Mad World of Skin Care

Happy Monday to you all!

Here is a quick  just a reminder about my last post and the Sam's Club FREE annual membership offer for new and expecting mom.  If you meet the qualifications of expecting a baby or being a mom to a little one that is one year or younger, then you have until tomorrow, September 29th, to contact Sam's Club and let them know that you would like to get the free membership for new or expecting moms.  They will then most likely send you a mailer that you can take into your nearest Sam's Club and finish the sign-up process.  Wow, isn't this so kind of Sam's Club?  Will you please remember to thank them for this generous offer?

Okay, now moving on to what has been weeks in the making.  

I am so excited to start a series on NATURAL SKIN CARE.

I am now in my 30s and am seeing the beginnings of wrinkles and age spots.  I used to be perfectly happy using a fresh diaper wipe (hey, mother of five here!) to quickly cleanse my face before hitting the hay and then splashing my face in the morning with water and calling it good.  I wouldn't use lotion unless my face felt dry.  Seriously, that was my skin care.  But these last few months, I have had to change my tune.  I actually care about cleansers, toners, serums, and masks now.  I have been picking up things from the supercenter, the mall, online, ETC.  I have been researching products and companies and let me tell you this:

Made with reuse image of earth and picasa.

I still go into slight panic mode when I think of all the options.  There are thousands of products to chose from, from your average St. Ives to Chanel, ranging from $ to $$$ per product, and consisting of made-made chemicals to essential oils to snail mucus.  It is CRA-ZY!  And the claims that companies make sound like they are in possession of The Unbeatable Elder Wand, when it is basically just a industry of pseudoscience.  Lets get real.
Just because I am seeing some wrinkles, doesn't mean that I want to look forever in my 20s.  I don't want to anti-age, I just want to age well.

I am also an ingredient list reader.  Its not that I understand half the ingredients on any standard drugstore skin care product or department store skin care product, but I usually aim for the more natural side of things and also short ingredient lists.  So I began my journey being moderately selective and figured, I'll just try out a few high end things to compare them to the drugstore products.  Well, pretty soon I began to realize that the high end products were using parabens just like the drugstore products.  On the outside of the product they list all the healthy, desirable things BUT YOU HAVE TO TURN THAT PRODUCT AROUND AND LOOK AT THE INGREDIENT LIST to begin to get a more accurate list of what you are considering wearing on your face 24/7.

So the more research I did trying to find a good skin care system, the more I realize that I really wanted to go pure, unadulterated natural.  So natural that if I really wanted to, I could make it myself.  And I just might find myself doing just that, but for now I am SO GLAD that there has been a food revolution because it is having a ripple effect on skin care and cosmetics.  There are so many companies out there that are saying NO to questionable, man-made chemicals and saying YES to earth produced and earth friendly ingredients.

Now, before you think I have gone all Henry David Thoreau on you, I have not.  I have not thrown out all of the products in my house that have chemicals.  But I do feel like I am on this line between standard consumer and cautious consumer.  I'm making baby steps.  And I feel like choosing my skin care should be on the more cautious, nature-loving end of the spectrum because it is something that will be touching my skin 24/7 and I want it to be more than just "safe enough".  I want it to be healthy and effective.

So, in my next post, I will beginning sharing my natural skin care journey with you.  Join me, please, and let's learn from one another!