Posted on August 20, 2009 - by napavalleybath

Travel Beyond the Surface of Skin Care

Your favorite soaps, lotions and skin cleansers whisk you away to decadent journeys.

Whether it’s a fruit-filled orchard, an overgrown tropical garden, or a spicy, faraway lair, as you apply your favorite soaps, lotions and potions, you’re transported.

Another Journey: Inside Your Body

You take imaginary flight when using your favorite lotions and potions on your skin – your body’s largest organ.

Simultaneously, the ingredients in your chosen skin care take a journey of their own.

Invisible ingredients in your personal care products course through your blood, veins, tissues and other organs. Since you don’t see them – and they smell divine – chances are you’re not thinking much about this corporal ‘road trip.’

But attention must be paid…the truth is, invisible chemicals in your products are likely stored in your tissues and fat, while other chemicals mess with your hormones and reproductive systems. The ‘invisible’ ingredients found in your sensual skin care program take a dangerous left turn – and only you can stop it.

Chemicals in ‘Conventional’ Personal Care Products
The FDA is simply not on board with protecting us from ‘hidden ingredients’ in personal care products. After all, the European Union has outlawed 1,100 chemical personal care ingredients because they are a threat to their citizens’ health. The FDA has banned only nine. Furthermore, the FDA does not require companies to test their products for safety.

You are quite simply on your own when it comes to choosing safe, healthy personal skin care and personal care products overall.
Top offenders include:
• Fragrance – The typical fragrance contains 50-100 chemicals, none of which are required by law to be listed as ingredients: they are considered ‘trade secrets.’ Worst fragrance offender? Phthalates…
• Phthalates – Phthalates were found in nearly 100 fragrances tested by the Environmental Working Group. A chemical plasticizer, phthalates bioaccumulate in our tissues and have been shown to cause birth defects and liver cancer in lab animals.
• Preservatives – This standard ingredient group includes parabens, which mimic estrogen; formaldehyde, a known carcinogenic; and mercury, a neurotoxin.
• Color – Many dyes contain heavy metals, like neurotoxic lead acetate and carcinogenic arsenic.
• SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) and SLFS (Sodium Laureth Sulfate) – These surfactants, found in products that lather, can cause skin and eye irritation and have been linked to abnormal eye development in children; they can also react with other products to produce carcinogenic nitrosamines and dioxin.

When you use ‘conventional’ beauty care products, your lovely beauty ritual transforms from a decadent escape to a harsh – and unhealthy – reality.

Mother Nature’s Perspective

From an environmental perspective, our country’s water systems are not set up to filter out these hundreds of relatively new toxins. So they wind up in our waterways and harm wild life. Tap water – which you may drink and definitely bathe in takes a hit too.

Peace of Mind Pampering: Go Natural and Organic

At our sister company, St. Helena Olive Oil Co., we like to say “it’s all about the ingredients.”

As with food, so it is with personal care.

When you know the ingredients in your skin care products, you can take that imagined trip to the lavender fields of Provençe or transport yourself to the sun-kissed vineyards of the Napa Valley with truly pure delight, 100% worry-free.

Opt for safer, healthier, skin care…and enjoy the voyage of lifetime.