Are you polishing your skin with plastic? You are if your favorite facial scrub contains particles made from polyethelene. It’s a common exfoliating ingredient in such popular products as Olay Regenerist Advanced Anti-Aging Regeneration Cream Cleanser, the new Neutrogena Rapid Clear Foaming Scrub, and even Bliss Lemon + Sage Body Scrub. Polyethelene beads are made from polymers of ethylene oxide (say that three times fast)—the same synthetic stuff used to make plastic grocery bags.

What is it doing in your skin care? The beads are supposed to be a boon for skin because they’re perfectly spherical—unlike walnut shells and apricot pits which can be coarse, some say, and tear at tender facial skin, or worse, irritate, infect, or spread a case of the pimples, particularly the red bumpy kind. (They’re better off used in body scrubs.)

At best, polyethelene beads probably create a bit of friction as they roll over your face. New York City dermatologist Dennis Gross, M.D., who’s not a fan of most scrubs, says that of all possible materials, at least these have a smooth surface.

At worst, these teeny plastic pellets roll down your drain and wind up in rivers and seas. Microplastics—particles of less than 1 milimeter—are on ecologist’s Most Wanted list of environmental pollutants right now. They’re tiny enough to squeeze out of a beauty product tube—and to escape sewage filtering systems. That’s not good for something that doesn’t exactly biodegrade and may carry toxic fossil fuel byproducts. Studies of the effects of microplastics on marine wildlife suggest equally scary things, namely that fish, not known for their eyesight, can’t distinguish a polyethelene bead from a grain of sand or a microorganism that it might consume for dinner.

Do we really need a perfectly shaped facial scrub that badly?

Fortunately, some companies say that the quest for the perfectly round skin-polishing bead has already been discovered—in nature. It’s jojoba, says Tina Touhy, a spokesperson for Aveda, which uses the botanical bead-like spheres in the deep-cleansing Tourmaline Charged Exfoliating Cleanser. Jojoba also gets marquee billing in REN Jojoba Microbead Invigorating Facial Polish, which contains a pick-me-up of peppermint, and it’s paired with oats in Naturopathica Oat Facial Polish, a gentle non-drying scrub that’s particularly good for sensitive skin. These are scrubs with polish.

You might have heard that sure, parabens and other chemicals are bad if ingested, but they can’t penetrate your skin so you don’t have anything to worry about. The fact is, that much of what we place on our skin is absorbed into our bloodstream. Just think about nicotene and birth control patches. While there may be some chemicals that are too large to enter your bloodstream most are small enough to penetrate. We have had studies done on everything from umbilical cords of unborn children to adult urine and have found alarming levels of cosmetic chemicals. So I say you’re better off doing your best to avoid all known harmful chemicals because chances are they’re entering your bloodstream.

The next thing you want to think about is the level of exposure you’re getting from the products you’re using. Different products mean different levels of exposure and concern. For instance, if you use a lotion all over your body and it soaks into your skin all day, you’re getting a lot more exposure to those chemicals than if you were to use the same ingredients in a face cleanser that is quickly washed off. So be strategic– try to get the best ingredients in products that you have a lot of exposure to (shampoo, lotion, sunscreen, etc…) and if you want relax your standards a bit for products like hand soap that gets washed off.

When we try to be perfect, we get paralyzed. It can get so overwhelming to constantly worry about each ingredient in every product that we just want to forget the whole thing and buy a bar of soap already. The way to avoid this is by choosing when to demand a certain standard and when to relax. That way you don’t have to worry about every ingredient all the time and you still drastically improve the overall quality of your beauty products.

Top products to look for cleanest ingredients

1. Anything you soak in a bath

2. Anything you apply and do not wash off, such as lotion, face cream and body oil

3. Body powder

4. Shampoo and conditioner (it is a wash off, but has high exposure due to where you use it and how it goes over your entire body)

5. Any product you put on your child

Top products that have limited exposure and you can relax your standards if you choose

1. Eye shadow, pencil

2. Face cleanser

3. Bar soap

4. Blush

5. Leave in hair care products

To achieve optimal health and create sustainable wellness, it’s imperative that you become aware of not only what you are putting in and around your body, but also, what you put on it. Between shampoos, toothpaste, face creams, deodorant, cosmetics and so on, most people are voluntarily dousing themselves daily with multiple chemicals, carcinogens and mutagens, adding to their toxic loads and setting the stage for illness and disease. Seems like kind of a crazy habit, doesn’t it?

The problem is that many cosmetics and personal care products contain undisclosed toxic chemicals that are dangerous to your health and are known to contribute to cancer, nerve damage, and infertility. And as your skin is an extremely permeable membrane, these toxins enter your body very easily, so the fewer you use the better, particularly with products that remain on the skin for long periods of time, such as facial makeup. The longer you are exposed to chemicals, the greater the opportunity for your body to absorb them. My advice? Try to keep cosmetic self-pollution to a minimum by taking the following steps:

1. When choosing makeup, select unscented, fragrance free products that contain few or no petrochemical derivatives.

2. Avoid products that contain diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA).

3. Avoid products with the preservatives imidazolidinyl urea and quarternium 15.

4. Look for nail polish products that are “3-free” meaning they do not contain the “toxic trio” of toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate. Here is a wallet sized list of 3-free nail polishes.

5. Look for skin care lines that are formulated with fewer dangerous ingredients, such as Dr. Hauschka, Aubrey Organics, Ren, Sumbody, Amala, Tata Harper, Tammy Fender and Weleda. To research the toxicity of a specific product before you buy, check out the Environmental Working Group’s massive cosmetics database.

6. To cut exposure, use make-up sparingly, and only on the days you think you “need” it and not at all on the weekends. When you get home from work, take your makeup off right away – don’t wait till bedtime.

7. Trade in your high-end perfumes and colognes for plant-based essential oils.

8. Opt for natural hair colorings like henna and other plant-based formulas.

9. Carry a copy of the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Safe Cosmetics, to help you make the best cosmetics choices possible.

10. And finally, for a quick review and great blog by one our guest authors, Melisse Gelula, a natural beauty expert, read about 9 pure and cheap skin care products.

Fragrance is the problem child ingredient of traditional beauty products. Wild and wily, these molecules of scent can wreak havoc on your skin by causing contact dermatitis, a seriously red and itchy rash, or other allergic reactions like a headache or asthma. According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), fragrance is the biggest cause of cosmetic contact dermatitis. It’s up there with nickel and poison ivy, which most people know how to avoid.

But it can be hard to steer clear of something that’s in scores of products, from skin care and hair care to makeup and perfume, of course. An equal opportunity player, fragrance is added to drugstore brands and department store ones alike to connote luxury or brand unity or cover up what skin-care ingredients might smell like without it. (Medicinal with a hint of cold cream is not very sexy.) Here are few more facts we’ve sniffed out about this potentially vexing ingredient.

“Fragrance” is a catch-all term on the list of ingredients, making it hard to know exactly what’s in your skin-care product

FRAGRANCE GETS A FREE PASS ON LABELS

For consumer clarity, beauty companies have to use the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) when listing what’s in a product. This standardized book of ingredient names means that lavandula angustifolia (lavender extract) is always lavandula angustifolia, regardless of whether a company thinks theirs is better, exotic, or magical.

But fragrance gets a free pass under the law—it’s the only ingredient that’s allowed to hide under a cloud of rose petals and doesn’t have to say what it really is. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) exempts it from having to be more specific, even though it might contain synthetic, preservative, or allergy-provoking substances that you might want to know about. That can be a big problem for New Yorkers who pride themselves on knowing what exactly goes into their food or face creams.

FRAGRANCE: A COMPLICATED COCKTAIL

Although fragrance looks like it’s one ingredient on the label, it’s more likely a blend of many ingredients, confirms the AAD, which says about 5,000 fragrance molecules are used in heavy rotation. Cosmetic companies may use as many fragrance-forming ingredients as they like—and still “fragrance” takes up just one spot on the label. Suffice it say, it can make it hard to figure out exactly what you’re allergic to.

Intelligent Nutrients names every ingredient in the bottle. All companies could do this instead of using “fragrance” to hide the ones that worry us.

AN OUTDATED LOOPHOLE

Why does the FDA give fragrance this label-listing loophole? It was originally developed to protect a company’s proprietary perfume blend or trade secrets, under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1966. In other words, it protected Coty and Chanel No. 5 from copycats.

The regulation designed to conceal ingredients from the eyes of corporate competitors now does the same for a cosmetic consumer who might be inclined to scan the label for parabens, petroleum by-products, and synthetics.

FYI: Companies can choose to disclose their ingredients without giving away the specific amounts and the formulation process—and some do. After all, chocolate, sugar, flour, and butter doesn’t make the exact same cake.

HOW TO AVOID SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCE

The solution? (Other than lobbying the FDA to change this, which some groups are doing, by the way.) Look for beauty products that plainly state what’s scenting it: On the back label, “fragrance” should be followed by a list of ingredients in parentheses.

Or look for a product that uses essential oils instead of “fragrance (parfum).” Many brands, including Dermalogica, now do this.

And Intelligent Nutrients practices what’s probably the most reasonable solution: The company doesn’t use the term “fragrance” at all. Instead it just lists every single ingredient on the label regardless of what its purpose is. Companies that use synthetics could do this, too.

BEFORE YOU REACH FOR “FRAGRANCE-FREE” PRODUCTS

You might be totally tempted to scan the beauty counter for “fragrance-free” products at this point. Not to be a buzzkill, but that’s probably not enough. All kinds of companies use the term, and not in the same way.

“No synthetic fragrance” reads this stamp REN developed for its products

Companies that don’t use any chemicals or synthetic fragrance molecules—just plant and flower extracts or essential oils—might call their products “fragrance-free,” like REN, a natural skin-care brand.

But companies that use scent-masking chemicals, so your product smells no more or less than milk, will also claim to be “fragrance-free.” Neutrogena is a good example.

Good to know for sniffing out your beauty product labels.

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of and concerned with toxic chemicals in personal care products. However, we don’t only need to know what to avoid, but also what to look for in order to get the best results for you skin. We need equal information on what to look out for as well as what to look for when choosing personal care products that are not only not harming your health but are also good for your body and work on your skin.

Recently we’ve heard a lot about parabens in body products. While it’s true that we need more studies to determine the level of concern and the toxicity level of them and best to avoid until we have more information (you may have heard they cause breast cancer. While it is true that we have found and documented parabens in cancerous breast tissue, there are also lots of other things found in them as well and we can not make the leap yet that they actually cause them), looking for a product without parabens isn’t always the best strategy. The fact is, cosmetic companies are smart. When they realize people are avoiding parabens and it is the latest “buzz” in the industry, they use that to their advantage to increase consumer loyalty, trust and sales. They start advertising products that are “paraben free”. And (mostly) they are. But that isn’t the full story. Often parabens are replaced with other chemicals that are equally bad or even worse for your health. So while it’s a good idea to look for products without parabens, don’t let catchy tag lines suck you in. Make sure you know what’s in there instead and do your research so you’re not getting stuck with something worse!

Unless we educate ourselves, we are powerless against a billion dollar industry that will do anything to sell us the latest miracle cure. Of course everyone will have a different comfort zone in terms of the amount of chemicals they feel comfortable having in their beauty products. It’s just like food. Some people eat only organic, some a combination of conventional and organic and some only conventional. As long as consumers are informed, there is no right or wrong when it comes to choosing body products. In order to make choices that fit within your personal criteria of safety, you need to be educated. Otherwise, you risk allowing chemicals and toxins into your bloodstream and affecting your health without your consent or knowledge. I suggest everyone make their own criteria of what they will or won’t use and be exposed to. To get started, take a look at the list of my top 10 to watch out for.

Here is the list of the top 10 ingredients to avoid from my book “Look Great Live Green“:

1. PARABENS

2. FORMALDEHYDE

3. PHTHALATES

4. DIETHANOLAMINE (DEA) AND TRIETHANOLAMINE

5. DIAZOLIDINYL UREA AND IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA

6. SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE/ LAURETH SULFATE; AMMONIUM LAURETH SULPHATE

7. PROPYLENE GLYCOL

8. PVP/VA COPOLYMER

9. NANOPARTICLES

10. SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCE

Here is a list of the top ten things to look for:

1. Pure butters such as shea and coconut

2. Pure oils such as avocado, jojoba and olive

3. Arrowroot (talc replacement)

4. Essential oils (please note not everything natural is good for you and not everything synthetic is bad. Essential oils are a better choice then fragrance, but still caustic when used too often and in high amounts)

5. Use what you know. Choose ingredients you already know and feel comfortable with. For example, pineapple, oatmeal, honey and salt.

6. Extracts that list what they are extracted in. For example green tea extracted in pure organic grape alcohol or cornflower extracted in glycerin.

7. Colorants from minerals in place of synthetic dyes

8. Non-foaming facial cleansers, non-detergent body cleansers

9. Fragrance free products

10. Powdered products, hard bar lotions and scrubs and product without water that require less preservation.

Tips and tricks

1. Use less

2. Multitask you products (a body oil can also be a cuticle oil, bath oil, hair oil..)

3. Don’t be tempted to buy the new miracle in a jar. Stick with what you know and love.

4. Use what you already have. Smear a bit of your next avocado on your face for a EFA face mask, wash your skin with pure honey, use a drop of olive oil in your bath and on your face, and soak in powdered milk and sea salt.

Bugs. For better or worse, biting critters are as much a part of summer as backyard barbeques and trips to the beach, except they’re a lot less fun. Though welts, itches and bites are enough to make some people want to stay indoors till the first frost, there are a number of natural ways enjoy the great outdoors virtually bite-free. This season, instead of carpet-bombing insects with chemicals that may kill them and hurt you, try a few of my tips to help get critters to bug off naturally:

Avoid feeding times.
Though bugs will happily snack on us at just about anytime of day, the prime-time feeding time for most bugs is dawn and again dusk. If you can avoid going outdoors during prime-time, you can help keep bites at bay.

Blow them away.
Blow bugs away with a little help from a fan. Bugs have a harder time landing on you if there’s wind interrupting their attempts to land. So, if you’re dining or entertaining outdoors in the early evening, point a fan or two around the patio to create an insect-deterring breeze.

Plant a bug-repelling garden.
There area numerous plants with natural, insect-repelling properties, so plant a few to help tamp down the pest population in your backyard. In addition to beating back the invading hoards, these plants offer scents that humans enjoy and bugs do not! Among them: Lemon Basil, Lavender, Peppermint, Rosemary, Marigold, Garlic, Tea Tree, Citronella Grass, Eucalyptus, Pyrethrum and Chamomile to name a few.

Drain it, dry it.
If there’s standing water anywhere on your property, drain it to make your immediate surroundings unappealing to breeding insects. Puddles, ponds and birdbaths are notorious breeding grounds so keep them as dry as possible throughout the summer and early fall.

Make yourself unappealing.
Not surprisingly, bugs are attracted to fragrance, so the less you use during the summer the better. Skip the hairspray, hold the eau de toilette and ditch the dryer sheets, all of which can the wrong message to the insect kingdom. The fewer fragranced products you use the better — and the less attractive you’ll smell to insects.

Hold your fire!
For all those moms and dads dutifully spraying their children from head to toe with bug sprays, please, hold your fire! Enveloping your family in a cloud of neurotoxins is hardly a worthwhile tradeoff to avoid a bite or two. The saner alternative? Avoid chemical-rich sprays and use gentler, natural plant-based alternatives by Burt’s Bees and California Baby.

Dress for the occasion.
Take a tip from the Sahara-dwelling Bedouins and cover up – not necessarily in flowing blue robes, but consider a modified version: wear a “flap-hat” with side panels to cover the ears and neck, plus lightweight, long-sleeve shirts and pants whenever possible. The less readily available skin you have for bugs to land on, the fewer bites you’re likely to get.

Here’s to a bite-free rest of summer!

For decades now, the mainstream medical establishment has been bombarding us warnings to stay out of the sun! Use a 50 SPF sunscreen! Stay indoors till sunset! Wear a burka at the beach!

But has the case against sun exposure been taken perhaps a bit too far? I certainly think so. With the rise of “sun-o-phobia” what’s gotten lost in the shuffle is the fact that there are actual benefits to sun exposure in limited doses. Recent studies have shown that optimizing your Vitamin D levels may actually help prevent as many as 16 different types of cancers. And the best way to optimize Vitamin D levels? Safe, smart and limited sunscreen-free exposure to the sun! Exposure helps the skin produce the Vitamin D it needs to build bones, quell inflammation, bolster the immune system and protect against cancer (including skin cancer). Now of course this is by no means a license to overdo it, but it consider it permission to step outside and into the sun a bit less fearfully!

So how to use the sun to your advantage? Here’s what I recommend:

Manage your dose. Have a healthy respect for the sun. It is a powerful medicine with potentially dangerous side effects on your skin. Treat it like medication, using the lowest dose necessary, but don’t avoid it completely. And remember, never, ever fall asleep in the sun without protection.

Always avoid sunburn. It is sunburn, not healthy sun exposure that causes problems. Repeated sunburns, especially in children and very fair-skinned people, have been linked to melanoma. Whereas there is no credible scientific evidence that regular, moderate sun exposure causes melanoma or other skin cancers – so prepare your skin and build up tolerance gradually. Start early in the year (spring), or early in the morning before the sun is strongest and slowly build up the amount of time you spend in the sun.

Make your own sunscreen. Boost your “internal sunscreen” by consuming anti-oxidants and beneficial fats. These strengthen skin cells, helping to protect them from sun damage. Eating lots of vegetables and fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, goji berries and pomegranates and supplementing with green powdered mixes and fish oils help prep your body for limited, careful sun exposure.

Get frequent, short exposures. Regular short exposures have been found to be much more effective and safer than intermittent long ones. Note that you cannot generate Vitamin D when sitting behind a glass window, because the UVB rays necessary for Vitamin D production are absorbed by glass. Get 15-30 minutes of unprotected sun exposure 2-4 times a week. Each of us has different needs for unprotected sun exposure to maintain adequate levels of Vitamin D. Depending on your age, what type of skin you have, where you live and what time of the day and year it is, your need will vary. For more specifics, I recommend the tables in The Vitamin D Solution by Dr Michael Holick.

Know when to stop. After your 15-30 minutes of sun-block free time in the sun, you must protect yourself. If you’re going to be out in the sun for longer periods, wear a hat to protect your face and light colored clothing that blocks the sun and keeps you cool. When you do apply sunscreen, use one the fewest chemicals possible.

Check out the recipe…. of your sunscreen that is. What’s in the tube in high doses can be almost as dangerous as the diseases they are said to prevent — so shop smart when it comes to sunscreens. A typical sunscreen product is a chemical assault on your body, many of which contain cancer causing chemicals. According to the Environmental Working Group, the best, as in least toxic sunscreens on the market are ones without PABA, Parabens, Fragrances, Nanoparticles, Retinyl Palmitate (a form of Vit A), Oxybenzone, Benzophenone-3 (B-3) and Amino Benzoic Acid, whose side effects can include a host of health horrors which can effect your heart, hormones and even your DNA!

Buy the good stuff. The best sunscreen is a hat and a shirt. No chemicals to absorb through the skin, no questions about whether they work. But when you are going to be in the sun for long periods, use EWG’s top-rated sunscreens to provide broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB-sunburn) protection with fewer hazardous chemicals that penetrate the skin.

You have all heard — and probably warned your children — what will happen if they don’t use sunscreens. Not only will they get sunburned, their skin will get wrinkled and aged prematurely.

But what if you were warned that the dangers of sunscreens to health, besides the environment, outweigh their proclaimed benefits? Your first response would probably be incredulity. How can a product that’s been championed by health agencies the world over possibly be a threat?

The answer hinges on a state of denial, and a false sense of security. This reflects ignorance of the toxic effects of sunscreen ingredients.

Sunscreens absorb short-wave ultraviolet light, which is responsible for sunburn. However, they do nothing to block long-wave ultraviolet radiation which is the major cause of a skin cancer, known as malignant melanoma. A Sun Protection Factor (SPF) was introduced in 1962 as an international standard for measuring how much protection sunscreen products are supposed to afford. So a SPF of 25 claims that you can stay safely in the sunshine for 25 times longer than if you had not applied the sunscreen.

However, there are two glaring problems with reliance on the SPF standard. First, swimming and sweating sharply reduce the effectiveness of sunscreens, so they must be applied repeatedly during exposure to sun. How many people actually do this? Second, the SPF number labeled on sunscreens is determined by laboratory tests based on an internationally agreed application rate. However, most people use only a fraction of the required amount -between 10 and 75 percent of the lab test quantity — which renders the listed SPF number meaningless and ineffective. All this means that people using sunscreens are encouraged to remain in the sun far longer than is safe. This is the reason why, since 1975, the incidence of malignant melanoma has increased by about 200 percent in white men and women, and its mortality has increased by about 10 percent. Dark skin races are largely protected by pigment, known as melanin, which largely blocks long-wave ultraviolet radiation.

Another major and generally unrecognized problem with sunscreens is due to their undisclosed toxic ingredients.

As detailed in Toxic Beauty, sunscreen products contain unlabeled dangerous ingredients. These products are also labeled with false and misleading promises about their effectiveness, such as ‘all-day protection’ and ‘blocks all harmful rays.’

Apart from these concerns, common sunscreen ingredients pose toxic effects.

–Benzophenone is a “hormone disrupter” which mimics natural hormones produced by the endocrine system. It is also an allergen, causing allergic reactions, and a “penetration enhancer,” which penetrates the skin, and is absorbed into the bloodstream and invades body wide organs.

–Octyl-methoxycinnamate is also a hormone disrupter and penetration enhancer which has been detected in breast milk.

–Oxybenzone, another hormone disrupter has also been detected in breast milk.

–Parabens, are still other hormone disrupters.

These ingredients pose further dangers. Once absorbed through the skin, they generate what are known as “free radicals.” These accelerate skin damage and skin aging, along with sharply increased risks of skin cancer.

Some of these ingredients also pose unrelated threats. Once washed off sunbather’s bodies, Oxybenzone accumulates in sea life and damages their reproductive systems. In 2006, it was found that oxybenzone had transformed the males of coastal fish near California beaches into feminized fish with ovarian tissue.

Now that you’ve heard the bad news, you’re probably wondering how you can protect your children and yourself from harm. Sunblocks containing zinc oxide and titanium dioxide offer protection as they block long-wave ultraviolet light by reflecting the radiation off the skin’s surface. But beware of recently developed sunblocks. These contains nanoparticles, a technological innovation which reduces ingredient particles to an ultramicroscopic size. These then readily penetrate the skin, invade the blood stream, and pose major toxic threats to distant organs such as liver and bone.

Fortunately, a new generation of sun-protective natural organic ingredients are on the horizon. These range from SoyScreen, a ‘green’ sunscreen, based on ferulic acid and soybean oil, to sulforaphane, a broccoli ingredient that significantly reduces ultraviolet light damage.

Until these new natural ingredients, and products based on them, reach consumers and the marketplace, the best advice for self-protection is to limit exposure to the sun. Remember the old saying “Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun.” Also, make sure your children stay in the shade, wear hats, and also special new light sunscreen protective clothing marketed by Solumbra.

Under the explicit provisions of the 1938 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, it is anticipated that Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the newly appointed FDA Commissioner and inspiring public health advocate, will prohibit the sale of sunscreens containing toxic ingredients, and also sunblocks based on nanoparticles.

Samuel S. Epstein, M.D. is professor emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health; Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition.

Most body-care products include just a drop of the high-quality ingredients typically found in ones for the face. That’s what Diane Ginzel learned when she bought her first skin-care dictionary on a quest to be a better label-reader. The Consumers Guide to Milady’s Cosmetic Dictionary became the skintrepeneur’s Joy of Cooking on her path to becoming a natural skin-care connoisseur.

“I was really disappointed by the cheap chemical ingredients used in mainstream products for things like dry, cracked hands and itchy, eczematic skin. They’re mostly terrible quality, and I believe they interfere with the skin’s functioning,” says Ginzel, prompting her to make a study of essential oils, botanical extracts, and cosmetic chemistry. “Why should facial products get all the good stuff?” she asks.

Soon the California occupational therapist was combining natural ingredients in her head for these skin conditions and sketching beauty product formulas on napkins. When she found a USDA-certified lab whose organic-ingredient sourcing standards were as high as her own, Because skin-care for the body was born. The tagline displays Ginzel’s sense of humor: Life can be irritating. Skin care shouldn’t be.

Still, I had to ask Ginzel, do knees and elbows really need the more expensive, high-quality ingredients we lavish on our face? She read me the riot act: “Body-care products tend to be watered-down versions of skin care, and they contain more fillers, less of the good ingredients, and focus on fragrance. Are you good with that?” asked Ginzel, leaving no doubt to the answer.

The Because Skin Care range: intended for troubled, aggravated, or winter skin-care woes
There are currently six Because products—a set of shower cleansers, body moisturizers, and a scrub—each one containing 70 to 98 percent organic ingredients and made to benefit a body-care woe.

The Daily Relief Cream ($38) contains skin-calming tamanu oil and calendula to help heal extremely dry or inflamed skin “caused by extreme living, stress or bad luck,” says the bottle. The Moisture Retaining Hand and Body Scrub ($36) is “especially beneficial for reptile-like skin” and uses raw cane sugar and fatty-acid rich berry-seed oils, so that skin’s nourished as it’s exfoliated. And the Purifying Body Cleanser ($32), great for after yoga, contains white willow bark, a natural source of salicylic acid, needed for keeping skin clear of blemishes.

Skin care has countless champions, from Dr. Hauschka on down, and thanks to Ginzel the body now has someone in its dry and flaky corner.

Because Skin Care is available at BecauseSkinCare.com and locally at Spirit Beauty Lounge, www.spiritbeautylounge.com

Rooibos tea – pronounced Roy-boss – is indigenous to my native South Africa where it has been used by the African Bushman for hundreds of years. Rooibos means red bush, and it actually is not really a tea plant but is instead part of the legume family and the bush is not even red, it’s green. The red color only appears after oxidation during the tea-making process.

Growing up in South Africa, we always knew about Rooibos tea and that it was regarded as a healthy tea to drink but it was not until fairly recently that it started to become more popular and its health benefits more widely known.

Naturally caffeine-free, Rooibos is loaded with antioxidants which help protect from free radicals – those toxic by-products of normal cell function- which can contribute to aging and weaken the immune system.
Rooibos contains many minerals such as copper, iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc and potassium, making it very beneficial for healthy bones and strong teeth.

Rooibos is also useful in helping with some digestive disorders such as nausea, constipation and heartburn. Kidney stone sufferers can drink this with out fear since Rooibos tea does not contain oxalic acid which can cause kidney stones.

Pregnant and nursing mothers can also use Rooibos to soothe babies who have colic and infants with stomach cramps as studies have shown that the tea has anti-spasmodic properties.

Rooibos can also be applied to the skin topically to help relieve itchy dry skin like eczema, sunburns, and diaper rash. In fact on a recent visit back to South Africa, I noticed that more and more skin care products feature Rooibos as one of their ingredients. Alpha hydroxy acid and zinc both found in Rooibos, are great for promoting healthy smooth skins.

Rooibos tea is usually drunk without milk and now comes in a variety of flavors. It has a a slightly sweet taste though some tea drinkers do add a touch of honey. It can be made as both hot tea and a delicious iced tea. My current favorite is Good Hope Vanilla Red Tea by Republic of Teas – time to put the kettle on…….