July 3, 2009

Bottling The Fountain Of Youth?

After spending twelve years as a stylist, I'm often seen by women as the ultimate authority on beauty. However, although I am a dapper 6 foot 2 gay male, I am not necessarily the authority on the beauty they are looking for. But, I do tend to look out for any tidbits of information that could give me the "one-up" over the competition in my line of work.

Recently I was applying highlights to a client's hair when she began a lighthearted conversation with a fellow stylist of mine. She began going on elaborately about the 54th birthday party she had just had. I was surprised beyond belief; this lady had been coming to me for 5 years, and I had always believed her to be just shy of 45, if not younger.

I listened for a few more minutes before my curiosity got the best of me. I absolutely had to know how she kept herself looking so youthful. Face lifts and Botox immediately came to mind but I have been wrong before, and this was no exception.

I cracked a smile to my client after getting the confidence to speak up and asked, "Girl what are you doing to keep yourself looking so young?". We both giggled a bit about it and she pulled me in towards her by my hand and said, "Do you promise not divulge my secret?" After I gave an eager silent agreement, she leaned in closer and said, "I found the fountain of youth", and I found myself laughing wholeheartedly.

She went on to explain that for the past four years she had been using an almost completely organic skin cream instead of the lab created stuff she had used previously for years. Could there really be that much of a difference I thought to myself.

That night, I decided to dig up a little information on my own. Upon doing so, I found out that most skin creams used preservatives that caused inflation of price and a decrease in the quality of the cream itself; even those that used the phrase "organic" had this problem.

It turns out the company my client referred uses no potentially toxic ingredients and all of their ingredients come from certified organic farms. They do not water down even their most potent ingredients and add no colorings agents or fragrances, both of which can affect results of the product.

A major factor you will want to investigate when choosing a skin cream is whether it contains any potentially dangerous ingredients, which most brands that are not completely organic do. A 2004 study found parabens to be the most common cosmetic preservative present in significant amounts in 18 out of 20 breast cancer tumors. The next time you are shopping for skin cream keep in mind that going completely organic is more effective, healthier, and a less expensive option.

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