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Healthy Alternative - Essential Oil Aromatherapy Skin
CareBy Lisanne Huhn-Watchell - May/June 07 The next time you begin your morning routine in the bathroom, consider how many topical toxins you are applying to your body. Daily, on average, we use 126 unique ingredients in toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, creams, lotions, hair products, shave gels and makeup. This may not seem alarming, but have you ever closely examined a product’s ingredients list? Not only do we inhale, absorb and sometimes ingest these components, but we also flush them down the toilet and rinse them down the drain. These toxic ingredients become part of a grander environmental problem washing into streams, drinking water and back into nature. We have all heard plenty about the nasty components in the food we eat, the air we breathe and the products we clean our homes with; we must also then raise personal awareness about what is in our bathrooms and being applied to our bodies. Take a look at your shampoo or body lotion - does it contain “fragrance”? How about “colour”? In a fragrance, over 200 ingredients (a mixture of complex chemicals) are added and uniquely designed to smell just the way you like. The breakdown of these 200 plus ingredients is not required to be listed on the label. “Colour” (for example: D & C Blue) is sometimes derived from Coal Tar, a well-known carcinogen. Dandruff shampoos can be particularly Coal Tar-laden. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a very small amount of the ingredients used in cosmetics and, itself does no regular safety reviews. Furthermore, the Personal Care Products (PCP) Industry has reviewed the safety of a mere 11 percent of the 10,500 ingredients listed in care products through its self-policing safety panel. Of the 82,000 chemicals industries have registered for commercial use with the Environmental Protection Agency, the ingredients in PCP’s account for fully one-eighth of this amount. The skin is our body’s largest organ - one of the major excretory organs next to the kidneys - excreting over 25 percent of the body’s wastes. Think of the skin as a mirror of what is taking place internally; it can show us when the body is out of balance and when toxins are not being properly released. A rash, for example, is a result of “toxic overload”, and an indication of the body needing work. Acne on the forehead shows that the bowels are out of balance. To see results from a new skin care regime, we must stick with the routine for an adequate length of time. It takes 21 to 28 days for a skin cell to travel from it’s place of germination to the outermost layer of the skin. Changing products frequently will only aggravate the skin and, a “quick-fix” is not the answer. Compare this to switching from diet to diet because you are unsatisfied by the results. Rather than trying to topically correct one part of the puzzle, we must look at the greater picture, the whole body. How do we do this? Through nutrition, regular body cleanses, exercise, stress management and safe, natural products, things such as essential oils through Aromatherapy. Essential oils (plant hormones) are ideally suited to skin care and balancing the body, mind and spirit. The molecular size of these oils easily penetrate the pores of the skin and adipose tissue (fat layer). They then enter the bloodstream to balance the body from the inside-out. They can be blended to treat the root cause of symptoms, rather than topically masking the surface imbalance (as many other cosmetic formulations do). With over 50 essential oils and 20 base (carrier) oils making up what is Aromatherapy, we can choose specific oils to best bring balance back to the skin, body, mind and emotions. In skin care, each person has unique conditions and challenges. For example, Palmarosa oil is one of the most effective oils for hydrating the skin. Geranium oil balances the adrenal cortex, keeping the body’s hormones in harmony (specifically androgens, which are a major cause of acne). Neroli is an oil best suited for Telangectasia (commonly known as Couperose), tiny red dots with “spider legs” radiating from them, found on sensitive or environmentally-exposed skins. Some benefits of using essential oils in skin care include: - Are highly antiseptic; - Help speed the removal of dead, dehydrated skin cells so new, healthy cells may grow; - Help eliminate waste; - Reduce inflammation (rashes, acne, eczema); - Regulate sebum (oil) production; - Lower the impact of emotional stress; - Can be easily incorporated into any skin care product; - Are readily absorbed into the body to heal skin imperfections from the inside-out. Avoid topical toxins and bring yourself back to nature by using Aromatherapy in your daily life. From skin care products to cough and cold remedies to cleaning supplies, essential oils can be blended for everyone. The next time you reach for a personal care product, read through the ingredients list. Chances are, if you cannot pronounce the words they are not natural and should not be applied to your skin. Lisanne Huhn-Watchell is a Registered Aromatherapy Health Practitioner (RAHP), Wholistic Aesthetician, Cosmetologist & Registered Kundalini Yoga Teacher. Contact Lisanne directly at 403.478.4178 or visit www.2bu.ca |