Complete Idiot’s Guide to Better Skin – Beware the Natural Products!
I’m not even sure if I should write the following under the heading of sarcastic, ironic, or, what was that about?
I came upon the book The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Better Skin
So, ahem, imagine my surprise when somewhere tacked at the back of a chapter I found a section on natural skin care.
One and a half pages dedicated to natural skin care! With TWO CAUTION BOXES!!! And not even a mention of organic skin care or anything…
So, ladies, apparently (according to the book) you should always wear lipstick, balm or something on your lips for moisture and protection, you should use tons of skin care products if you want to have a healthy skin, but if something is natural – beware! It’s dangerous!
And I quote:
A subheading of Chapter 8: “The risks of going natural”. Sums up the attitude well, doesn’t it? This is a chapter about ingredients in skin care. No other category is defined as risky.
“Using all-natural products can be a serious health and safety concern.” And there is a “nice” example of a relatable story: “Andrea wanted to find a new skin care line that would be gentler to her skin. A friend recommended she try an upscale and expensive all-natural line. As soon as her beginner kit arrived, Andrea washed, toned, and moisturized her skin. Within three minutes, her face began to burn and sting, becoming red and inflamed. Ouch, Even totally natural products can cause inflammation and allergic reactions.”
Here is my issue with this story. First of all, there aren’t that many “upscale and expensive all-natural lines” out there. And of the ones I know, none would create such a reaction in a normal skin. So if Andrea reacts this way to these products, she probably has a history to reacting to products in general. In this case she must be a complete idiot to try all three totally new products all over her face at once! Otherwise this story is a complete fabrication to defame truly all-natural upscale lines. (By the way, you should always test one product at a time, and start by testing on your hand.)
Now, I’m not going to say here that natural necessarily means safe or great skin care. I’ve addressed this issue in organic skin care myths post.
But this stress on safety of natural and no such stress on all the other things that go on in skin care frankly bothers me.
Cause, you know, that PEG-Lead-Laurel-Paraben from the big brand company is SO MUCH BETTER FOR YOU. They are so safe and tested. And the dangerous things in small quantities are ok. Did the ladies who write this book actually do the math on how much these “small quantities” add up to if the routine of cleansing-washing-toning-creaming-foundationing-powdering-consealing-SPF-lipsticks-cleansing-washing-toning-nightcreaming routine that they are promoting?
There is also a section about what typically is included in skin care products. The list of categories includes preservatives (and I quote “included in this category are parabens and polysorbate 80”), dyes, fragrances, skin lighters, herbs, enzymes, humectants, etc… Guess which section asks you to use caution? Herbs! Yah… don’t worry about what’s in dyes and preservatives, but “use caution with herbal skin preparations”.
Hmm… (I’m not saying don’t use caution. But I think it’s a disservice to stress caution on herbs and be totally ok with dyes, parabens and prescription skin lighteners.) Just in case you didn’t realize that herbs are the riskiest ingredient in the mix, there is also a “caution” box warning you to phone your pharmacist to make sure they don’t interfere with anything you are taking. The only other caution box in the section is for paba in sunscreens, in case you are allergic to paba.
Oh, did I mention that there is a section called “Ingredients to Avoid”? Apparently you should only care about ingredients you are sensitive or allergic to. The only ingredient actually mentioned as something you might want to be careful with is lanolin…
For more perspective, here is what the book has to say about botox:
“Botox injections are seemingly a miracle …” and “Botox is purified botulinum bacteria. This is the same bacteria that causes a severe and often fatal form of food poisoning. The difference is that the botulinum bacteria in Botox are a purified form that won’t cause illness. It simply paralyzes certain muscles of the face.” (italics are mine)
No caution boxes, by the way. Cause you know, muscle paralysis is a totally normal thing. Your body can’t possibly object to it… Instead there is a Skin-spiration (meaning inspiration) box saying “If you choose to have botox injections, you could find that over time you break the habit of contracting the muscles in your face that cause wrinkles and expression lines.” (p. 296) Which is a skill you must be desperate to acquire. Especially if you intend to star in a Robocop remake.
Now given that this book promotes dry brushing and detoxification, I really can’t figure out where the authors are coming from. Seems like they are picking some ideas they think are “cool” and people expect to hear, but don’t follow them to logical conclusions. I would expect somebody who sais “toxins enter our bodies from air pollution, a wide variety of household-cleaning products, perfumes and bathing products, and even through laundry detergent” (p. 234) to support natural products, and not ditch them. But logic is probably too much to ask here.
Honestly, I think the Complete Idiot’s Guide has finally lived up to its brand name.
7 comments
That is crazy! I suppose it is all about marketing. Tons of articles and people go on record saying “botox is fab!!!” I would never consider botox, and I had no idea that it paralyzed muscles! My gosh how on earth is that considered safe? I guess that is the point, chemists are constantly looking for the next “fountain of youth” and someone will ask is it safe? well pretty much… or we can say it is since this little rabbit only lost one of its eyes and only half a kidney” ridiculous.
LOL!
I have done some research on “natural makeup” or and other “natural” things and I have come across articles with the same tone. I find it appalling. I would like to know if they are getting paid for these “articles”.
On the burning from the “natural” skin care. I have had that happen with a certain skin line that is toted for being the most popular… Mary Kay. I don’t want to bash them, but it is true they are loaded with synthetics and possibly bad ingredient’s.
If you aren’t cautious you can get burned by anything. But do you really want to use the “safe” synthetic brands that your body can not process once inside your body. Make no mistake, I’m sure you know, what goes on your skin will end up inside and if it isn’t natural your liver will have to process.
Thank you for this post! Sorry it’s so long.
Sometimes, the Complete Idiot’s Guides appear to be written by complete idiots. This one is obviously one of them. I’ve seen a few that were great, but then there are the ones that don’t make sense.
First off, since when would harsh chemicals and preservatives in regular skin care products be “better” than the natural stuff. Natural products, generally speaking, unless you’re allergic to something in it (reading ingredient labels would be a plus) shouldn’t cause much of a reaction at all.
However, first and foremost, when thinking changing your skin care regimen, asking your dermatologist is the best idea. I’d be willing to bet that book doesn’t mention that at all, does it?
Great post!
It is scary how many misconceptions there are about organic makeup and skincare. At one end of the spectrum you have people who believe that anything organic is good (not necessarily true – think of Poison Ivy) and anything chemical based is bad. On the other hand you have the nut bags who wrote this book
Honestly, when was that book written? It is just such poor advice that it would be laughable if it didnt have such serious consequences.
Personally, I am an organics nut – but I have enough sense about me to read the ingredients list, and see if there is anything I react to (e.g. witchhazel and chamomile dont work for me). I know to avoid Parabens, Sodium laurel sulfate, and mineral oils. Oh, and I always ask for samples
Thanks for this enlightning book review. It is very disappointing that such a one-sided view could be taken on such an important topic and that there is a suggestion that the only ingredients one should avoid are those that irritate.
Thanks of sharing good and useful information of Natural Products. These information is very workable.
I was never even worried about the natural skin products I use. I’ve been using
hydrosols to help with acne for almost a year now and I haven’t had any problems. I’m glad you posted this because if I read that in the book, I would be very concerned! Thanks for straightening everything out.
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