Skin Care Products Are A Major Reason Why We Lose the Fresh, Healthy Skin of Youth

• Core Facts

When was the last time you looked at a baby’s perfect skin and wished your skin still looked like that? While it’s true there are natural changes that occur in the body that upset the skin’s delicate balance, it is also true that many of the skin problems we experience as we get into our teens and adulthood can be prevented by a good natural skin care routine and good skin care products. However, what it takes to achieve that fresh, young look may surprise you.

Let’s take a look at what we do to our skin as we move from babyhood to adulthood.

As kids, and in our teens, we’re sometimes outside for most of the day – in the summer we’re in and out of the pool or at the beach, riding our bikes, playing sports or at the park. In the winter we’re outside skiing, ice-skating, sledding, making snowmen, and having snowball fights with our friends. Kids have been living like that for centuries.

You would think that all that exposure to the sun and the elements would result in serious skin problems. However, while we sometimes had to use skin care products for the occasional bout of chapped hands and faces in the winter months or to soothe the sunburns we usually got at the beginning of the long summer season, our use of these remedies was minimal and, overall, our skin problems weren’t anywhere near what they are today. In fact, skin cancer is now common, and eczema has reached epidemic proportions.
 
So, what’s changed? The big change is chemicals: Our air used to be unpolluted, our food was natural and grown locally, and our skin care products tended to be the same things our grandmothers used. Now, in some cities, we watch the pollution index every day to see if it’s safe for our kids to play outside, our foods are loaded with pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics and substances from labs that actually bear no resemblance to food, and our skin care products are loaded with things we can’t pronounce and, in many cases, have been proven toxic.

Every day our bodies expend untold amounts of energy trying to get rid of these chemicals and toxins - and one of the major routes out of the body is through our skin. Is it any wonder that skin problems are also on the rise?

What is the remedy? Buy fresh, buy local, and buy natural - and natural applies to everything from food to clothing, from household cleansers to soaps and bath products, from sun blocks to dry skin care lotions and other skin care products.

For the chemicals you can’t avoid – there’s no way to get away from air – use a shielding lotion. A good shielding lotion keeps out the environmental pollutants we inevitably come in contact with every minute of the day.

For nine months, babies are completely protected from the environment – except to the degree that their mothers have been exposed to toxins. The problems start when they’re exposed to our harsh chemical environment. If you want skin like a baby’s, you have to treat it well. Protect and nourish it with a natural lifestyle, and natural skin care products. And don’t forget the shielding lotion!

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