Lifestyle Choices

Proper cleansing can be the most important part of your skincare routine! Not only is it absolutely necessary to get your face clean without irritating your skin (often a delicate balance), but you can also treat your skin by the way you wash and the soap or cleanser you use. Your bath or shower can be your best friend, your greatest indulgence and your most important key to excellent health and a great, young appearance.

Getting the product right!

Your skin is by nature slightly acidic (with a pH of about 5.5). Until recently, most soaps and cleansers were the opposite — slightly alkaline. The result was dry skin! With advances in cosmetic chemistry, no longer do you have to choose from only harsh, alkaline products. (more…)

To be beautiful, your hair has to be kept clean, well cut, brushed, and protected from external damage. It also needs the benefit of regular massage to ensure that circulation to the follicles in the scalp is good.

Shampooing

There are two types of shampoos: those containing soap and those that are artificial detergents. Most, these days, are detergent-based. The reason for this is that while soap is good for cleansing away old hair spray, dull oil, and epidermal debris, it tends to leave scum, particularly in hard water. Also, modern detergent shampoos do more than just clean. They contain other chemical ingredients, which impart cosmetic properties such as shine and manageability to hair. If your hair is short and you live in a soft-water area, you can probably get away with using soap, provided you use a conditioner afterward. (more…)

Scientists have been working for generations trying to understand how our noses distinguish one smell from another, to find a classification for scents, and perhaps to develop some kind of notation system for their description. So far without much success. One of the most interesting theories about the sense of smell comes from J. E. Moore, a British chemist. He claims that there are seven primary odors, under which all smells can be classified. Each of these, he says, has a distinctive molecular shape, which the olfactory cells in our nose recognize and react to. And this reaction is not only chemical, as you might expect. According to Moore (and several American researchers agree with him) these special-shaped molecules slot into submicroscopic pores of differing sizes and shapes in the receptor cells. The researchers claim that any change in odor is the result of a change in the overall shape of the molecule. But just how a fragrance affects the nervous system and brings about many-layered emotional responses remains yet another unsolved mystery. (more…)

Dry skin

If you have naturally dry skin then the more soap and water you use the drier it will become. You may find that the milder soaps produced as ‘baby soaps‘ leave your skin feeling more comfortable because these products contain added amounts of grease which is left behind on the skin. Superfatted soaps are also designed with this effect in mind. It may be more sensible just to use less soap or use it less frequently than to search for particular products for dry skin. You should always use a moisturising cream immediately after washing so that additional drying does not take place. You could even use the moisturiser as a cleanser and this will clean the skin and leave it looking smooth and feeling soft. All these preparations hydrate the outer layer of skin and prevent further water loss by covering it with a thin layer of grease. (more…)

Knowing how to read nutrient labels will help you to make better food choices when shopping. Marketing slogans that call a product ‘healthy’ or ‘natural‘ can make a food sound a lot better than the ingredients would merit. When we are too busy we tend to believe what is written on the front of the package, rather than taking the time to read what is on the back. For example, popcorn is considered a great low-fat snack. However, if you buy the microwave or prepared versions, you will find they can be a lot higher in salt and fat than if you buy dried corn and pop it yourself. If advertising can be misleading, let’s have a look at what some of these terms really mean.

A. ‘Lite’ or ‘Light’

This can mean a number of things and not necessarily that the product is lower in kilojoules or fat. Lite potato crisps may be thinly sliced and lightly salted, but they may still contain a high fat content. Light olive oil has a lighter flavour, light beer has less alcohol content, light margarine has less fat, light cheese has less fat and salt. It is important you check the label for what it is that has been ‘lightened’. (more…)

The following is a list of ingredients that have come under question in the last few years. From being carcinogenic, DNA damaging, hormone disrupting or known irritants, many of these ingredients are under further investigation in various countries. It may be interesting to check your beauty and personal care products and see how many of them contain these ingredients:

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (or Laureth)

This has its origins in natural sources. It is produced by the sulphation of commonly available lauryl alcohol, which comes from coconut oil. You will often see on the label ‘coconut derived’, and this can be a bit misleading as it sounds very natural, when in fact it goes through a lot of chemical processes to become the final product. Sodium Lauryl Sulphate may damage the outer layers of the skin, causing dermatitis, dryness and blackheads. It may also enhance the absorption of other chemicals. It should only be used in cosmetics that are quickly rinsed off the skin. It is widely used in shampoos, bubble baths, face and body cleansers, toothpaste and most household detergents. The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) classifies it as a skin and eye irritant. In fact, when dermatologists want to test the calming effect of an ingredient, they use Sodium Lauryl Sulphate as the irritant! (more…)

If you were to ask the person behind the cosmetic counter, ‘What is the toxicity and cellular response to this cream?’ they would look at you as if you were speaking a different language. In fact, you would be speaking another language to them, but maybe it is a language they should know. We feel that in order to make informed decisions about skincare, we need to know how the ingredients work on our skin. We have to look beyond all the e marketing material and examine each individual ingredient and its properties. Then we need to look at the combined effect of these ingredients together. The exciting news is that now some companies are doing just that and educating their users along the way. (more…)

While we are more and more aware about what is in our food - whether it is low in fat or sugar, whether it is GM free or organic - often we don’t spare a second thought to what is in our skincare or personal care products. According to research, women expose themselves to over 200 chemicals a day through skin and health-care products and make-up. This is a scary thought when you start to investigate what those ingredients are. We put on creams and lotions thinking we are doing our best to keep the skin healthy and hopefully slow down the aging process, yet often we are completely unaware of the product’s ingredients or the effect they may have on our health.

Over the last few years more and more information and research into the effects cosmetics are having on our health has become available. There is quite a debate taking place as companies defend their ingredients and the reasons why they are included in their products. The information can be quite confusing. We believe the only way you can really get to the bottom of this is to start investigating yourself, taking responsibility for your own health. Learn what the different ingredients are and what they do. Make informed decisions about whether you use them or not, and don’t be fooled by clever advertising campaigns. (more…)

Many companies use the word ‘natural‘ very broadly, often inaccurately. Often a product is marketed as natural, even though there are only one or two natural ingredients in it. Words like ‘pure plant extracts’ can also be misleading.

Lip tip: Ingredients in cosmetics are listed according to the concentration in the product. So if you are unsure what is in a skincare product, check out the label on the back, or on the box it came in. This will list the main ingredient first and follow in order of most to least. If the product claims to have ‘natural ingredients‘ in it, check out where they come on the list. (more…)

In researching ingredients used in skin and beauty products, we were confronted with many questions. Why are so many ingredients that are questioned for their safety used in the cosmetic industry? What are the ingredients that are questionable and are there good alternatives? (more…)

Some people like to change their skincare products every six months or so, thinking that new ingredients will re-energise and stimulate the skin. So this brings us to the question, does your skin tire of ingredients and do we have to keep the skin guessing? (more…)

Hand and foot care

It is common to spend a lot of time and money on our face and hair and to neglect our hands and feet. Hanging off the end of our limbs, they go about whatever we put them through and it is only when they are injured or sore that we tend to pay attention to them.

Hands are exposed to all sorts of things from weather to harsh soaps and detergents, various foods, gardening and washing and all the other 101 tasks they perform. Feet have to carry around your whole body weight all day, they are often squashed into ill-fitting shoes and endure all sorts of harsh environments like sand, rocks, salt water, swimming pools, gymnasium showers - you name it. If you have ever taken the time to give your hands or feet a manicure or pedicure, you know how good it feels to pamper them a bit. (more…)

Like the skin, the hair reflects inner health and well-being. If you are eating well, getting adequate sleep and feeling good about yourself, chances are your hair will show this. Medications, ill health, stress and fatigue can all affect lustrous, healthy hair, leaving it dull and hard to manage and making you feel that you’re having a ‘bad hair day!’Regular visits to the hairdresser can do wonders for your soul! It’s time out and there is nothing nicer than having your hair washed by someone else. But keeping hair healthy does not have to take a lot of time or money. Treatments at home are also effective and beneficial. (more…)