Do you ever think about what is really in that pretty bottle you purchase at the beauty counter?...What ingredients make up your skin care products?

I want to share with you about what some manufacturers are doing to the skin care products. You may think your skin care products are the best for your skin, but for the most part are bad and they are doing little good for your skin. When you buy your products to use in the comfort of your home, you may find that you can’t even pronounce the weird names on the label. You may have no idea what they are and probably never heard of them in your entire life. You believe it is okay to use these products because you may have been told that the product is great for you skin. You may have been told it will make you have flawless and fabulous skin and it will make all your skin symptoms disappear.

But then when I found out what was in them, WHOA!!! By my very own experience, I was shocked to discover the information I found about the ingredients I was putting on my skin everyday.

Do you know that most of the skin care products on the market today are full of crap?

I am sure what you discover will shock you as well. I personally found a huge company, claiming their product was Dermatologist recommended and that it won’t clog pores. Then I turn it over to read the ingredients, and found that it contains sodium tallowate, otherwise known as animal fats. Animal fats are known to clog pores and cause acne.

The Skin Care Industry has conducted surveys concerning natural products. These surveys proved that customers prefer all natural products on the market. There has been a heavy increase of natural products on the market, which is good, but what bothers me about this is many of these products are far from being natural. They may contain some natural ingredients or essential oils, but they still contain many harmful toxins and chemicals such as parabens, sulfates, and urea. This can be very misleading to you when you are out shopping for the best product for yourself. Let me suggest you don't allow these skin care products to go on your skin and in your body! You understand that these products do get absorbed into your body through your skin, don't you?

Many skin care products on the shelves are loaded with toxic, harmful, synthetic ingredients and they are very damaging to the skin, let alone your health.

Here are some others you have to watch out for.....

EDTA (Ethylenediamine Tetraacetic Acid) is a preservative found in skin care products. It’s primary use as I understand is to keep the product from experiencing changes in color and keeping the product in tact. Which in and of itself does not sound like a really bad thing, my problem with this acid is it can cause redness of the skin as well as enable other toxic chemicals to enter more freely into the bloodstream. Other known hazards of this ingredient are that it prevents the regeneration of the new skin cells.

Glycerin is a fake moisturizer that is derived from propylene alcohol, which as I will discuss as a drying agent. Glycerin is in products claiming that they will hydrate the skin, but it actually does the opposite. My understanding is that glycerin steals or draws moisture from the inside of the body, so it will make it feel like it moisturizes and hydrates, but it really isn’t moisturizing the skin. Once the product is absorbed into the skin, it again becomes dry, it is simply a “quick fix.” What happens when you run out of this product? What does your skin feel like then? Is it still soft and supple? Let me suggest that you consider a product that will promote the natural balance of oils in your skin and body. Look for the ingredient Vegetable Glycerin, this is an emollient naturally extracted from vegetable oils. In my opinion, I think you should give the hand and body lotions up. Throw them out, you will be very happy you did. You will experience softer hands and a softer body. I do.

Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA) This is another one of those acids that scare me. I say this because of the skin damage that may result from long term use for exfoliation purposes. Continued use for exfoliation, can break down the skin’s protective barriers. I say this because I understand it takes more than just dead skin cells off while exfoliating. In my opinion, if you feel you need to use alpha hydroxy acids, do so at your own risk.

Petrolatum this is an ingredient that can actually interfere with the body’s own moisturizing mechanism and can lead to dry skin and cracking. This ingredient is found in moisturizers and lip balms to protect them from chapping and sunburn. The skin can become sensitive to the sun if you use petroleum based products. Think about it like this, what happens when you put french fries in a fryer full of oil, they cook. Do you want to cook your skin? If so, pile on the oil and take a walk in the sun.

The manufacturers say that by using these petroleum based products you can achieve amazing, moist skin, and the dryness will go away. What you may find is that by using these products, your skin tends to become drier than when you began using the product and your symptoms may worsen. Your skin may have been simply over exposed to the ingredient. It also promotes acne and slows down normal cell development.

All of these synthetic ingredients I have discussed to this point are found in most skin care products, so you may want to look at your very own skin care products, and see if you recognize any of those ingredients I mentioned, so you can see what I am talking about.

I really want to help you achieve amazing skin, so learn how to read labels of your products......

I see and hear advertisements all the time for skin care products and they claim their product will give you healthy looking skin.

Don’t you want beautiful and healthy skin?

Alayna A. Fries, Licensed Esthetician

Author, If Your Skin Could Talk, What Would It Say?

Find out more about ingredients in skin care products and what they are really doing for your skin.