www.LivingThruGrace.com
- Sep 4, 2018
- 4 min read

Repairing Our Skin From The Trials Of Over-Washing!

Our skin goes through a lot, being exposed to an ever growing toxic environment, food and products. For many people skin is stressed out! There are a few major issue that many of us have and that's Over washing, and over dousing ourselves with our favorite fragrances, cosmetics and body products.

The rise of allergic reactions from food can sometimes cause one to jump to conclusions about a skin reaction when actually often dry, red, rash or scaly skin; and chronic itchy dermatitis stem from the products being used atopically. There's a growing epidemic of this issue across North America in particular.

Yep, it's the soaps, it's the face creams, [ even one's that are labeled hypoallergenic ], it's the shampoo and conditioner and perfumes with 20 plus ingredients being consistently used on the skin and scalp that's causing a lot of skin issues.

[ Honestly, I k now I'm guilty one over washing! :() I also love my Mia Facial brush, but I try and not use it too often, like every day Ha Ha!!! ]

As a generation, we now wash far more than any other generations of the past. :() We're stripping away some germs, but also, our immunity and our skin! :O This over washed lifestyle received a boost from the beauty and cosmetics industries. Nowadays women and many men are devoted to these beauty products. These companies have managed to convince people that natural healthy skin comes from expensive (often) and great smelling beauty products that are essential for good skin care and are the fountain of youth.

How does over washing damage our skin? The skin's natural state is slightly acidic, but soap, even water are alkaline. When we wash the skin we remove some of our fat molecules [Lipids]. These lipids are what bind the skin together. When we repeatedly wash our skin we're removing some of our natural barrier. Even over using plain hot water can strip the skin and add in soap, we begin compromise our skin.

Serums, face creams, skin toners, and anti-aging products are masking the stripping away of the skin's healthy bacteria and natural fat molecules. Furthermore, a multitude of these products are filled with chemicals and other questionable ingredients that irritate, strip and alter the natural skin. People don't realize or underestimate the amount of chemicals they're applying onto their skin daily.

Some of these cleansers can have over 30-40 ingredients and the same goes for eye creams, moisturizers and so on. Some of these ingredients are wrapped up on a nice bow labeled fragrances a generic term for more artificial ingredients. Many times a reaction to shampoos and conditioners can begin on the neck or the face so the connect to the hair products may be overlooked.

[ Look's like this guy needs to fall back on his body products and talk to his doc asap! LOL ]

Shampoo's usually contain some amounts of water so a preservative is often added to combat the growth of bacteria. One of the worst offenders is a preservative called Methylisothiazolinone (MI), and another one is labeled Linalool. While European regulations only allow a minuscule amount of this ingredient, there are NO regulations in the U.S. The U.S. depends on the old Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act which does not require a full ingredient or allergen ingredient labeling. [Reactions to shampoo are growing every day.] Furthermore there's no regulation for products with terms as hypoallergenic or even unscented.

What about products labeled Botanical and ones with essential oils? Fragrances are one of the leading ingredients to cause skin outbreaks. Though essential oils are natural, they're still fragrances and can still be an irritant or cause an allergic reaction in some people. An essential oil can have components of up to 20 or so ingredients from different plants. The aforementioned ingredient listed above, Linalool is derived from lavender oil and is a popular allergen and irritant for many.

The skin allergic results can be cumulative, so it isn't solely the face cream, but the cream, the shampoo, perfumes etc... The skin becomes overloaded and stressed as there is no end to the topical assault! :() The fix for this is not unlike what's done for food allergies; an elimination diet only for the skin. Removing

all the products used including makeup for a couple of weeks or a set time determined by your doctor. This helps to reboot your system and skin. After the trial period, safe products are introduced, one's that are irritant free. This test should be sone with the supervision of your Dermatologist or Allergist.

Many people come through this with positive results and stress free skin, The doc then allows the patient to reintroduce one former product at a time and any that begins to cause any skin drama are permanently eliminated.

[ While we make some of our own products at LivingThruGrace, we're careful about what purchased ones we allow onto our skin! ]

I'm one of those 'allergics' to many things and have long since switched to safer body products as well as making my own! [body creams, deodorants...] It takes diligence and careful reading of labels just like for food when shopping for skin and body products. If you're unsure talk to an allergist or dermatologist who can provide you with a list of safe products that you can trust. We have one skin and it's the largest organ one our body so be aware and be safe!

Here below website has a relatively full database of cosmetics and body products for your reference. :)