Stacking the Odds in Your Body’s Favor:Little Body Care Changes That Can Affect Your Long Term Health
Everyday we are bombarded with magazine articles, pinterest boards, Dr. Oz segments, and more that tell us what health should look like. Drawn in by catchy headlines and bullet point lists on how to get “glowing skin” or “perfect hair.” But when there are so many bullet list points to choose from how do we know which ones are for us?
Which bullets should we pay attention to? Which ones are trendy hype? Well this is just a little overview of basic and simple changes you can make to your skin care ritual everyday to improve your skin and health both cosmetically and internally.
I know this is one more article, with a few more bullet points for that matter J But I want this to be a simple, comprehensive guide beginner’s for the time pressed college student or any time pressed individual! Who want to make positive, realistic changes!
A Quick Overview of Why You Should Give a Hoot:
Society has evolved so quickly in the past hundred years we are exposed to huge levels of toxicity due to pollution, contaminated foods, and a plethora of poorly tested man-made chemicals. These synthetic chemicals have made there way into the huge majority of our body care products because they are less expensive to produce and use than natural products like herbs, essential oils, and minerals. Not to mention all these chemicals are not highly regulated, as the cosmetic industry is not monitored by the FDA, but simply trusted to use beneficial ingredients. Instead they packed their products with inexpensive silicones, parabens and sulfates to save themselves time and money. But why are these things so bad?
Here is a bullet list (buzz word) of ingredients you should avoid and a short reason why!
Sulfates: A hot topic right now, sulfates are highly irritating and strip skin of natural oils the body uses to protect and regulate skin on the face and body.
Silicones (including Dimethicone): Avoid any ingredient that ends with “cone” and you should be safe! Silicones used in lotions and hair products give them a silky feel but research has shown silicone wrap the body and is a saran wrap like layer, keeping it from its ability tot breathe and sealing in and dirt, debris or dead skin.
Parabens: Parabens, an inexpensive preservative used in may cosmetics inst4ad of safe natural preservatives such as Vitamin E and C. Parabens have been liked to breast tumors in women because they mimic estrogen. Look for products that proclaim! No parabens! OR snca the ingredients label with anything that ends in “parabens”.
Artificial Colors: Look for products with no dyes as some color combinations have been liked to carcinogenic effects.
Artificial Fragrances: Fragrance is listed as an ingredient in almost every modern body care product. But this little word hides hundreds of synthetic chemicals that make up these fragrances.
There are many inexpensive, realistic ways to make your beauty routine healthier. Every day we use a range of products; shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving cream, deodorant, lotion, toothpaste, moisturizer, make up, and more. On average we a re exposed to 184 synthetic chemicals everyday just in our beauty routine! Which we can control! These chemicals pass through the skin into the bloodstream and using these same chemicals, even in small amounts, for 10, 20, 30 40 years can add up. I always hear the saying” those thing are only really harmful if you’re exposed to them in enormous amounts” but if we use products packed with them every day for years the results can be cumulative and highly negative.
But here’s the good news!
By substituting your every day sulfate based shampoo with
-Jason Naturals Volumizing Shampoo (7.99) you save yourself from
-sulfates
-parabens
-artificial fragrance
and replace them with….
-sea salt ( a natural and effective cleansing agen
-glycerin ( a non stripping cleansing agent)
-aloe ( a miracle product found in many natural beauty products)
By substituting your body wash with:
Castille Soap (6.99–16.99)
you avoid :
- sulfates
- -parabens
- - fragrances
- -phalatates
And garner the benefits of :
-coconut oil (highly cleansing)
— lavender oil (highly calming)
-almond oil (a skin similar oil that is highly moisturizing without being greasy)
And By replacing your Moisturizer with
Sea Bucktthorn Oil (14.99)- Will last up to 3 months
You replace:
-alcohols
-parabens
- mineral oils
-petroleum
And Reap the Benefits of:
-potent antioxidants that protect skin from the elements and promote skin cell regeneration.
By allowing your body access to beneficial ingredients you give it the opportunity to heal itself and maintain itself rather the than having to constantly battle the harsh ingredient we expose it to.
Health is all about stacking the odds in our favor-making small, positive changes than WILL produce softer, healthier skin, happier hair, and detoxified bodies as well as long term health benefits!
