Beauty Tips Guides

Choosing safe products can be a daunting task without the proper knowledge and tools. Many product packages are deceptively designed to make you believe that the product inside the package is herbal, all natural, safe and gentle, when in fact the product contains little or no natural or herbal ingredients, is contaminated with carcinogens and is irritating to the skin. This is the case because of the lack of regulation in the cosmetic and personal care product industry. But armed with a little knowledge and some helpful tools, there is much you can do to protect yourself.

Here are 10 things you can do to make safer and healthier choices when selecting your toiletries.

Read the ingredients on the label.
The packaging may say such things as natural, herbal or hypoallergenic. This has nothing to do with what’s really in the product or how safe it is. Manufacturers make a lot of claims on the package to “sell” the product. They can do this because some of the terms don’t have official definitions and they can use them however they want. To really find out what’s in a product, you must read the ingredients in the small print, you know, the ones that you sometimes need a magnifying glass to be able to see.

Interpret and understand the ingredients.
Once you find the ingredients, you have to be able to know what they are and if they are safe, harmful, questionable or untested. A great many ingredients have chemical names that only a cosmetic chemist would understand. However, you don’t have to be a cosmetic chemist. The book, Dying To Look Good, makes it easy for you to choose products with safe and healthy ingredients.

Choose products without parabens.
Parabens are xenoestrogens or endocrine disrupters. They disturb the hormone balance in your body. They are also skin sensitizers and have the potential to cause allergic reactions. They have been found in breast cancer tumors, but it is not known if they cause breast cancer.

Stay away from products containing amines.
Chemicals that fall into the category of amines can combine with nitrosating agents to form nitrosamines, which cause cancer. Nitrosamines are formed during the manufacturing process when an amine combines with a formaldehyde-releasing preservative. Some of the amines commonly used in cosmetics and personal care products are Cocamide MEA, Cocamide DEA, TEA, sodium lauroyal sarcosinate and amino methyl propanol. Several of the formaldehyde-releasing preservatives include sodium hydroxymethylglycinate, quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin and diazonlidnyl urea.

Steer clear of products containing talc.
Talc is found in talcum powder, baby powder and makeup. It is a carcinogen if it contains asbestiform fibers. The quantity of asbestiform fibers in cosmetic-grade talc is unregulated in the U.S. Some research suggests a link between talc and ovarian cancer.

Be cautious about products that contain fragrance.
Manufacturers are not required to disclose the ingredients used in frgrances. A single fragrance may contain hundreds of different chemicals. Some of the chemicals used in fragrances are hazardous, such as benzyl chloride, methyl ethyl ketone, methylene chloride, toluene and phthalates. Fragrances may also contain chemicals that cause cancer. Even products listed as fragrance free may have fragrance added to mask offensive odors.

Avoid D&C and FD&C Colors.
Most D&C and FD&C colors are derived from coal tar which is a carcinogen. Most coal tar colors are potential carcinogens, may contain carcinogenic contaminants and cause allergic reactions. These colors must be certified by the FDA to contain not more than 20 ppm of lead and arsenic, but the certification does not address any other harmful effects these colors may have on the body.

Beware of products containing chemical preservatives.
Chemical preservatives can be irritating and are the number one cause of contact dermatitis. Some preservatives you should watch out for are benzethonium chloride, BHA, BHT, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, phenoxyethanol and methylisothiazolinone.

Watch out for “and other ingredients.”
This means there are one or more ingredients that the manufacturer considers a trade secret and does not want to list on the label.

Be wary of products with long lists of ingredients.
Many of the chemicals used in cosmetics and personal care products have not been tested or have not been adequately tested. Even those that have been tested have only been tested individually, not in combination with other ingredients. Nobody knows the effects of the many different ingredients used in thousands of different combinations, the effects of using numerous different products, one on top of the other, or the effects of repeated use of ingredients or products over time.

Protect yourself and your loved ones. Become a label reader and learn how to decipher the ingredients for safety.

Dr. Christine H. Farlow, D.C. has been researching ingredient safety since 1991. She is the author of three books, including the new, second edition of DYING TO LOOK GOOD. To learn more about the safety of ingredients in your cosmetics and personal care products, visit www.dyingtolookgood.com.

The anti aging industry is booming. Aging baby boomers seem to be obsessed with preserving their youthful look. Anti aging preparations claim to make you look younger as you get older. But are the ingredients in these products safe?

Here are 10 ingredients to avoid in anti-aging preparations:

Propylene glycol is a strong irritant, a neurotoxin (toxic to the nervous system) and may cause kidney and liver damage. It may cause delayed allergic reactions, acne and contact dermatitis. It absorbs quickly and is a penetration enhancer, i.e. it increases the absorption of other ingredients in the product through the skin into the bloodstream.

Diazolidinyl urea is a skin irritant and a potential cause of dermatitis. It is a formaldehyde releaser. Formaldehyde is a Group 1 carcinogen (known to cause cancer) as determined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Imidazolidinyl urea is a strong irritant. It causes contact dermatitis. It’s also a formaldehyde releaser.

Phenoxyethanol is a skin and eye irritant with a rose fragrance. It can cause contact dermatitis and is harmful if absorbed through the skin.

DMDM hydantoin is another formaldehyde releaser. It may cause contact dermatitis and has cause caused cancer in experimental animals.

Triethanolamine (TEA) is an irritant, a sensitizer and causes contact dermatitis. It may cause the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines in products containing nitrogen compounds. It may also contain nitrosamine contaminants not listed on the label.

Parabens (ethyl-, methyl-, butyl- and propylparaben) are endocrine disrupters. They disturb the hormonal balance in the body. They are absorbed through the skin and may irritate the skin. They have been found in breast cancer tumors, but it is not known if they had a part in causing the tumors.

PEG-n (4-200) is an eye and skin irritant and is hazardous on large areas of the body. It may be contaminated with dangerous levels of the carcinogen, 1,4-dioxane.

HGH is human growth hormone. Some prducts may contain HGH or ingredients that stimulate the body to produce it’s own HGH. Ironically, the hormones don’t slow the aging process, they just hide the symptoms. Animal studies have shown that those animals which produce more growth hormone in old age have a shorter life span, not longer. Studies have also shown that HGH causes carpal tunnel and diabetes. And it has not been adequately tested.

Ultrasomes, keratinocyte growth factor and DNA enzyme complex are known bioengineered ingredients that are used in some anti-aging products. The biotech industry is not very open about bio-engineered or genetically modified ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products. They’re not required to identify ingredients that are bioengineered and they’re not required to be listed on the label. The safety of bioengineered ingredients has not been adequately studied.

Look for products with safe ingredients like aloe vera, essential oils, shea butter, grape seed oil, emu oil, antioxidants like vitamins A,C and E, green tea and Co-Q10. But also remember, it’s more than just skin care. Slowing the aging process involves eating a healthy diet with lots of healthy anti-oxidant rich foods and enzymes, regular exercise, stress reduction and adequate rest. It’s vitally important to pay attention to your whole body, not just your skin.

Dr. Christine H. Farlow, D.C. has been researching ingredient safety since 1991. She is the author of three books, including the new, second edition of DYING TO LOOK GOOD. To learn more about the safety of ingredients in your cosmetics and personal care products, visit www.dyingtolookgood.com.

Idebenone (pronounced eedy-be-known), a super antioxidant, is now being used in select anti-aging skin care products. That’s good news for you if you need to get rid of some extra wrinkles that none of us can avoid as we grow older.

While idebenone has been known for a long time as a pharmaceutical agent, it has arrived to the realm of skin care only recently. In fact, some skin care companies claim it as a new, cutting-edge discovery. But, can it really benefit your skin?

In the 1970s and 1980s, researchers had been studying the potential of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), including its ability to improve heart failure, reduce free radical damage and slow down certain neurological conditions. CoQ10, a vitamin-like natural compound found in all aerobic organisms, plays an important role in cellular energy production and is also an effective antioxidant. Trying to boost CoQ10’s therapeutic effects, scientists synthesized and tested a variety of its chemical analogs and derivatives. Most of these derivatives were found ineffective or unsafe. However, one of the few exceptions was idebenone.

It is closely related to CoQ10 in its structure. However, idebnone is more effective than CoQ10 in protecting cells from the free radical damage resulting from reduced blood flow.

What does all this have to do with skin care? Recently CoQ10 has been shown to improve skin wrinkles. Not surprisingly, some skin care companies decided that CoQ10 analogs might do a similar or better job. So, they found out that idebenone was also a good anti-wrinkle remedy.

It’s important to realize that free radicals that form in the skin in response to the sun’s ultraviolet rays are largely responsible for wrinkling and other signs of aging. To fight these damaging molecules, cosmetic chemists developed this topical antioxidant that’s even more powerful than natural antioxidants such as vitamins C and E.

Results of a clinical trial were presented in February 2004 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. They wanted to find out which ingredient offered the best protection against free radicals. Well, it was idebenone that finished first against vitamin C, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, kinetin, and alpha-lipoic acid.

The benefits of this ingredient include shielding skin from environmental damage, improving the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and reducing dryness and smoothing skin texture.

Antioxidants help protect against the damage caused by free radicals in the environment. Free radicals are unstable compounds that occur naturally in the body and try to stabilize by attaching to the nearest normal cell. This results in a chain-reaction because once the free radical attaches to a healthy cell, it too becomes a free radical in search of stabilization causing cellular damage. Antioxidants, such as idebenone and others, stop this process by donating a molecule to the free radical making it stable.

But, you should know that although idebenone is thought of as a wrinkle reducer, it is more of a skin protector. It is a true antiaging phenomena because it blocks the causes of aging and treats its effects. For best results, use it in addition to a broad spectrum sunblock.

However, this all comes at a price. This wonderful ingredient is priced at up to $120 an ounce. As you know, nothing known to science will erase all signs of aging, but this formula helps with its ability to decrease collagen breakdown (which means less apparent wrinkles and lines) and reduce inflammation.

It’s available in the following lotions :

-Prevage from Allergan.
-True Cosmetics Youth Revealing Complex.
-Radiance Revealing Complex.
-Revitol Anti Wrinkle Complex.

You can get these products containing idebenone from Dermatologists’ or Plastic Surgeons’ offices, Spas, Fine Salons, or online.

Your skin never had it so good!

Ken Black is owner of Skin Care Reviews at www.skin-care-reviews.com, a site with helpful skin care information.

Beauty may be only skin deep. It might be in the eye of the beholder. But, for most ordinary women, that beauty needs a little help to shine. This is where good makeup products can come in. By enhancing features that stand out, and de-emphasizing flaws or imperfections, a good makeup collection can really help almost any woman look and feel better.

When makeup is necessary (as it is for most of us), there are a few things a woman’s collection shouldn’t be without. They include:

* Foundation. Unless you’ve been blessed with skin that’s smooth and balanced all over, foundation will be key in creating any look. By smoothing out the skin’s appearance and helping hide any trouble spots, foundation is up there with necessities for any good makeup kit.

* Blush. The only problem with foundation is the fact it tends to give skin a monotone appearance. To overcome this and add some depth and beauty, blusher comes in. This can be light and natural or wild and eye-popping; it’s all up to the user. The key here is to highlight cheekbones and add a little color to the foundation’s finish.

* Lipstick. Ask almost any woman and you’ll find she won’t be caught without her favorite lipstick. Adding a little touch of color when it’s needed, plus a lot of other side benefits, such as conditioning the skin on the lips, this is a basic essential for any well-rounded makeup collection.

* Mascara. When the eyes look good, the rest of the face tends to. While it’s not always necessary to wear full eye shadow and liner to look great, a little mascara can go along way all on its own. The choices here are many, too. The look with mascara can be natural or it can be dark and dramatic even when no other eye makeup is worn.

There are, of course, other makeup products, but the four above are the absolute essentials. Add to this list, however, powder, concealer, eye shadow, eye liner and even lip liner and you’ll have what it takes to complete an upscale and glamorous look or a natural and alluring appearance.

Choosing the right making is perhaps the most difficult thing for a woman to do. One color might look good in the store, but becomes awful outside of it. The key to finding the best makeup is to shop around, trying different colors on and be willing to experiment.

Also important is making the decision of what kind of look you’d like to achieve. The makeup essentials for a natural, but enhanced, look will be very different than those chosen for a glamorous night on the town in most cases. Daytime makeup, for example, should generally be more subdued while nighttime fare can be bolder, darker and more dramatic.

When possible, experiment with different colors and be willing to try different combinations to achieve different results. Pick out those colors that compliment your natural looks while also drawing attention to your best features. Do take advantage of free samples whenever possible to try looks on for size before buying them.

Makeup isn’t needed in abundance to help a woman look beautiful, but a little bit can really help Mother Nature along. Simple, basic products can go a long way toward this end.

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What you put on your skin is as important as the food you eat. Chemicals that come in contact with your skin can be absorbed into your bloodstream. Many of the ingredients used in cosmetics and personal care products are toxic, even though they may not cause any reaction on the skin. Some cause cancer. Some of the most commonly used ingredients combine with other ingredients to form cancer-causing substances. Here’s a list to help you choose safer and healthier cosmetics and personal care products:

1. Read the List of Ingredients

Most products are labeled to “sell” rather than provide accurate information about the product. The sales pitch on the label doesn’t tell you anything about the safety and quality of the ingredients in the product. You need to read the ingredients list rather than the label for more accurate information about the product.

The ingredient list may not be easy to find and it may be so tiny you need a magnifying glass to read it because that’s not what the manufacturer wants you to see. The ingredients are required by law to be listed on the product label in order of quantity. The ingredient present in the largest quantity is listed first, the ingredient in the smallest quantity is listed last.

2. Check the Ingredients for Safety

The cosmetics and personal care industry is very poorly regulated. There are more than 12,000 ingredients that can be used in cosmetics and personal care products and most of them have not been adequately tested, many not tested at all. The manufacturers are not required to prove the claims they make about their products or to test them for safety. Many products contain cancer-causing ingredients along with ingredients that enhance absorption of the product through the skin into the bloodstream. To make sure the products you’re buying are safe, check the ingredients against a reliable safety list.

3. Beware of Words That Are Used to Sell Rather Than Provide Accurate Information

Many of the words manufacturers use on labels to promote their products do not have “official definitions” so they can be used to mean anything that the manufacturer wants. These terms are very often misleading.

Some words to watch out for include:
Natural - may contain all natural ingredients, a few or none at all
Hypoallergenic - may be tested or based upon manufacturer belief; no proof is required
Fragrance free - means no detectable odor; fragrance ingredients may still be added

4. More is Not Better

Choose products with fewer ingredients, not more. Besides the fact that most ingredients have not been adequately tested, those that have been tested have only been tested individually, not in combination with other ingredients. Nobody knows the effects of the many different ingredients used in thousands of different combinations, the effects of using numerous different products, one on top of the other, or the effects of repeated use of ingredients or products over time.

5. Buy From Companies Truly Committed to Healthy Products

As consumers are becoming more conscious of using safer and healthier products, many manufacturers are tapping into that consciousness and producing pseudo-healthy products. The label looks like the product is natural and healthy, but if you read the ingredients, that’s not the case. On the other hand there are companies dedicated to producing safe and natural cosmetics and personal care products. Many of these are small companies that were started because of the lack of availability of healthy products and some of them use organic and food grade ingredients.

We live in a toxic world and there are some things that we have no control over, like air pollution. However, we do have control over what we put into our bodies and what we put on our bodies - if we just take the time to educate ourselves and make safe and healthy choices. With the increasing number of chemicals in everything these days, it’s important for everyone to become health conscious. Taking control over what you put into your body and on your body will affect your quality of life and may just be a matter of life and death!

Dr. Christine H. Farlow, D.C. has been researching ingredient safety since 1991. She is the author of three books, including the new, second edition of DYING TO LOOK GOOD. To learn more about the safety of ingredients in your cosmetics and personal care products, visit www.dyingtolookgood.com.

Aging is an inevitable process that the human body experiences. The skin, like any other organ, experiences the deleterious effects of time. But unlike others, these disorders are visible to everyone around us. Moreover, the skin can show the signs of diseases of other organs by excreting their toxins.

Our appearance plays a major role in our social relations, the way we feel about ourselves, and in the way others picture us. Therefore, it is important to take good care of our skin to delay any signs of aging.

Skin Anatomy

In order to determine preventive measures, you should first understand the structure and the roles of your skin as well as the forces which harm it.

The largest organ you have is your skin and its main function is to be a protective barrier against environmental factors, such as injuries, infections, sun rays, and harmful substances.

In addition, the skin has a lot of specialized cells and structures which get information from the outside and send it to the brain to process and regulate the behavior of the entire body.

The skin is made up of 3 layers:

- the epidermis, an outer thin layer containing various types of epithelial cells along with cells that produce the skin’s pigment (melanin), cells that play an important defensive role (Langerhans’ cells), and Merkel’s cells which function as sensitive receptors.

- the dermis, which is the thickest one, containing a network of elastin, collagen and reticular fibers surrounding blood vessels, nerves, muscles, sweat cells, and hair follicles with oil-producing and apocrine cells. At this level there are also nerve cells serving as receptors for temperature, touch and pain.

- and finally is the subcutaneous tissue, composed mostly of fatty cells, which have a resistance role.

Wrinkle Formation

As time passes, your skin changes. It becomes loose, thinner, drier and wrinkled, and slower to heal. The wrinkles occur mainly as a result of the rupture of the elastin fibers and the decreasing production of collagen fibers in the dermis but the diminishing of the fatty cells play a role in this as well as the decreasing bonds between the epidermis and dermis.

The main factors that produce or accelerate the damage are: sunlight, smoking, pollution, muscle use, inadequate diet, genetic background, and the lowering of hormonal levels at menopause.

Sunlight (the UV rays actually) damages the collagen and elastin fibers, and causes the development of some abnormal elastin fiber types. This results in a looseness of the skin and its inability to retract after stretching, causing the formation of wrinkles. It further produces a higher rate of evaporation, making skin drier.

Thus it is advisable at any age to avoid sunlight at midday and regularly use sunscreen creams with SPF 15 or higher. In addition, you should drink a lot of water, about 50-60 ounces daily. This water intake is also helpful in eliminating toxins through urine, rather than through skin pores.

Smoking and other air polluting factors produce free radicals in the cells of the skin, altering these cells and their genetic material. It is important to emphasize the importance of quiting smoking because smokers get wrinkled at an younger age than non-smokers, directly proportional to the years and the number of cigarettes smoked daily.

Wrinkle Prevention And Treatments

Researchers have found that many dietary factors can play a role in aging of the skin. It is highly recommended that you include antioxidants in your diet, such as vitamin C, A, D, E, and beta carotene.

There are a lot of medical and surgical treatments for removing the signs of aging from the skin. But why wait until you get a problem, when you can do something about it now? Preventing is better than curing.

Visit wrinkle remedy to learn more. Ron King is a writer and web developer, visit Articles for authors.

Copyright 2006 Ron King.