Those Pesky Peptides

Recommended. I need peptides. Presumably peptides help stimulate collagen production (When you age and your collagen breaks down you get wrinkled). With my allergies it was impossible to find a skin care product with peptides but without the super-duper preservatives that give me a rash. Enter Arcona. 

I've used several Arcona products. Some I found very good. Some were just so-so. The peptide wielding one I liked best is the Peptide Hydrating Complex. Besides the peptides, it also has a tiny bit of retinol in there, which in any quantity is very irritating. The other I tried and liked is the Magic Green Ice. Go for the hydrating complex if you have dry skin and Magic Green Ice if you have oily skin or want to use the solution under your regular moisturizer.
The downside of these products is their price. Bloody expensive. $52.00 U.S. for the Green Ice and a whopping $75.00 for the hydrating serum.

More about peptides: Actually, there are two uses of peptides in skin care products. Palmitoyl pentapeptide (Matrixyl), which is the collagen booster one. Sometimes these have copper attached, which seems to enhance the action and also have an anti-oxident effect. The other is a neuro-peptide (argireline), which depresses the release of neurotransmitters from nerves and keeps the muscle from contracting - like Botox. From what I've read, there's scant proof they work at all when applied topically, especially the neuro-peptides.

The Perfect, Safe Sunscreen

Long time no post, but I've decided to revive this blog because I've found so many great products.
Recommended:Since it's summer, I want to introduce you to the absolute best mineral-based (zinc oxide) sun screens. They are made by Devita (http://www.devitaskincare.com/).

I use the Solar Body Block on my body and the Solar Protective Moisturizer on my face. They disappear into the skin immediately - none of that thick, white stuff - no masking of skin tone. They moisturize and aren't greasy. Ingredients are just good for you stuff like glycerin, vitamin e, aloe and grape seed extract (a natural anti-oxident).

The Web site says they don't use nanotechnology. So, they're not changing the zinc oxide into something teeny tiny that can enter the blood stream and perhaps even cross the blood-brain barrier, which is one way to get sticky, gooey, zinc-oxide to behave. For more about this, see DeVita's own Independence Day blog (http://devitastyle.com/home/blog).

Follow up: I asked DeVita about how they manage the magic. Barbara Thomas, their Customer Service Director answered with, "... we use cutting-edge, Non-Nano, uncoated, nearly transparent Micronized Zinc Oxide. ...If you are reading old articles on how micronized zinc oxide cannot be nearly transparent etc, you are not up to speed on what is available now."
In other words, there are no down-sides to these products except the cost ( in the $25 - $30 dollar U.S. range). BTW: These sun screens aren't water proof.

The Wrong Stuff

You should really, really know this. Not just because the following list of chemical cosmetic ingredients are toxic, but because you also should know that what you put ON your skin goes IN.

These chemicals makes beauty products cheaper to produce or longer lasting or prettier. They do everything for the manufacturer and nothing for you.

Read the labels and avoid these evils.

Here they are:

1. Methyl, Propyl, butyl and Ethyl Paraben.

2. Diethanolamine (DEA) and Triethanolamine (TEA).

3. Diazolidinyl Urea, Imidazolidinyl Urea.

4. Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate.

5. Petroleum (mineral oil, petroleum jelly).

6. Propylene Glycol.

7. PVP/VA Copolymer.

8. Stearalkonium Chlorida.

9. Synthetically Derived Coloring.

10. Synthetically Derived Fragrances.

I am immensely grateful for the booklet, Natural Ingredients Dictionary, given away free by Audrey Organics for most of this information. If you don't happen to come across one at places where their excellent products are sold, try the Web site: http://www.aubrey-organics.com/.

Pure Stuff

Recommended. I've tried these Evan Healy products (Sea Algae Serum and Chamomile Eye Care Cream) and perused the labels of a bunch more. No allergic reactions to report, because there is nothing in them to react to. Like Dr. Hauschka, the philosophy is that your skin needs to be encouraged to take care of itself. Trust the skin. The up-side of this is that there are no anti-aging ingredients, like peptides. The down-side is that there are no anti-aging ingredients, like peptides. There are anti-oxidants like Co-Q10.

Look Before you Slather

So, you were wondering why I don't just use the cheap stuff. There are some good cheaper alternatives out there that are pretty allergy free. I'm thinking here of products like Cetaphil. The problem is, they are full of things that aren't healthy, such as Propylene Glycol and Dicaprylyl Ether and well, petroleum. Cetaphil is basically petroleum jelly with some chemicals added. The truth is, I'm just not into loading my body with petroleum products and chemicals, such as mineral oil, because what goes on your body also goes in it. I cannot rationalize slathering my body with the stuff. If I wanted to do that, I guess I could go swim in the Gulf off Louisiana.

Here's a good site that outlines in a really clear way some of the problems that plastics and petroleum can cause: http://www.ecologycenter.org/erc/petroleum/body.html.

Basically, these incredibly unnatural products cause cancer, disrupt our endrocrine systems and our brain function and so on and so on. They are in pretty much every drug store and department store beauty product. It's cheap, and its bad. Look before you slather, that's all I can say.

No Wen

Not recommended. At a friends suggestion I tried the "conditioning cleanser" Wen to help with my dry, dry hair. It's a glycerin-based, non-lathering cleanser. No soap, no striping of the hair. Sounded good, and it did help with the dryness, but it also gave me a exzema on my scalp that caused much empbarassment and took many months to clear up. This is because it contains the preservatives Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone (related to isothiazolinone) both of which are allergens known to cause skin irritations, including chemical burns. Not to mention Dimethylamine (basically methanol and ammonia) and Butylene Glycol. Nice one, eh?

Do this instead? This "revolutionary" cleanser is really just glycerin watered down with aloe and some other herbal waters with added wheat protein (for body) and panthenol (to seal the hair surface and add shine - basically B5acid). So skip the Wen and make your own. Good vegetable gylcerin is available for a few dollars at any health food store. Obviously, you can buy aloe juice there too, but did you know you can also buy pantothenic acid and wheat protein? http://www.organic-creations.com/. I think I'll give it a try....

Hyaluronic Acid a Go Go

Recommended: Now Foods (http://www.nowfoods.com/) the vitamin company, has been making some basic beauty ingredients for years, though without much market presence and with some pretty ugly labels. I've been buying them online from a vitamin retailer. But then the other day at Whole Foods.... there they were, repackaged and with some new products. What I'm talking about are the Hayluronic Acid Firming Serum and the Hyaluronic Acid Creme, both of which are terrific (and I don't react to them.) The cream is an avacado oil, shea butter based night cream with soluble collagen and, of course, hyaluronic acid, which helps to bind moisture to the skin (or something like that). The serum is basically aloe with hyaluronic acid. Can't really go wrong with that if what you need is moisture (and I do). There is also a related moisturizer that is a thinner version of the cream for day use. Great!

Avoid if allergic to milk: What's not great is the company's Wrinkle Rescue Moisturizer from the same line. It says "restorative lift and toning" on the label, but alas, it caused the dreaded contact dermitis. I'm not sure which ingredient is the culprit, but likely it's lactoperioxidase, which is apparently cow's milk derived. Even using it on my hands makes me itch all over. Boo.

Now Foods site: http://www.nowfoods.com/