THE SIMPLER THE INGREDIENTS—THE LESS HARMFUL A PRODUCT (minus the word ‘fragrance’ of course)
We take our skin for granted. The largest organ of the human body, skin on average makes up 5% of our bodies. Each inch of skin contains 12 million cells, 250 sweat glands, 35 sebaceous glands. We breathe through our skin, absorbing 60% of what it is that we touch, as well as 63% of the elements in the water in a 15-minute shower. HOW, one may ask?
Well, carefully… and in consideration of everything we eat, apply and inhale. Made up of three layers, the tough epidermis, firm, flexible dermis, and the fatty, insulating hypodermis, our skin homes sweat and oil glands, hair follicles, blood vessels and nerves. The largest organ of absorption and elimination, we should always be able to eat—orally ingest what we apply to our armpits, chests and cheeks.
This is not to say we should replace our meals with a mineral sunscreen or deodorant, but what’s bad to ingest is surely toxic to our SKIN. The bridge between our internal organs and the outside world, this canvased intermediary necessitates the utmost respect and attention.
Western society, through its livid dichotomization of the internal and external–has pushed synthetic fragrances, processed foods and cancer unto the rest of the world. We mustn’t separate our external and internal selves.
Absorbing into the blood stream whatever it is that we feed it: Coconut, Olive, Avocado oils and shea butter are among my most skin-quenching applicatives. Able to trace each to a delectable fruit of nature, they contain SPF, moisturizer, collagen, vitamin E and good fats.
Always accessible, cheap on Ebay, and best when bought as pure and virgin as possible—you can make the simplest everyday face and body cream from just adding these ingredients, into a favorable consistency. All lotions and face creams’ bases are essentially shea butter, whipped into perfection.
Dabble some essential oils in to organically ‘aromatize’ your cream, some castor oil too. GreenHealth essential oils are my favorite, as they are pure, available in 2-4oz, and reliable. Rosemary essential oil is good in the winter, as it tends to increase circulation and bloodflow; lemongrass is a natural bug repellant, and lavender soothes and softens. They all smell incredible, too.
So what about that deodorizing stick I rub unto my vulnerably ticklish armpits? Anti-perspirants are so linked to breast cancer, kidney and Alzheimer’s diseases now. Thanks to aluminum and a number of other plug-in chemicals that block our sweat glands, they eventually seep into our breast tissue and blood. “The aluminum salts do not work as antiperspirants by being absorbed in the body. They work by forming a chemical reaction with the water in the sweat to form a physical plug… which is deposited in the sweat duct, producing a blockage in the areas that it’s applied,” says David Pariser, MD, professor of dermatology at Eastern Virginia Medical School and past president of the American Academy of Dermatology (WEBMD). Tampons, menstrual pads also contain odor suppressants that will immediately irritate a Nature-girl.
Why? How stupid can we be, not to question these things? THE SIMPLER THE INGREDIENTS—THE LESS HARM THEY CAN DO TO US. Our skin is our pillow, our velvet, our tongue—through which we speak, act and think. It should neither conceal nor mask us from reality. Leaves laden with golden fruit seeds, melting into bones like lava does rock done by gas, tempestuous elegance exists within nature—so why synthetically disrupt?
