Do you feel that using cosmetics are the best way keep skin looking younger? Actually, there is so much more to good skin care. Oftentimes, all of our good efforts can be undermined by a few bad practices. We will examine what causes the most detriment to our skin.
When we sleep and lay our face into our pillow, our hot moist breath breaks down residual laundry detergent and fabric softener that remains in the fabric of our pillowcase. These chemicals in turn rub against our face and adhere to it. Laundry detergent contain phosphates that destroy septic tanks and even the slightest amount contaminate drinking water, rivers and lakes. When phosphates are released in the environment, they stimulate algae growth. Now, think what a little residue of these chemicals can do to our complexion? The strong surfactants in laundry detergent leech away the precious natural oils that protect our skin. This can cause redness, skin rashes, allergies and even asthma. Truly, if we want a better complexion, we should be very careful about how we take care of our pillow.
SOFTENER
Skin care and fabric softeners?
The next time you are in the laundry detergent and fabric softener section of a store, notice how even a small breath of these chemicals irritate your lungs. Chemicals found in fabric softener that are made to not degrade are specially formulated to make the smell linger. These chemicals are slowly released into the air you breathe and onto your skin to absorb. As an experiment, the next time you run out of fabric softener or detergent, try to rinse out the bottle with water for a hundred times. After the hundredth time, you will notice that the smell is almost just as pungent as it was when you first purchased the bottle. If water dissolves almost everything in nature, yet it can not take away the chemical smell of detergents and fabric softeners, think how difficult it is for your body to rid itself of these chemical toxins?
How do I know which chemical is bad for my complexion?
While all of our skin problems may not be caused by one single chemical irritant, removing any one single chemical from the equation can result in overall better facial skin care benefits. There is no sense in isolating a single chemical and seeing if it actually causes problems. It would be wiser to eliminate everything that is remotely suspicious, and then see if our condition improves. Lately there has been a common misconception that low phosphate detergents are safe. Detergent manufacturers now have replaced phosphates with Caustics. Caustics such as Lye are so strong that the pH residue will leach away the oils of our skin even more than that of phosphates. This makes caustics even more detrimental to our skin.
How to avoid chemicals from affecting facial skin?
Give your pillow a vacation weekly - We should regularly put our pillow out in the hot sun or cold frozen winter. The sun, heat, and dryness and severe coldness kills dust mites.
Try to avoid laundry softener - Our pillow case should never need laundry softener.
Alternatives to Phosphates and caustics? - Old fashioned borax soap is a much better alternative than modern day detergents.
Drying the face with a towel? We should try not to dry our face with a towel. The drops of water if left on our face only serve to hydrate our skin.
Always use the best, natural cosmetics available. Avoid synthetic skin care products.
