Beauty And The Blog

I hear a lot of people say that they don’t want chemicals in their skin care or anti-aging products. Which leads me to wonder what, exactly, they think a chemical is. Funny because most people seem to think that chemicals are only man made substances. Bad for you, your skin and body.

They aren’t. Water is a chemical, and very necessary to skin care and anti-aging. So if you don’t want a chemical in your skin care will you stop washing your face? Plus many skin care products contain water as the first ingredient, meaning that the product is mostly water. Some skin care does not contain water, but the reason for that is because certain other ingredients are not as stable in water and lose their efficacy quickly in a water base. But that is getting off subject here.

Everything on earth is a chemical. Chemicals are made up of molecules. Molecules are made up of atoms. So, a combination of atoms make up a molecule. And a combination of different molecules make up a chemical.

Ya following me? Easy example. Sodium Chloride. Most of you know what that is right? Salt. One atom is sodium and one atom is chloride. Together they form  a molecule. A salt molecule.

But the chemical name Sodium Chloride, if you don’t know what it is, can sound scary, right? And some chemicals are scary. Some chemicals are good for us and some are not.

Now lets take a skin care ingredient by it’s chemical name. Ascorbyl Methylsilanol Pectinate. What’s that? Sound scary? Not! It is a form of vitamin C. It is very stable in cosmetics and skin care. It is an antioxidant and a thickening agent.

Here’s another. Dipotassium Glycyrrhizinate. Don’t like the sound of that one, huh? Well, how about licorice extract? Uh huh. That’s what it is. And it is an anti-irritant/anti inflammatory. And it is very good for sensitive skin.

Are you starting to see my point here? It really boils down to getting a bit of knowledge behind you. You can research any ingredient on the net. Or you can ask me, I don’t mind.

I am not by any means saying that there are not chemicals out there that have no place in your skin care. And yes, there are chemicals that are very harmful. But know what the chemical is before you dismiss it because of it’s name. It just might be the exact thing you need or are looking for when you see it in a skin care ingredient label list!

If you would like to read an article about chemicals I found a rather interesting one at Financial Post, a Canadian site. It isn’t about skin care, and more about man-made chemicals, but it does have some thought provoking information on chemicals and their role in our lives.