The foundation of anti-aging skin care is to protect your skin from damage as the years go by, specifically to protect it from exposure to the sun. This is very difficult for several reasons: most of us have a lot of exposure to the sun when we are small children and, in Western culture, it is both fashionable to have a suntan and a popular form of recreation to lounge in the sun on a summer day.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, almost 900 ingredients used in skin care cosmetics have been known to be toxic. Moreover, there have been hundreds of documented cases where skin care cosmetics caused a variety of ailments on users. Common makeup and skin care products are also a leading cause of accidental poisoning in small children.
Sunlight contains various wavelengths of light ranging from infrared through visible light and into the ultraviolet range. It is the ultraviolet rays of the sun that do the majority of damage to the skin. Ultraviolet sunlight is typically dived into UV-A and UV-B rays. UV-A penetrates to deeper layers of skin and stimulates tanning, but does not burn the skin as readily, while UV-B has more superficial penetration but causes more sunburn. Both types have been implicated in cell damage and malignancies of the skin, therefore exposure to both the sun and to the UV light in tanning beds will require some level of antiaging skin care treatment.
Products claiming to be organic or all-natural, in fact, can have toxic chemicals. Simply adding a natural ingredient shouldn’t make a product “all-natural” – unfortunately, there is no strict regulating body that monitors this. Strangely, the FDA does not regulate skin care producers. Cosmetic companies will often use the word “natural” as a marketing ploy, without truly meaning it. The best way is to study the ingredients yourself. If you have difficulty choosing which brand is the best, you should consider asking for some professional help from a skin expert. Consulting a dermatologist, of course, would be the best recourse.
Read the labels of natural beauty products and be alert for chemical ingredients. Normally, natural skin care should not contain any harsh fragrances or artificial colors. When purchasing organic shampoo, lotion, gels or creams, make sure to open the bottle and see how it smells and appears. Organic stores can be a good place to look for organic cosmetic products. While sometimes priced higher than their ordinary counterparts, most organic cosmetic products can be less expensive than high-end brands that are known to contain serious toxins.