Skin 101

I just downloaded an iPod application about different toxins or pollutants found in my neighborhood. Curious as I was, I was shocked to see that there are 63 pollutant sources, ranging from Air to Water to Ground and Radio Waves in my neighborhood! All of these affect us one way or another. We either eat or drink pollutants, breathe them in, or absorb them through our skin. This leads me to the topic of this post - Skin 101.

With so many different pollutants and especially with the recent natural disasters and the radioactive scare in Japan, it is easy to understand why we are leaning more and more toward purchasing organic products. However, do we apply the same wisdom to our skin care products? Not so much. Commercially available skin care includes many ingredients that are borderline harmful. While some of the ingredients listed may not be harmful in a single application, using the product over a longer period of time may then be a different story. In order to understand why it is so important to use organic products not only for the foods we eat but also for our skin care, it is important to know how our skin works and functions.

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A word of caution about Furniture.

The chemicals in the furniture we sit on also are absorbed by our skin. This article talks about Skin Rashes caused by the Chemicals used to prevent mold in Furniture shipments.

By Charlene Laino
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

March 5, 2010 (Miami Beach, Fla.) -- Your new sofa may be the last thing you suspect is causing that red rash on the back of your legs, but it could be the culprit.

Doctors say a chemical added into furniture shipments from China to prevent the growth of mold has been linked to severe rashes.

The chemical, dimethylfumate (DMF), can penetrate the fabric and subsequently clothing when a person sits on the furniture, says Joseph F. Fowler Jr., MD, clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.

DMF is also used in the shipping of some clothing and shoes, Fowler says. And some people are very allergic to the preservative, he tells WebMD.

When they come into contact with DMF, susceptible individuals develop contact dermatitis, a rash that can occur anywhere on the body. Irritated skin becomes dry and chapped and eventually red, scaly, and inflamed.

At the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, Fowler described what he called "an epidemic of Chinese sofa and chair dermatitis."

Fowler said that the first five cases were reported in Europe in 2008.

"Since then, there have been a good 1,000 cases in Europe, maybe more," he says. Cases have also been reported in Canada.

In the U.S., there have been no published reports, although Fowler says he treated one man who developed contact dermatitis of the foot from a shoe that was contaminated with the chemical. The rash went away after the patient disposed of the offending footwear, he says.

Jenny J. Kim, MD, PhD, associate professor of dermatology at the University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, tells WebMD that Fowler's report is the first she has heard of the allergen.

Kim says she will start asking patients in whom she can't find a cause of rash about recent furniture purchases. "I'm going to start looking for [DMF allergies]," she says.

Fowler says DMF is "put into little packets, or sachets, that are then put in with furniture, clothing, and shoes to prevent mold during shipping."

As more U.S. doctors hear about DMF-contaminated furniture and clothing, "we'll be hearing about a lot more of these cases," he says.

SOURCES: 68th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, Miami Beach, Fla., March 5-9, 2010.

Joseph F. Fowler Jr., MD, clinical professor of dermatology, University of Louisville, Kentucky.

Jenny J. Kim, MD, PhD, associate professor of dermatology, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine. 

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Making Soap

Today I unveiled my first self-made soap and I must say I am pleasantly surprised. The entire process was so much easier than what I had imagined especially after reading book after book, articles and internet sites including watching videos on youtube about the cold-process soap making. What initially scared me was handling the lye as every book, article, and internet site warned of the danger that can be involved. However, prepared not only with a ton of knowledge but also with an outfit similar to a deep-sea diver, I felt daring enough to start the experiment. I put on my googles, gloves, had on a long sleeve shirt and an apron in case I spill some lye, and had my kitchen prepped so that all areas that were exposed and even remotely exposed to the soap-making process were covered with paper and towels. I felt safe and got to work.
First I measured the lye, then the distilled water, and next, I poured the lye into the water. Since the lye-water heated up to over 200 degrees, it took several hours to let it cool down to almost 80 degrees. I instantly realized that making soap from scratch includes a lot of patience because I had to wait almost 5 hours until the lye cooled down to the desired temperature. Next time, I will prepare the lye the day before so that I eliminate the waiting period. A note on safety though, if you have children or pets, keep the lye-water mixture out of reach and clearly label the content!!!
After the lye cooled down, it was time to heat up the oils until it reached the same temperature as the lye. Finally both lye and oils had the same temperature and I could begin combining both with a stick blender. Instead of mixing the soap mixture by hand, I had seen on youtube that a stick blender works just as well if not even better. So I poured the lye into the oil mixture and started mixing until tracing began. Initially I had no idea what tracing looks like. Sure I read all about it but then seeing and experiencing it for myself was yet another matter. I think I mixed a bit too long, I had to make sure about the tracing, so in the end, the mixture looked somewhat like vanilla pudding. I quickly mixed my essential oils into the soap and poured the mixture into the prepared soapbox. I scraped off the sides off the pot... ooopss, too late. I later read that one should not do that... oh well... Then I covered the box, covered it with a blanket, and left it alone for 48 hours.
After 2 days of waiting, I put on my "diving outfit" again and headed back into the kitchen to check on the soap. The googles and gloves are a safety precaution because the lye in the soap is still reactive after 48 hours. So I took the soap out of the box and my initial thought was, "hm, looks like a huge bar of cheese" but it smelled wonderfully due to the essential oils. I cut off the top layer, the layer that was from the scraped out sides of the pot. I am still a bit unsure why one should not scrape the sides of the pot but I can imagine that it must have something to do with the lye and that there may be too many traces that have not mixed with the oil. After the top layer was gone, I cut the soap in bars and tiny pieces that I want to give out as samples. After that, I put the bars and pieces into a brown paper bag to dry for about 4 weeks. The paper bag served as my "dry and dark place." That meant 4 weeks of waiting to find out if the soap is usable or not.
So today was the day I used the soap for the first time and like I said, I am pleasantly surprised. The coconut oil in the soap contributes to a fine and foamy lather. Since 5% of the oils were not saponified - meaning the alkali base (lye) combines with the fats or oils - the soap is creamy and while cleansing still gives enough moisture to the skin so that the skin does not feel dry and stripped of its protective layer of sebum. Watch out friends and family, you know what you are getting for the next occasion :-)

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Exfoliate your skin on a budget

(found on http://www.wholeliving.com/article/beautyremediesb0407fob_t-1?backto=true)

Walnuts
Use it to exfoliate hands and feet

Why it works: Rich in oil, walnuts make for extra-gentle sloughing.

How-to: Perillo likes to blend 1/4 cup shelled walnuts, 1/2 cup olive oil (for extra emollients), and a tablespoon of honey (to seal moisture into your skin) in a food processor set on a slow speed, creating a fine-particle scrub. Standing in the shower (if you're scrubbing your feet) or over a sink (if it's for your hands), work the mixture thoroughly over your skin for a couple of minutes. Rinse with warm water.

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