The Magic Eight for Healthy Looking Skin – Start from Within Part 2 of 2

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November 22, 2013

Welcome back! This is part 2 of our article about having healthy looking skin. If you missed part 1, click on this link.

6. Everything natural...well, almost. There are so many skin care products on the market today. It's always wise to stick to the basics. By basics, we mean products that are free from chemicals and only use natural ingredients. This also applies to other non-skin care products. To keep track of almost every mischievous chemical out there, simply stay away from these weird sounding names when you look at the ingredients of your skin and non-skin care products (yes, my friend you have to read the label):

Triclosan. This chemical can be found inside antiperspirants, toothpastes and cleansers. It mainly acts as an antibacterial (fights bacteria). It can mess with your endocrine system (your hormonal system). Furthermore, it may also be linked to antibiotic resistance of bacteria.
Coal tar dyes like p-phenylenediamine and colors marked as "CI" followed by a 5 digit number. This one is really scary. Imagine putting something on your skin with a five digit number. Looks experimental and still in the test phase, huh? Well, it might have passed the testing on humans phase, but this shouldn't fool you. These notorious chemicals are found in hair dyes and other colouring products to provide pigmentation. They may contribute to the formation of cancer. Some even contain heavy metals, which can seriously mess with your brain.
Sodium laurETH sulfate (SLS). A very common chemical found in bath products. Do you like taking long, soothing bubble baths? Well, don't. I mean, use products, which don't contain this chemical. It's the stuff which makes soap and shampoo bubble and foam. This goes the same for its cousin, sodium laurYL sulfate. Both of these chemicals are known to be skin irritants and may cause cancer in humans. Just remember, you don't need the assurance of seeing the soap or shampoo produce foam and bubble to convince you that you're doing a good job of cleansing your body.
DEA-related ingredients. DEA stands for diethanolamine. Other chemicals connected to this are MEA (monoethanolamine) and TEA (tetraethanolamine). Another group of possible cancer-causing chemicals to add to your list.
Siloxanes. Stuff they put in moisturizers which end in -siloxane or -methicone to provide moisture to the skin may harm our reproductive and hormonal systems. They may also contribute to the formation of cancer.
Phthalates. (such as di-ethylhexyl-phthalate & di-butyl-phthalate) Substances that are added to plastic to improve their flexibility, longevity and transparency. These chemicals are also used in many cosmetics such as nail polish, hair and skin care products and are known to negatively affect your reproductive and endocrine systems as well as important organs like the liver.
Petrolatum. Petroleum-based products are found in lip balms and lipsticks, though there are many of them so check out the different names online so that you know which to avoid. Petroleum-based products are thought to disrupt normal skin functions and may contain carcinogenic contaminants.
Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. These include the following: imidazolidinyl urea, methenamine, quarternium-15, DMDM hydantoin and diazolidinyl urea. A wide range of cosmetics use these chemicals which can slowly release formaldehyde, a recognised carcinogen that can cause headaches, internal bleeding and dermatitis, and also used to preserve dead tissues.
PEG compounds (polyethylene glycol). These compounds are found in several cosmetics as moisturizers. Like SLS, these can be contaminated with 1,4 dioxane and ethylene oxide.
Parabens. This suspected endocrine disruptor acts as a preservative in a number of cosmetics.
Perfumes. Around 3,000 chemicals are used in the production of your favorite perfume. Allergy, asthma, cancer and neurotoxicity are just some of the things you should be concerned about when it comes to perfumes.
BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene). These two are used as preservatives in makeups. They can disrupt your hormonal system. In addition, they may also cause cancer.

Now that you've read this list, examine what you put in your bathroom cupboard from now on.
7. Resolve any inflammation happening in your body. Inflammation is never good to your skin or the rest of your body for that matter, especially chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation can damage and clog your blood vessels.Your skin needs an adequate blood supply to get its nutrients and dump its waste products. Having a poor blood supply renders it incapable of doing this. Girl Looking in the Mirror

Its like your garage overflowing with rubbish because you keep missing garbage day! Read more about how Inflammation affects your body
8. Your skin is a reflection of your overall health. How you take care of your internal organs, will reflect on your skin. It can't be overemphasized enough to adapt to a healthy lifestyle. Stop drinking too much alcohol (for your liver), smoking (for your lungs), eating a lot of sweets (for your pancreas), just to name a few.

Keep our magic 8 in mind when it comes to having healthy looking skin as you will be happy to did when you see the results of healthier skin in the mirror.