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Your skin is the largest living part of your body. While it’s durable enough to keep out bacterial invaders and other problematic microorganisms, it needs your help to stay beautiful and radiant.
The problem is, some products designed to help the skin on your face and other sensitive areas of your body may hurt both your skin and your body. These common chemicals are things that you may find yourself routinely exposing yourself to when you try new types of skin care products. While you can’t rule out trial and error from finding that certain product that does help your skin maintain its beauty, you can certainly make a rule to stay away from the following chemicals.

Skin therapy

Isopropyl Alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol is a common ingredient in skin care products. It’s designed to break down the oils on your skin and to liquidate any grease that might be clinging to it, which is why many facial cleansers employ it.
The problem is that isopypyl alcohol doesn’t stop with just oils and other things. It can dry out your skin, which in turn allows it to become brittle and cracked. Once it reaches this state, it becomes exposed to the same microorganisms and imperfections your skin naturally protects itself from.

DMDM Hydantoin and Imidazolidinyl

skin care products

Unlike some chemicals listed here, these two ingredients aren’t designed to interact with your skin. They’re designed merely as preservatives for fragile organic compounds that you might find in moisturizers, conditioners, and lotions.

The side effects of these chemicals are numerous. The most common being the formation of rashes on sensitive skin. Other common interactions include hormone imbalances that cause other skin conditions, loss of sleep, dizziness, and ear infections. These chemicals can even weak your immune system and act as carcinogens.

Mineral Oil

Marked as safe due to its relative inertness and used as a lubricant in everyone from lotions to moisturizers, mineral oil appears to be relatively safe to use on your skin.

The bad news is that it’s anything but for some. It can clog pores, impeding regular functions, and be difficult to remove. This can harm your skin, result in loss of skin elasticity, and lead to premature aging.

Triclosan

skin care soap

Triclosan is yet another chemical marketed as beneficial to the body. It acts as an antimicrobial, which means that it can help reduce the amount of microbes on your skin.

The problem with triclosan starts at the chemical level. Triclosan has a chemical structure very similar to Agent Orange. It’s also classified as a chlorophenol, which has been under investigation as a family of chemicals that could act as a carcinogen. Triclosan is such a powerful microbial that it is measured in parts per trillion rather than parts per million like many other safer chemicals. The potential dangers of triclosan include skin irritation, impeded sexual function, kidney and lung damage, liver damage, and brain hemorrhages.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Similar Sodium Sulfates

Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and chemicals like it, are commonly found in beauty products that foam. These harsh detergents are designed to remove oils, but they tend to dry out your skin while getting it as clean as possible.
SLS can also cause the layers of your skin to separate, which can lead to minor things such as dry and cracked skin, to infections of your skin due to complete separation of the skin layers.

The problem with skin care products is that they contain so many ingredients. Even something as simple as a fragrance or preservative could cause a large amount of damage to your skin and the rest of your body.

The best thing you can do for your body is to avoid future exposure to these chemicals. Carefully check the ingredient list on any skin therapy product before you buy it. If you’ve already had your skin damaged by these chemicals, then look into products designed to encourage cell rejuvenation. ASEA is an example of a company that sells safe products designed to naturally stimulate your body’s natural healing processes by encouraging cell communication. Look for similar natural companies and perhaps even look into making your own care products.


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