How and Why Should We Use Natural Skin Care Products

How and Why Should We Use Natural Skin Care Products

Introduction

The human skin is the largest organ of the human body. It not only has quite a complex structure, but also performs several life sustaining functions.

We can live without a Spleen, Gall Bladder, or an Appendix, and we can survive with only one Kidney or one Lung, but we cannot survive without our skin. As a result it is of the utmost importance that we take care of our skin.

Using natural skin care products is a good first step in providing the skin with the right nutrients and building materials to retain its health and functionality.

What Does Our Skin Actually Do for Us?

Our skin has many functions, most of which we are unaware of until something goes wrong. They include:

Regulation of body temperature;

Protection against the elements;

Sensation;

Excretion;

Immunity;

Blood storage and

Synthesis of Vitamin D.

 

If you want to read about these functions in more detail you can have a look at this article: “Anatomy & Physiology of the Skin”.

In summary, these functions provide us with awareness of our surrounding climatic environment, protect us against some of the bacteria and other potentially harmful bugs in our surroundings, allow us to experience touch and feel, eliminate toxins from our body, store blood, and provide the means for our body to obtain vitamin D while protecting our body from the sun’s UV-rays.

Considering these vital functions our skin has to perform, it is no surprise that we need to look after our skin and make sure it is given every opportunity to function properly and remain healthy.

Why You Should Choose Natural Skin Care Products?

With all the media and news reports warning consumers of the potentially toxic ingredients in many of the commercially available skin care products sold in supermarkets and department stores, this is an easy question to answer.

Firstly, many of the commonly used skin care products contain artificial and/or synthetic ingredients that the body has difficulties in eliminating, and as a result it tends to store these chemicals in its tissues. Research has shown that the accumulation of many of these substances can have serious health effects.

If you are interested in learning more about some of the toxic chemicals used in skin care products, please read the article “Potentially Toxic Ingredients In Skin Care Products”. It will provide you with much information and research references for you to be able to identify what is in your skin care products and what should not be there.

Holistically natural skin care products do not contain artificial or synthetic ingredients. They should also not contain isolated, concentrated, natural substances, such as parabens (pseudo-natural preservative) and the like, that have been shown to be potentially hazardous.

How To Choose Natural Skin Care Products That are Safe and Effective?

This is where it starts to get really difficult. You see, many so called natural or organic skin care products are in reality nothing of the kind. Adding a miniscule amount of aloe vera to water does not constitute a holistically natural skin care product. It may be ‘natural’ or even ‘organic’, but it will not be effective and therefore is a waste of your money.

To have an effective aloe vera product for example, it requires at least 10% of the overall content to be aloe vera. Or, the aloe vera needs to be combined with several other active, natural ingredients that are combined to achieve a specific result.

The term ‘Organic’ is another area where consumers are being misled. Adding a single ‘organic’ ingredient and then calling the products ‘organic’, is quite simply wrong. You see the commercials on television and magazines every day… “xyz product contains organic this and organic that”… but no mention is made of the other ingredients that are contained in these products, many of which have been shown to be hazardous to our health.

There is yet another problem with natural skin care products, that is an area of confusion and potentially misleading. Just ask yourself what exactly is “natural”? What is actually meant by the term “natural”?

The word ‘natural’ congers up images of nature – pristine environments that make us feel good. A safe, natural environment that is conducive to health and a sense of wellbeing. Spring water, waterfalls, pristine lakes, a healthy salads, Rainforests, etc., are all images that we perceive as ‘natural’, or in other words ‘good for us’.

The cosmetic industry has ceased on this and is using the word natural to instil in their advertisements a sense of wellbeing and the idea that this product is good for us. Unfortunately, one or two natural ingredients does not a natural skin care product make… Far from it, natural skin care products should not contain any ingredients that are not naturally sourced. This brings us to another problem with natural skin care products.

A naturally sourced ingredient, such as the various forms of paraben, may still be potentially hazardous. Just think about it – would you put arsenic or lead on your skin? No of course you wouldn’t. But, they are natural, so what’s the problem? Natural substances too can also be deadly poisons.

Applying this to skin care products, you might be looking for a product that is natural and contains AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids), which we know help to remove dead skin cell layers which in turn helps to remove fine lines and wrinkles, revealing new vibrant skin.

Now, you could buy a product that lists as one of its ingredients AHAs, it might even contain AHA in its name, or you could buy a product that contains a concentrate called papain, which is a natural substance from the Papaya fruit. So, yes papain is natural and yes this product could, depending on other ingredients, be called a natural skin care product. However, papain is a concentrate and as such many people have experienced side effects because the papain is present in too high a concentration for some people.

A truly, holistically natural skin care product would not contain papain as an extract. Rather it would contain Papaya fruit itself. You see, the whole fruit still contains papain, however, it also contains other ingredients in the papaya that modify the excessively strong effect of the papain. Choosing such a product will, at least to a large extent, reduce any potential side effects from the papain, because the product is naturally balanced and contains naturally balanced ingredients that will benefit your skin rather than burn it.

The results of removing fine lines and wrinkles may take a little longer, but are overall better and you reduce the chance of ‘burning’ your skin with a concentrated AHA. Remember AHA stands for alpha hydroxy acid and we all know acids burn our skin.

How To Use Natural Skin Care Products?

Following directions

This is actually a lot more important than most people think. Directions for use are a communication by the manufacturer of a product to their consumers about how to use and get the best results from a particular product.

It has been our experience, that most people who purchase our natural skin care products do not read the directions and use our products the same way that they have been using their previous brand. This however, may or may not be the correct way to use our products.

Properly formulated products contain ingredients in sufficiently high quantities to achieve a desired effect if used in accordance with the product’s directions. Using more does not mean better or quicker results, rather using too much can have adverse effects or no more effect than the lesser quantity.

Conversely, if for example, the product’s directions suggest that it be used 2 or 3 times a day using it merely once is not likely to produce the desired effect in most cases.

This is obvious when we think about taking medicine. We read the directions and take the drugs, herbs, or what ever, as prescribed and hopefully we get the desired result.

So why is it that we do this when it comes to taking medicine, but ignore it (for the most part) when it comes to using skin care products or other personal care products?

Reading the instructions carefully and following them ensures that a) you are not wasting your money, and b) you should get the desired results.

 

Good and Bad Reactions from Using Skin or Personal Care Products

There are several possible reactions you may experience. There are good reactions and negative reactions.

Let’s look at good reactions to begin with.

Good Skin Reactions to New Products

Herbs, essential oils and most of the other ingredients that you’ll find in our range of products have a medicinal actions and are included for a specific purpose, that is, the formulations that make up our various products were originally designed to treat particular skin health issues. This intent, though we do not actively promote this, continues to this day.

As you probably know, there are three basic skin types; Normal, Oily and Dry. In addition, your skin may also be sensitive, prone to allergic reactions or under the influence of hormonal changes that are taking place in your body. The herbs and essential oils in our products are specifically chosen to normalise the skin given one of the skin types. The herbs and essential oils will have a therapeutic effect on the skin’s structure and function in order to provide an environment under which your skin will start to function normally again.

Similarly this is relevant for sensitive skin that tends to react inappropriately to different stimuli. It is possible, for example, that an individual with sensitive skin who is using our products for the first time, will experience a reaction which they may see as being a negative reaction.

This however, may well be totally the opposite to what is actually taking place. You see, in order for your skin’s health to improve, it has to change. This change may appear at first as a worsening of a particular skin issue and this will understandably be interpreted as a negative.

Under normal circumstances however, this type of reaction, if the products are continued with, will only last for a few days and following this time the skin will improve and end up much healthier. This process is sometimes referred to as ‘A healing crisis’, and is actually a good thing to happen.

It signifies that the ingredients are doing what they are supposed to, that is they are repairing and normalising the skin’s functions.

This is a normal and in fact good reaction.

Bad Skin Reactions to New Products

Obviousely there are times when a new product may actually cause a bad skin reaction. Unfortunately a bad reaction often appears very similarly to a good reaction. So how can you tell the difference and what should you do?

The first thing to do when ever you purchase a new skin or personal care product is to test it to see if you have any adverse reactions to this product. Below is a detailed outline and links that will provide you with all the information you need to test a new product in order to determine whether or not your skin is going to react adversely to it or not.

Test the Products to Avoid Allergic Reactions

Another important aspect to using any skin care, personal care or cosmetic products, whether they are natural or otherwise, is to test the products first in order to see if you are allergic to any of the ingredients.

To do this, follow the steps described in our article “The Skin Patch Test”, which will provide you with a simple, yet effective step-by-step test that you can easily do at home over a 24 hour period, to reasonably ensure that you will not experience major adverse reactions to the ingredients in products you want to use on your face, or anywhere else on your body. This test is simple and very effective.

Finally, before you purchase a product, look at the ingredients list and see if the ingredients are easily recognisable. As a rule of Thumb, if the ingredients are easily recognisable it is more likely that the ingredients are of a natural source and have not been excessively modified. If on the other hand you need a chemistry degree to understand what the ingredient is, it is likely not to be a holistically-natural ingredient. It may still be a natural ingredient, but it is likely that it has been isolated and is used in a concentrated, possibly even synthetic form.

For the most part, most ‘natural skin care products’ widely available in the market place are far from natural or that matter organic. Most have minimal quantities of some natural ingredient in an otherwise non-natural product and are referring to the one natural ingredient in the product, rather than the nature of the product itself.

Hopefully this article will clarify some of the confusion that exists about what is a natural skin care product and what is not, help you to choose natural skin care products that will actually live up to your expectations, and clarify why using natural skin care products is a healthier choice.

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Should the Legal Drinking Age Be Lowered?

Should the Legal Drinking Age Be Lowered?

The 21 minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) law is currently one of the most scrutinized and debated laws in the US. This article presents the views of the different stakeholders in this issue.

The United States has the highest legal drinking age in the western world. This age limit was established by the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. This law was driven largely by the desire to reduce traffic fatalities associated with alcohol consumption.

This requires all states in the US to legislate and enforce a minimum legal age of 21 years for purchasing and publicly possessing alcoholic beverages. States that does not comply with the provisions of the act are subjected to a 10% percent decrease in its annual federal highway apportionment.

There are some ambiguities in the provisions of the law. This law “specifically requires states to prohibit purchase and public possession of alcoholic beverages. It does not require prohibition of persons under 21 (also called youth or minors) from drinking alcoholic beverages.” There are also controversies in connection with the term “public possession” which basically do not apply to the following situations: – alcohol for established religious purposes, under adult supervision – alcohol for medical purposes, prescribed or administered by a licensed health care professional – alcohol use in private clubs or establishments – alcohol possession as part of a job with a “duly licensed manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer.”

It is not surprising that parents and anti-drunken advocacy groups are the ones who are strongly against lowering the age limit. In the early 1970s, the minimum drinking age was reduced by several states between 18 to 20 years to closely align with the reduced military enlistment and voting age during the Vietnam War. Many studies show that this move resulted in increased traffic fatalities and injuries.

According to statistics compiled by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), annually alcohol drinking by college students ages 18 to 24 contributes to the following: – Approximately 1,700 student deaths – Almost 600,00 injuries – Almost 700,000 assaults – More than 90,000 sexual assaults – 474,000 engagement in unprotected sex

In 1998, 42% of crash fatalities among 18 to 20 year olds were alcohol-related. However, the drinking rates among the youth declined since the 21-MLDA law went into effect. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the 21 minimum drinking age law saved approximately 900 lives per year. This means more than 17,000 lives were saved since all states adopted the law in 1988. The 21 minimum age law is considered as one of the most effective public safety laws today. Many studies have been conducted to measure its effectiveness and they all have the same conclusion-the law saves lives.

One of the most influential supporters of the 21 legal age limit is MADD. This non-profit organization was established in 1980 with the mission of helping the victims of crimes caused by individuals driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It also aims to aid the families of the victims and to increase public awareness of the problem of drinking and drugged driving. MADD was considered as one of the most influential proponents in the signing of the minimum drinking age act in 1984.

The 21-MLDA is closely linked to the issue of college drinking. Alcohol abuse in colleges and universities in the US is becoming a major problem despite the existing MLDA law. In 2002, a report that reviews that state of science of college drinking was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol. According to the report, about 80% of college students drink and about 50% go on “episodic heavy drink” or better known as binge drinking.

Scientific evidence showed that drinking at an early age can lead to alcohol dependence later in life. A UK cohort study showed that teen binge drinkers are more likely to become heavy drinkers as adults, which can lead to social exclusion and criminality. In this more recent study in the US, “age at onset of drinking” is a major indicator of risk of alcohol dependence among American women.

Adults aged 18 to 20 years old who are not allowed to drink alcoholic beverages are obviously the number one opponents to the 21 MLDA. They raise concerns about the apparent inconsistency in prohibiting them to drink while being treated as adults in most areas of life. For example, American citizens are allowed to vote when they are 18 years of age. Eighteen-year old males are also required to render military service for possible drafting. This means that 18-year old males can go to war and carry guns. Eighteen-year olds can also be selected for jury duty. These youth groups are now questioning why they can be trusted to vote, serve the military and justice system, but can’t be trusted to drink alcohol.

By portraying alcohol as a forbidden fruit, the MLDA law actually makes drinking more attractive to the young. This observation is not only restricted to alcohol but other substances such as illegal drugs. However, the big difference is that access to alcohol, albeit regulated by law, is easier and more affordable than drugs. Also, by coupling the law to age, it presents a challenge to the youth to prove their maturity and adulthood.

In addition, history proves that prohibition of alcohol, as was the case in the early part of the last century in many countries, including the US, encouraged periodic but excessive drinking.

Those who are for the lowering of MLDA claim that the current law actually worsened the drinking problem in colleges.

According to Indiana University professor Ruth Engs: – Students who are “vomiting after drinking” increased from 46% in 1982-87 to 50% after the age limit law has changed. – “Cutting classes after drinking” has increased from 9% to almost 12% – “Missing classes due to hangover” increased from 26% to 28% – “Getting low grades due to drinking” increased from 5% to 7% – “Been in a fight after drinking” went up from 12% to 17%

This increase in excessive and irresponsible drinking is due to “underground drinking” in student dormitories, fraternity basements and apartments without adult supervision. These young drinkers lack the knowledge of responsible drinking behaviors. By reducing the MLDA, young people can learn the proper norms of social drinking early, under supervision, thus helping resolve the problem of irresponsible drinking.

The Amethyst Initiative Support for the reduction of MLDA came from the most unexpected places – top officials of several American colleges. The Amethyst Initiative, launched in 2008, is an organization made up of over 100 university heads, including presidents and chancellors of prestigious institutions like Duke University, Dartmouth College and John Hopkins. The organization members claim, based on their campus experience that “twenty-one is not working” so that there is a need to examine the currently existing MLDA law.

The Amethyst Initiative points out that drinking problems start even before college. They are now calling upon legislatures to review current alcohol policies and develop new ideas to prepare young adults in becoming responsible alcohol drinkers.

According to a 2002 report by the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP), the United States has the highest legal drinking age limit in the world. The five other countries that set a minimum drinking age of 21 are Chile, Egypt, Honduras, Russia and Samoa. In some countries, there are exemptions or special circumstances that may affect the age limit for alcohol consumption. Examples of these are: – In Norway, beer and wine may be consumed at age 18 and spirits at age 20. – In Canada, drinking age limit are legislated by each province. Three provinces set age 18 as the consumption age while the rest have set the limit at 19. In the United Kingdom, alcohol may be consumed from age 5 with parental consent. The opponents of 21 MLDA argue that Europeans have lower problems of alcoholism and alcohol-related vehicular accidents despite the lower minimum age limit.

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 is full of loopholes and ambiguities. For example, provisions that prohibit purchase by, selling to and public possession but not consumption of alcohol by minors are confusing. While all states prohibit vendors to sell alcoholic beverages to minors, some states do not prohibit minors from purchasing alcohol. Some states allow minors to sell or serve alcoholic beverages without adult supervisions and the majority of the states do not prohibit minors from entering drinking establishments. Because of these loopholes, cross-state drinking excursions from strict states and less stringent states are frequent. It is also common for young people living close to the borders to Canada and Mexico to go binge drinking “abroad.”

Drinking has been a government issue for years. Both the proponents as well as opponents of the 21 age limit agree that alcohol consumption is a serious problem among the youth but cannot agree on common solutions to resolve this.

Resolving the problem should probably start by addressing the previously mentioned loopholes in the MLDA. These loopholes weaken the enforcement of law in controlling underage drinking. In addition, there needs to be concerted collaboration between the major stakeholders and efforts toward additional research.

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