Archive for July, 2008

Numerous scientific studies have shown that green tea extract can have powerful skin protecting and anti-aging benefits.  Green tea extract has shown that it can reduce and even prevent DNA damage.  Green tea extract, when used topically, helps support the skin’s cell structure.

Free radicals damage the skin and thus produce negative alterations in the skin.  Excessive sunlight depletes the skin of antioxidants.  Topical use of green tea extract reduces the skins loss of antioxidants.  Topical use also reduces glycation of the skin’s protein which is a major cause of wrinkles.

Green tea extract is used in Purely Clear’s Mineral Makeup because of the beneficial properties it provides to both overall health and the skin itself.

Coenzyme Q10 is a powerful antioxidant that helps support energy production inside the cells.  CoQ10 also provides protection to cells from free radicals.  It has been shown to provide valuable benefits to heart health, cancer prevention and treatment, periodontal health and numerous other health issues.  It is so valuable that humans cannot live without it.

CoQ10 levels decline in the skin cells with aging.  This loss of CoQ10 is believed to be a major factor in photo-aging and other skin diseases that increase with age.  Oral and topical use of CoQ10 can provide important health protective benefits to basically every part of the human  body including the skin.

CoQ10 is one of the ingredients found in the Purely Clear Purifier/Toner/Nourisher and Intensive Repair and Wrinkle Serum because of its numerous health and skin benefits.

Would you prefer to eat food that is fresh or five years old?  Obviously, the fresher food would taste better and be healthier.  However, most commercial beauty care products are produced with chemical preservatives to allow for a potential store shelf life of three to five years without becoming rancid and bacteria ridden.  When those products are applied to the skin, the chemicals are immediately absorbed into the skin and blood where they can be stored in tissues and organs.  Not only do you often have a stale product, but a chemical laden one too.

The chemicals that are common in cosmetics manufactured in the US have been banned in many European countries such as Germany and Switzerland for decades due to their toxic health properties.  The common practice in European countries are the use of natural preservatives in cosmetic products resulting in a shorter shelf life.

This is also the practice of Purely Clear products.  Only natural, plant-based preservatives are used in our products.  Also, our products are produced in small quantities as orders are placed.  This means the Purely Clear product is only days old when you receive it instead of potentially several years old; and is also free of harmful chemicals.

Exposing one’s bare skin (no sunscreen or clothing) to a limited amount of sunlight can actually be beneficial and protect against skin cancer.  The standard advice is to always use sunscreen before sun exposure.  However, sunlight exposed skin leads to the bodies manufacturing of vitamin D3 which inhibits the proliferation of melanoma cells.

Purely Clear and other natural mineral makeups contain a sun protection factor (SPF) from the mineral base they contain.  Our mineral makeup is also enriched with green tea which has shown to possess anti-aging, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits. The topical and oral use of green tea may also help prevent skin cancers and photoaging.

Limiting sun exposure is still recommended; and using a natural mineral makeup on your face can provide a safe, toxic-free alternative to those chemical-laden sunscreens.

Rosacea is a skin disease that affects millions of Americans between the ages of 30 and 50.  Its common symptons are pustular and papular acne, redness and swelling of the face.  This skin condition is one of the most common reasons for a visit to the dermatologist.

Several studies have shown a link between the helicobacter pylori bacteria (h. pylori) and rosacea.  This is the same bacteria associated with causing stomach ulcers.  The herb mastic gum, silver protein, MSM, and topical progesterone cream are some of the substances that have demonstrated clinical improvements in reducing rosacea symptoms.

Sodium laurel sulfate is one of the most toxic, synthetic substances you can put on your skin.  SLS is an engine degreaser and a solvent used to clean grease off garage floors.  If you were to drink a spoonful of SLS  you would die; it’s just that toxic!  SLS is a dangerous ingredient you would not think would be found in any skin care product.   However, sodium laurel sulfate is used in shampoos, facial cleansers, lotions, soaps, etc.  for its foaming abilities.

Sodium laurel sulfate causes eye irritations, skin rashes, hair loss, scalp scurf, and allergic reactions.  It penetrates the brain, heart, eyes, and liver.  It can also keep children’s eyes from developing properly.  Remember, whatever you put on your skin it is immediately absorbed into your bloodstream.

The answer to your health issues may be phthalates, the primary component of plastics — those same plastics that contain your beauty care products. Those phthalates are carcinogenic and cause hormone havoc by changing the normal chemistry of hormones.

“Plasticizer pollution was first discovered by Tufts University researchers who were studying breast cancer cells in petri dishes. They couldn’t understand why the breast cancer cells were growing wildly in lab test tubes as though they had added the estrogens. The problem is they had not yet added the cancer-stimulating estrogens. The answer was that the plasticizer chemicals leaching out of the plastic petri dishes and plastic test tubes are environmental estrogen mimics, mimicking estrogens and act like fertilizer for cancer cells.”*

The chemical and food industries state that small amounts of phthalates are not harmful. This is true if we were only exposed to one phthalate source at a time. However, this is not the case and those small harmless amounts add up and begin to stockpile in our bodies. Years later when we get sick and wonder why — environmental pollutants never cross our minds.

Purely Clear is a natural skin care line bottled in glass to avoid negative side effects and phthalate poisoning.

*Sherry Rogers, Detoxify or Die

The synthetic approach includes the “sanding/peeling” method. This irritation to the skin could possibly stimulate collagen production. However, the end result will be thin skin, a destroyed lipid barrier, more susceptible to sun damage, and worn out collagen producing fibroblasts. You may have a pleasing aesthetic appearance for a short time but watch out a sagging, wrinkled face follows closely behind.

The natural “Purely Clear” approach includes optimizing the health and integrity of every cell in your body without irritation or a synthetic soup of chemical-laden ingredients. Purely Clear products promote beautiful, clear, healthy skin without the use of synthetic chemicals and are designed to enhance both skin and body health the longer they are used.

Go grab the bottles of skin care products you currently use. You might find that your personal care products contain one or probably more of many potentially dangerous ingredients.

Here are a few of the most common suspicious ingredients:

* Mineral Oil, Paraffin, and Petrolatum – Petroleum products that coat the skin like plastic, clogging pores and creating a build-up of toxins, which in turn accumulate and can lead to dermatologic issues. Slows cellular development, which can cause you to show earlier signs of aging. Suspected cause of cancer. Disruptive of hormonal activity. By the way, when there’s an oil spill in the ocean, don’t they rush to clean it up – fast? Why put that stuff on your skin?

* Parabens – Widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic industry (including moisturizers). An estimated 13,200 cosmetic and skin care products contain parabens. Studies implicate their connection with cancer. They have hormone-disrupting qualities – mimicking estrogen – and interfere with the body’s endocrine system.

* Phenol carbolic acid– Found in many lotions and skin creams. Can cause circulatory collapse, paralysis, convulsions, coma and even death from respiratory failure.

* Propylene glycol – Used as a moisturizer in cosmetics and as a carrier in fragrance oils. Shown to cause dermatitis, kidney or liver abnormalities, and may inhibit skin cell growth or cause skin irritation.

* Acrylamide– Found in many hand and face creams. Linked to mammary tumors in lab research.

* Sodium laurel or lauryl sulfate (SLS), also known as sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)– Found in car washes, engine degreasers, garage floor cleaners… and in over 90% of personal care products! SLS breaks down the skin’s moisture barrier, easily penetrates the skin, and allows other chemicals to easily penetrate. Combined with other chemicals, SLS becomes a “nitrosamine”, a potent class of carcinogen.

* Toluene – Poison! Danger! Harmful or fatal if swallowed! Harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Made from petroleum or coal tar, and found in most synthetic fragrances. Chronic exposure linked to anemia, lowered blood cell count, liver or kidney damage, and may affect a developing fetus. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) contains toluene. Other names may include benzoic and benzyl.

* Dioxane– Found in compounds known as PEG, Polysorbates, Laureth, ethoxylated alcohols. Common in a wide range of personal care products. The compounds are usually contaminated with high concentrations of highly volatile 1,4-dioxane, easily absorbed through the skin.

Dioxane’s carcinogenicity was first reported in 1965 and later confirmed in studies including one from the National Cancer Institute in 1978. Nasal passages and liver are the most vulnerable. Dioxane is easily removed during the manufacturing process by “vacuum stripping”. Warning: It is a synthetic derivative of coconut. Watch for hidden language on labels, such as “comes from coconut”.

So, do you want to put these chemicals on your skin? Hopefully not…

You’d be better served by switching to skin care products made of plant names you recognize, can pronounce, and could even eat (if you had to).