Sensitive Skin Care – Simple Solutions & Tips
By Skin Care Editor | July 22, 2009
The reason that we have sensitive skin care products on the market is due to the rampant use of allergens, toxins and irritants by the major cosmetic companies. Instead of changing their formulas, instead of admitting that they were at fault, they blamed adverse reactions on individual sensitivities. Here’s a brief history lesson.
Thousands of years ago, traditional healers told their patients to never use anything on the outside of their body that they would not eat. The reactions that the healers had to treat were typically caused by contact with poisonous plants, which you might think of as sensitive skin care, except that most people would react the same way.
The healers learned to treat the reactions with other plants, such as seaweed, sedge grass and jojoba. They taught their patients how to avoid allergy-causing plants. Things were pretty good.
Traditional healers taught their patients about the importance of keeping the skin clean and protecting it from the sun. Treating sunburns and protecting the skin from the sun was accomplished with passion fruit, wakame kelp, witch hazel or whatever plants were available in the healer’s area.
In 1859, the raw material for petroleum jelly was discovered on some of the first oil rigs in the US. It was promoted as a cure-all. It was supposed to help heal burns and infections. That was really when the area of sensitive skin care began.
Although some users swore by the powers of petroleum jelly, most people found that it did not work…for anything. It was certainly no good for healing burns. It actually caused blistering and scarring. It had no antibacterial activity. So, it wasn’t good for healing infections.
Most people simply noticed that it caused an unpleasant greasiness and seemed to cause pimples. Years later, dermatologists found that it interfered with the skin’s natural rejuvenation processes.
In 1879, Ivory soap, which is made from animal fat and lye, was introduced. It was promoted as an alternative to the more expensive castile soap, which is made with olive oil, sea salt and ashes.
The need for sensitive skin care cleansers arose, because Ivory is too drying for most people to use on a regular basis. Instead of simply going back to castile soap, which was already available and did not cause dryness or irritation, cosmetic companies started using ethylene oxide, a petrochemical to reduce the harshness of lye.
You will find that ethylene oxide is listed as an ingredient on practically all sensitive skin care products. It may help reduce the risk of acute or immediate reactions, but the byproducts that are created when ethylene oxide is used in the manufacturing process are cancer-causing compounds.
The use of ethylene oxide has not been banned, but the State of California has forced the recall of cleansers containing it, because they also contain 1,4 dioxane, one of the chemicals on California’s list of known carcinogens. The manufacturers don’t add it on purpose. It’s a byproduct. Nonetheless, it’s dangerous.
If you have had a reaction to a cosmetic at some point in your life, you are in the majority, not the minority. According to surveys conducted by the US FDA, most people, at some point in their lives have an adverse reaction.
If the need for sensitive skin care products were real, reactions would be the exception, rather than the rule. Learn more about how to care for your skin, before you do permanent damage.
The editors here at DefendYourSkin.com recommend a natural skin care product line made by the Xtend Life Natural Products company. To learn more about their skin care products click here.
Topics: Sensitive Skin, Skin Care | Comments Off
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