast tissue is through the use of deodorants and antiperspirants. However the study showed that some patients had never used deodorants which had parabens in them. This clearly shows that regardless of what skincare and cosmetic products are used paraben chemical compounds can apparently accumulate in breast tissue.
Why choose organic skincare products?
When you apply a skin cream – have you ever wondered where it goes? It is absorbed via the skin into the blood stream. It then is
processed by internal organs. Think about this: how do nicotine patches work? The nicotine is absorbed into the blood stream. Whatever you apply to your skin can absorbed into your body, and over time this can cause damage.
So check you labels. Parabens can be found in shampoos, lotions, skincare creams, food additives and deodorants.
Are natural products always the best?
Check labels carefully. Even cosmetic products that are advertised as natural can also contain paraben chemical compounds. There are butyl, propyl and ethyl parabens.
Choose natural and organic skincare products. This is the best way to care for your skin.
By Scott Y Gibson
Natural Makeup Solutions for Oily Skin
In my last blog I look at natural makeup solutions if you have dry skin. What can you do with oily skin? Are looking for natural makeup and cosmetic solutions for this? Please read on to see how you can cure the problem of oily skin by natural methods.
The causes of oily skin can be many. It could be caused by:
- heredity factors. If this is the case, then there isn’t much you can do about it other than manage it
- diet. If you think that diet is the cause, then cutting out oily and starch foods can help.
- humidity and hot weather. Again, for this proper skin management is essential.
- birth control pills. This is an individual choice, so again skin management will keep oily skin under control.
- cosmetics. This is the time to change over to natural makeup and cosmetics. These will minimize adverse reactions to the harmful chemicals found in them.
Natural Skincare Solutions
SAGE as a natural skin toner. Sage will help control the skin’s sebum production thus helping you achieve a spotless condition for your skin. Try this: put some sage (you only need a small amount) in a cup and pour over it hot water. Then leave this covered for around 30 minutes. Pour the liquid through a strainer, and allow it to cool. Once cooled, with a cotton ball, cleanse your face with the sage infused liquid. Do this once or twice a day for a week. You will notice a big difference in your complexion.
MANGO Facial. Mango is a great fruit filled with vitamins which will help keep your skin looking good. It will keep your pores free from dirt. Try this recipe: Take a medium sized mange and mash it up. Once you have a nice smooth pulp, using circular motions, massage this into your skin. Leave for around 5 minutes. Once it has dried, rinse well with water.
ALOE VERA Toner. Aloe vera is a great all-round plant. In fact no home should be without one. You can of course just by aloe vera 
gel, but if you have plant at home you can make your own gel. Here’s what to do: break off one of the outer leaves, and leave it to stand upright in a cup for 10 minutes. This will let the sap drain. Then take a knife and slice down the edges, cutting off the rough edges. Then separate the front from the back. Scoop out the gel.
So for your aloe vera toner you will need to make 3 tablespoons of gel. Then add 4 drops of tangerine essential oil. Apply this to the face and leave for 15 minutes. Then rinse off with warm water.
Crab Apple. Not many people have heard of this, but crab apples have been proven to have great effects on acne and oily skin. This is because they are rich in alpha hydroxy acids. These tone and cleanse the pores. So try this: Get a few crab apples and mash them to a paste in a blender. Push through a strainer. Apply to your face and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse well and dry your skin.
Wheat Germ Oil. Use this oil, which is rich in anti-oxidants and vitamin E, to control your oily skin. Put a little of the oil on your fingertips and massage it into your skin. Leave for 40 minutes. This will feed your pores with the needed nutrients. Rinse off with lukewarm water. Each time you need to cleanse and condition your skin, repeat this.
Lemongrass Facial Sauna. Hot steam is great of unclogging your pores, and this will help you keep a flawless complexion. You may have used this method to help breathing. So, in a large bowl of water put in about 2 liters of water and 4 tablespoons of lemongrass. Place a towel over your head and put your head over the steaming bowl. Do this for 15 minutes. After rinse with cold water. This will close up your pores.
You as you can see, it’s not necessary to spend a lot of money on expensive makeup and cosmetic ingredients. They can also contain harmful chemicals which can damage your skin and lead to skin conditions like acne and dermatitis.
Natural Makeup Solutions For Dry Skin
During the winter season more people suffer from dry skin. This can manifest itself in the form of flaky skin, dry lips and hair that seems to have a mind of it’s own. This is caused by the colder weather and harsh winds. Then when we come home, we come into central heated houses – just the perfect recipe for dry skin. What you need are some natural skin care treatments. This combined with natural makeup and your skin will be back to soft and silky condition.
What are the natural solutions then?
Olive oil.
Olive oil is a great natural solution for dry skin. It works fantastic as a moisutriser. So why not massage some into your dry cuticles? If 
you have dry skin patches on your hands or elbows then you will find that this is great. You can also use this to remove makeup, and by doing this you will be moisturising your skin at the same time. A thin layer of olive oil (it must be organic extra virgin) under your moisturiser will also have antioxidant properties.
Yogurt, papaya, and pumpkin as natural exfoliants.
Open your kitchen cupboards, or take a quick visit to the local supermarket and you will probably have most things that you need for making natural exfoliants. One of the best is Greek style yogurt. This works really well as a mild exfoliant because it doesn’t use scrubbing granules, but lactic acid.
You can find plenty of options for natural dry skin care in your kitchen, or in the produce and diary aisles of your supermarket. Yogurt, especially the plain Greek variety, makes an excellent cleanser with a mild exfoliating action that will remove dry skin and leave you feeling refreshed and comfortable. Gabriel says it’s a particularly safe exfoliant for very dry skin because it exfoliates using lactic acid, not scrubbing granules.
Homemade skin scrub.
Let’s have a look in the kitchen again! Combine sugar and olive oil (or any other type of oil that you have) and you can make for yourself a rich and nourishing body scrub for dry skin. You just need to mix equal amounts of fine brown sugar and oil, and rub on using light circular motions.
If you want an extra dose of vitamins and minerals then add a tablespoon of honey. I also sometimes use lemon juice. Afterwards, wash off in a nice warm shower.
Honey.
Honey has been used for centuries for his wonderful healing properties. It can also be used to cure dry skin. Before going to bed at 
night apply a little honey (again, must be organic). You can also use honey if you have cracked heels and dry skin on your elbows. Just massage a little in to the affected areas
Natural remedies for dry hair.
In order to return your hair to it’s great natural shine try this recipe: Take one egg yolk and mix it throughly with a tablespoon of castile soap. Shampoo this into your hair and leave for 5 to 6 minutes. This will help with an itchy scalp and may even prevent hair loss. Another great ideas for a hair mask is using avocados. Take one avocado and mix with 2 tablespoons of gently heated rapeseed and olive oil. Massage this into your hair, cover with a shower cap and leave for 15 minutes. If you have long hair, you might want to double the ingredients.
Vitamins
You are what you eat. In order to feed your skin, you need to take in a proper diet of vitamins and minerals and drink plenty of wather. You can avoid dry skin if your diet is rich in magnesium, contains omega-3, vitamin C, and beta-carotene. The foods that you contin these are dark chocolate (sorry, it’s not the case of the more you eat the better your skin will be!), fatty fish like salmon and mackrel, oranges, carrots and mango.
So by making some simple changes to your diet you can avoid the problems of dry skin. You will also improve your overall well-being.
If you are looking for natural and organic skincare products, then visit my shop where you can find a full range of facial care for your natural makeup.
Natural Winter Skincare – Natural Solutions
With winter well and truly here, many of us will be struggling to find the best solution for natural skincare. Don’t fret, you can still look your best if you take a few precautions. All this can be done naturally.
At this time your complexion is in need of extra care and attention. What happens is that oil glands just below the surface of the skin become relatively inactive and produce less moisture than usual. What doesn’t help is that the skin dries out quicker because of the sun, wind and cold and this is responsible for causing the tiny wrinkles and giving rise to various skin ailments like scaling, itching, chapping and eczema.
Over the next few days I will be posting blogs on how to look after various parts of your body so that you can feel great naturally. In this blog we will be looking at general skin care and hair care.
Probably the best way reduce the effects of the winter weather is to stop using soap completely. This is because it has a marked degreasing action on the skin. Instead, clean your face with milk cream or top-of-milk blended with a few drops of lime juice and a pinch of turmeric powder.
We have to remember that excessive use of cosmetics, hair dyes and sprays, too many hot baths and perfumes also make the hair dry. So try to cut down on those. For example for a natural hair dye you could try henna. It will give a great shine to your hair and not strip it of much needed chemicals.
For face skin care try this: every night before going to bed, take one tablespoon of milk cream and mix in a few drops each of glycerine, olive oil and rose water. Mix well and apply over your entire face, neck and hands. Leave overnight; in the morning wipe off gently with a tissue paper, then bathe the skin in warm water until it begins to feel warm and also rinse for the same length of time in cold water. Pat dry with a soft towel.
The next blog we will be looking at how coconut oil can help with dry skin problems and what can be done if you have out breaks of eczema.
News On Safer Makeup Products
A few weeks ago a conference took place holding out the prospect that makeup will become more natural and less toxic. Over 400 cosmetic and personal care companies who sell makeup and skincare products have already removed potentially hazardous chemicals from their products. This is after a seven-year campaign by a large coalition of consumer, health and environmental groups.
The goal was to work companies to get them to remove substances banned by health authorities in other countries. For example, chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects are already banned in the EU but are still legal in the US. Also there are some preservatives that release formaldehyde, which can cause cancer as well as burn the eyes, nose and throat. Companies are being asked to list all ingredients in their products, which many companies don’t do.
It’s interesting that the big companies have been asked repeatedly to sign up to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, but none of have done so
Let’s take one example: Johnson & Johnson. They have been pressured for 2 1/2 years to remove harsh and potentially dangerous chemicals from all its personal care products. Now the they are steadily removing those chemicals from its baby products worldwide but has not committed to do so for products for adults.
What is interesting is that many people would naturally trust such a large company because of it’s name and reputations. But at the same time cast doubt over small firms, who are producing natural makeup and skincare products, but who are not using toxic ingredients.
At the start more than 1,500 companies pledged to meet the campaign’s goals for personal care products, but because of various reasons, most didn’t follow through.
Now pure, natural and safe cosmetics have become the fastest-growing part of the $50 billion cosmetics industry, accounting for roughly 10 percent of sales.
So the US need to take the lead from the EU and ban chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm.
Are you concerned about your makeup products not being natural? One good way to make sure is to make sure that the makeup is certified. You can purchase pure natural makeup products by going to my homepage and clicking on the links.
Heavy Metal Makeup
No, I’m not talking about the likes of the group Kiss and Alice Cooper, but the amount of toxins that sometimes are found in makeup products, especially those that aren’t natural makeup.
When you read the label of your makeup products you of course will not find heavy metals like lead and arsenic. However, Environmental Defence, a Canadian environmental group tested dozens of common cosmetics products and found that virtually all of them were contaminated with heavy metals.
So what does this mean for you? Have a look at this video and it will really get you thinking:
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Researchers purchased cosmetics, like foundations, concealers, bronzers, mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and sent them to an accredited laboratory to have them tested. The tests were for the presence of heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, beryllium, selenium, thallium and nickel.
According to the Montreal Gazette:
“None of the products tested contained mercury, but lead was detected in 96 percent of the products, arsenic in 20 percent and cadmium in 51 percent. Nickel was found in all the products tested, beryllium in 90 percent, thallium in 61 percent and selenium in 14 percent.”
Environmental Defence tested 49 different face makeup items, including five foundations, four concealers, four powders, five blushes or bronzers, seven mascaras, two eye liners, 14 eye shadows, and eight lipsticks or glosses. Their testing revealed serious heavy metal contamination in virtually all of the products:
- 96 percent contained lead
- 90 percent contained beryllium
- 61 percent contained thallium
- 51 percent contained cadmium
- 20 percent contained arsenic
Further, each product contained an average of two of the four metals of highest concern (arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury), which are designated as toxic in Canada because of proven health concerns. Most of the products also contained an average of four of the eight metals tested (arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel, beryllium, thallium, selenium).
Despite the widespread contamination, and the fact that all the metals but nickel are banned as intentional ingredients in Canadian cosmetics, not one of the products listed the heavy metals on the label.
What the researchers said was that,
“There are scientific debates as to what constitutes “safe” levels of heavy metal exposure. Overall, the health effects of heavy metals from cosmetics absorbed through skin requires further investigation. Notably though, the highest levels of arsenic (70 ppm), cadmium (3 ppm), and lead (110 ppm) were all found in lip glosses which could be ingested. Some metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, and lead, can accumulate in a person’s body over time. There is limited understanding of the effects of cumulative exposure to these metals.
… Some may wonder why heavy metals in our makeup measured in the parts per million are really a cause for concern; for some of these metals, science has not established a “safe” level of exposure.
Cumulative exposure over time is especially difficult to study, as different combinations of exposures can have different effects, and the possible combinations are seemingly endless, given the number of cosmetics products out there.
Additionally, cosmetics are not the only source of exposure to many of these metals. Arsenic, for example, can be found in some drinking water, lead can be found in old paint, etc., and low-dose exposures can add up.
Eliminating elements like lead, cadmium, and chromium from the body takes over 40 years, with accumulation leading to problems such as nervous system disruption and kidney damage.”
So you will want to definitely find save makeup so that you can care for your health and your families health. By clicking on the banners on this page you will be directed to some great sites that I personally use. You can buy great natural and, more importantly, toxin free makeup.
What else can you do? Here is a list of my practical tips:
- Only buy makeup products that have a certificate on them. (Here are some to look for)
- What order are the ingredients listed? The first one will be the largest quantity, and last on the least. So if your cream containing natural aloe vera has aloe vera last, then there isn’t very much of it.
- If possible, buy products in glass, rather than plastic.
Save Your Skin!
Using natural makeup and cosmetics you can literally save your own skin! Whatever you put on your skin will be absorbed into your body. Think about it from this way. Say you want to eat a tomato, so you go to your local store and buy one – preferably from the organic section. Now, you know that the tomato has grown on a plant and it’s fully natural. You then eat it knowing that you are taking into your body natural vitamins and minerals as well as getting other benefits from the tomato. Let’s say that beside that there was a cheaper one. But it was totally manufactured – it’s red because of red dye, the skin is made from a type of plastic that will
dissolve in your stomach, the flesh has been made from by-products from the oil industry and so that you think it’s a tomato it contains artificial flavors. Now which one would you buy? Even if the manufactured one was much cheaper? You would probably never buy something like the tomato I’ve described.
But did you realize that if you purchase makeup products that aren’t 100% natural, that is exactly what you are doing! Most makeup and skin ‘care’ products have nothing natural in them. The are cleverly manufactured to mimic what can already be found in nature. What do you think? Which would logically be better for your skin? Something containing manufactured chemicals, or something containing only natural ingredients?
The chemicals found in non-natural makeup and especially in the cheaper brands gradually strip the skin before being absorbed into your body. While being exposed once to these chemicals won’t harm you, most of us use our cosmetics every day. By contrast, using organic cosmetics doesn’t leave you vulnerable to the carcinogens, toxins and nano particles in conventional products. That means they won’t be absorbed into your body.
The fact is that organic cosmetics tend to be more concentrated, which means you really use less to get the same effect. It equals better coverage without plastering the makeup on.
If you use many skin care products because you have problematic skin – have you stopped to think that the problems could be cause by the actual skin care and/or makeup products that you are using?
100% Organic and Natural Moizturizer.
Natural organic makeup will resolve many skin problems. You will experience less problems like acne, blackheads, pimples, rosacea, skin irritation, redness. It’s like getting up from a long nightmare.
Our bodies can handle plenty of abuse. But, that shouldn’t be an excuse for introducing hundreds of harmful chemicals into our system needlessly. These chemicals may not have an immediate health impact. But, over time, our daily usage of conventional cosmetics can assault our bodies with foreign compounds. After years of allowing these chemicals access to our bodies, there will be an adverse impact. Use organic cosmetics. They’re better for you and better for the environment in which you live.
There are many great choices available to you. So check out my shop to browse through some of the products available. Also by clicking on the banner you will be taken to Nature’s Basin which is a fantastic shop with everything you need for your skin care solutions.
The choice is quite literally in your hands, so do what you can to save your skin!