Our ‘Not So Pretty’ Opinion
Should you sacrifice skincare to stay away from chemicals? Here are our takeaways from the new trending HBO documentary series, Not So Pretty. If you haven’t seen it yet, we’re not necessarily recommending it (because, unfortunately, it is awfully one-sided due to a lack of scientist experts), but there are still some very good pieces of information in it as well.
There can be dishonesty in the cosmetics industry, so find people and companies that you trust
Skin MPLS product lines go through a long vetting process. Since we aren’t scientists, we have to put a little faith in our brands and the people who create and run them. So please put faith in your aesthetician! If we are happily using the products, it’s because we know they work and trust they are safe. Information about scary ingredients will always be coming out, and in our field, we have no choice but to work with “chemicals” because those are what create the changes in our skin. Most of them will not harm you, especially in small amounts. And, as a bonus, we’ve been happy to find (after looking even deeper into our products) that they are mostly phthalate free. (For those of you who have not yet seen the skincare episode of Not So Pretty, it is entirely focused on phthalates).
Take into account frequency of use
You are not going to be able to avoid chemicals altogether. In the documentary, the people interviewed had extreme exposure. For instance, in the makeup episode (again, for those of you who have not seen it, it was entirely focused on talc), the makeup artist using talc all day on herself and applying it to others has a lot more risk than someone who wears a product with talc on special occasions.
The skin is not a sponge
A popular fear-mongering technique to make you anxious about chemical exposure is the idea that whatever you put on your skin immediately soaks into your body and bloodstream. Often, we hear our skin referred to as a sponge. If your skin was a sponge, you would get out of the bath or shower with a LOT of extra water weight! Our skin is made to keep things out and protect us. Very little of what you put on your skin penetrates (both fortunately and unfortunately). When you consider the little amount of a face cleanser, cream, or serum you use and then consider from that quantity the little amount of chemicals in that – we are talking about microscopic amounts that could even potentially pass through the skin into the bloodstream. Now, think that through versus, say, the chemicals from food that you eat making it into your bloodstream.
Do what you can to make up for unavoidable “toxic” exposure
Our bodies are made to be filters and the reason you see studies about “dangerous” chemicals found in urine is because our bodies are getting rid of the waste that we don’t need. Think of your body as a filter (or even better a temple) and flood it with water, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and other nutritious items. Exercise to sweat out toxins. Go in for health checks, blood work, and physicals to make sure hormone and vitamin levels look good. Think of health as a package and avoiding chemicals as one of the many things you do to be healthy. And if you want to do even more to avoid things like phthalates, follow some of our tips in this blog and also read this as well.