Sun Safety

I thought I would start a second blog. This one is about natural beauty awareness. I have always loved finding good products that were gentle and effective. However, I have learned information beyond that. A good friend of mine from high school is now a biology teacher and served some time working in a research lab. She is good about posting various research blurbs online and the information is something that sticks with you. At first when I would read her posts, I was in denial about what I read. I thought that personal care products should be the last thing we need to be worrying about. However, I knew how intelligent my friend was and I began to do the research myself. Everything I came across confirmed that the amount of synthetic and chemically based ingredients in our products is neither regulated by any authority or explained to the consumer. So, ladies, you are the only person who can look out for yourself. The best advice is to become familiar with ingredients that are not safe for us to be using and try to replace them with safer and more natural products. You can become familiar with the "Safety Cosmetics Database" which actually rates almost every product out there. The long term goal is to try to "detox" your products. This means getting rid of the products you once used and finding ones that are free of chemicals. I have done that with some of my products and I am still experimenting with several others.
        A good find I want to share with you is natural sunscreen. My mom would always tell me to wear sunscreen, and it's something we should do during every season. Here is the truth about sunscreen. There are many chemicals in sunscreen that disrupt our bodies (they can mimic hormone levels that shouldn't be changed in the first place).  Avobenzone, Methoxycinnamate and padimate-o are ingredients to avoid (www.terressentials.com). So what should you use then? I found an all natural sunscreen that is safe and works beautifully. Check out W.S. Badger company. Their sunscreen is certified organic and is better at blocking those rays than chemically based formulas (in my opinion).Or, find other sunscreens that do not contain the ingredients I mentioned above. The bottom line is that you feel better knowing that you are riding yourself of those chemicals. Join me in becoming more aware of safe beauty!