Food for Thought

Just the other day I posted about the importance of hydration and exfoliation. While sea salt is a great exfoliator, someone who has high blood pressure needs to be cautious not that the sodium from the sea salt raises the blood pressure levels. Now why is that? Our skin absorbs through the thin layers everything that we put on ourselves... creams, lotions, beauty masks, perfume, and scrubs even if we do not leave them on for long. Because of the fact that our skin absorbs things easily and readily, it is that transdermal skin patches like birth control or smoking cessation work. Our skin absorbs everything whether it is medication or a synthetic chemical put into a cream to make it last longer. While these chemicals may not cause immediate harm, they nevertheless may poison us from the inside with extended use.
Of course, there is no way to avoid everything that may not necessarily be good for us. Chemicals are used in our environment, in foods, in cosmetics, practically wherever we go and are. Some are even necessary while some are not. Not everything that you see on a store shelf is of high quality. It is made in high quantity and in order to do that, chemicals are included to make the products last longer. Now maybe it is just me but I am always skeptical of something that lasts a very long time after it's been opened. Wonderbread comes to mind and so does my cream jar that I had purchased over 12 month ago and it is still good to use (not that I will but if I would want to, I could. Scarry...) That leaves me to wonder what is in that cream that makes it last so long. In an article that I found on EcoVoice (see link here) it says that "chemicals used to preserve cosmetics are far more toxic, and cause many more reactions, than the bacteria they are supposed to protect us from." The same is true for fragrances... a low grade and cheap essential oil can cause a headache. While a high grade essential oil may be more expensive, the benefit will outweigh the cost. So please be aware and careful about what you put on your skin!!!