Why Your Mother’s Skincare Won’t Work for You

The short and simple answer to this question is that even a generation ago, women washed their faces with chemically harsh soaps and then slathered on a mineral oil based cream to moisturize. This combination of first stripping off all the natural oils of your skin and then replacing them with synthetic, petroleum based grease, is a guaranteed way to accelerate the aging of your skin.

When it comes to soaps, my mother used Ivory, which of all the mass produced commercial soaps has the least added chemicals, but it’s still very drying and caustic, especially when used on the face. A common ingredient in liquid soaps and shampoos is sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate. It comes in a multitude of forms, including sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (used in Dove soap), but a sodium sulfate by any name is drying to skin, irritating to the eyes, potentially contaminated with cancer causing dioxane and carries the extraordinary ability to penetrate systemic tissues such as the heart, liver and brain. It is simply to be avoided at all costs.

Cocamidopropyl betaine is another sudsing agent used in some soaps advertised for their gentleness, but it has a 5 out of 10 rating for toxicity by Cosmetic Safety Database. It is a strong allergen with possible autoimmune toxicity and it can be contaminated with Nitrosamines which are known carcinogens. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to know if the product that I’m using to wash my face every day has been linked to causing cancer!

Moisturizing cleansing products like Pond’s Cold Cream were very popular for many years. Unfortunately, the first ingredient in Ponds is mineral oil, which coats the skin and makes it feel soft temporarily, but it’s long term effect is to dry and age your skin. Your mother may have washed her face with Noxema, or used it as a night time cream. Noxema isn’t petroleum based but it does contain propylene glycol and artificial fragrance. Propylene Glycol can cause skin irritation and sensitization in as low as a 2% concentration, while typical cosmetic products can have up to 50% concentration. According to the Cosmetic Safety Data base, propylene glycol is linked to throat & tongue cancer (from it’s concentration in mouthwash) is reported to cause kidney and liver damage, developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies and immuno-toxicity. Just consider that this chemical is also used in the manufacture of paint and antifreeze and ask yourself if you still want to use it on your face.

Then, after you’ve cleansed your skin, you moisturize. Yet, the top commercial moisturizers, dating back to the 1950’s, are largely made from petroleum by products or mineral oil and parafin wax. This was a cost saving strategy for manufacturers because petroleum oil was cheap and vegetable oils much more expensive. But petroleum products are known to reduce the skin’s ability to eliminate toxins and so those toxins tend to build up and affect things like liver function. Those toxins also get trapped by the layer of impenetrable grease and can cause acne or skin irritation for some people.

Petroleum also interferes with the body’s natural moisturizer, sebum, in such a way that causes excessively dry skin. I find it curious that the very products sold to us to relieve dry skin, ensure that you will always need their product due to it’s long term drying effect. Petroleum or mineral oils also increases photosensitivity which increase sun damage. Petroleum based products pass through liver and sequester valuable fat soluble vitamins, such as A, D, E and K which are vital to our overall health and well being. And finally, petroleum based ingredients aren’t just in your mothers cold cream, they are in almost all cosmetics and even in many so called ‘moisturizing’ soaps. In fact, just read the labels of your favorite lotion, foundation, cleanser, lipstick or lip balm and see if you can identify the petroleum based ingredients.

Other ingredients used in most commercial skin care products are artificial fragrance and paraben preservatives. These two things alone should steer you away from most of your mother’s skin care products. Artificial fragrances are made from coal tar and petroleum and can contain as many as 600 separate chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic, such as  methylene chloride – which you won’t see on the ingredient label. They may contain or release formaldehyde, a known carcinogen and neurotoxin, cause allergies, skin irritation, headaches and nausea. Musk fragrance, in particular, xylene, is hormone-disrupting and all artificial fragrances can trigger asthma attacks.

Parabens come in many forms including: Methyl, Ethyl, Propyl or Butyl Paraben. It’s the most widely used preservatives in personal care and it’s known to mimic the action of the female hormone estrogen. There’s evidence that it may affect development of the male reproductive system and it has been detected in breast cancer tumors. Like many of the toxic chemicals found in personal care products, it accumulates in the tissues of the body over time and it’s full impact on our health has not been adequately researched.

So, what to do? For starters, throw out all products with any of these ingredients. Do not give them to your worst enemy! Then, take a look at the Organic skin care offered by Fresh Organics. When you buy from Fresh Organics, you are assured that none of these toxic or even potentially toxic ingredients will be used. Plus, by choosing organic, you avoid the other hidden chemicals of pesticides, herbicides and petroleum fertilizers that remain in most vegetable based ingredients. Consider sharing some of this information with your mother – if she’s still using the products I’ve described.

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