Beauty truth

Skin is a living organism. It breathes, interacts, and absorbs information from everything it encounters. It's in constant communication with the environment. Without healthy skin, we are vulnerable to the effects of everything we encounter. Unfortunately, years ago we were lead to believe that the skin acted as a barrier to the outside world, blocking out whatever was applied to it. We now know that whatever we put on the skin is absorbed into the bloodstream. You need only look to medical patches, anti-smoking patches and hormone replacement patches for proof.

Every day, multiple products come into contact with our skin, from shampoo and conditioners to body wash, moisturizers, makeup and hair spray. All together, we probably apply more than 100 chemicals to our bodies daily, and we know that not all of them are good for us. In fact, many are downright harmful. Some ingredients, like phthalates found in synthetic fragrances and nail polishes, are known to disrupt the hormone system and are a factor in diseases of the reproductive system and breast cancer.

Sadly, our daily use of a long list of harmful ingredients in our personal care products begs the question: are short-term results now worth the risk of ugly health consequences later?