Do you know if the skincare you are using is safe? The “all natural” and “organic” fads have been around for sometime. I know people who claim that they only use all natural products. But what does that even mean? Does it really matter? Why am I paying double for the exact same thing just because it’s “organic”? What if I told you that over 90% of those ads are marketing tactics. Let’s learn about it.
IT’S ALL IN THE CHEMICALS
For starters I want to start by defining what a chemical is. A chemical is “any substance consisting of matter” so that entails everything. H2O (water) is a chemical. There is no such thing as “chemical free” unless it’s absolutely nothing. “Chemical” has been marketed to be the enemy.
IT’S ACTUALLY ALL IN THE DOSE
Any substance has the ability to be a poison. Did you know that you can drink so much H2O (water) that you die? But you literally need it to live. How is that possible? It’s all in the dose baby. I learned that any medication I prescribe has the potential to do harm… especially if not given in the correct dose. Take 1000 mg of Tylenol and you get rid of your headache. Take 10,000 mg of Tylenol and you just bought yourself a liver transplant. See where I’m going with this?
SAFE SKINCARE APPLICATION
How you apply/or ingest a substance can make all the difference. Aloe Vera is great when applied topically to the skin. However, ingest a raw aloe vera plant and you’ll be hugging the toilet for the next 24 hours. Stay with me, I promise this will all make sense.
I WANT ALL NATURAL
Great in theory but also a marketing tactic. Just because something is “natural” does not mean it is safe. Poison ivy is natural but I would not ingest it or intentionally rub it on my skin and I doubt you would either. Marketers have equated “natural” with safe and non-toxic which gives people a false sense of security. There is no legal or official definition to be able to use the words “natural, safe, and clean” on products. To be natural you can literally have 0.00001% of one natural ingredient.
CAUSATION VS. CORRELATION
“Well I read somewhere that parabens cause breast cancer.” Not true. Parabens were found in breast cancer tissue. Does that mean it caused the cancer? Lets look further. Healthy tissue also contains parabens. The study only showed they were present, not that they caused the cancer which caused the study to eventually be retracted. Causation vs. Correlation. Big difference.
RISK VS. BENEFIT
But why are parabens in my skincare, why would I even want to risk it? Parabens are found in fruits “naturally” and serve an important purpose to help prevent microbial growth in skincare products. Your skincare can grow mold and fungus if they aren’t present which could also harm you. Everything in life is risk vs. benefit. At this point I think the benfits of parabens outweigh the risks. You can read more about parabens here.
RODAN + FIELDS
One thing I love about R+F and why I believe in their products and company: They could technically label their products “natural” but they don’t play on people’s emotional responses and marketing fads. We use science, data, and clinical studies to ensure products are safe and efficacious.
IN CONCLUSION
My main point is that people can write very scary things, but it doesn’t make them true. Safe skincare can mean so many different things. Always research before believing anything you read on the internet, including this. You have a world of knowledge at your fingertips, you just have to look it up.
As always, if you have any questions about safe skincare feel free to contact me here.