14/01/2015
Our skin is a large and porous organ. Anything absorbed through our skin goes directly into our blood stream. This includes our personal-care products, which, taken together, contain thousands of different chemicals with varying toxicity. The Environmental Working Group estimates that about 20% of chemicals used in cosmetics could cause cancer. Yet these cancer-causing toxins are given a free pass.
The Three Toxins in Your Shaving Cream You Want to Avoid
Spreading that store-bought shaving cream on your skin before a nice shave — that, though convenient, may in fact be exposing your skin to deadly toxins.
And that’s exactly what your typical shaving cream may be doing.
Our skin is a large and porous organ. Anything absorbed through our skin goes directly into our blood stream. This includes our personal-care products, which, taken together, contain thousands of different chemicals with varying toxicity. The Environmental Working Group estimates that about 20% of chemicals used in cosmetics could cause cancer. Yet these cancer-causing toxins are given a free pass.
By exposing ourselves to these chemicals, we’re not just making ourselves susceptible to skin irritation and infection. We run the risk of wiping out vital defense mechanisms that keep our bodies functioning.
The FDA doesn’t regulate cosmetics (no surprise there). Unregulated, these companies producing personal-care products, seeking to increase margins, might as well be playing mad scientist with our toiletries.
Gone are the days when a little cut was the biggest risk from shaving. Now, before we even pick up the razor, we run the risk of toxins penetrating our skin and making us sick.
Today, shaving cream on drug-store shelves has a fistful of toxic ingredients, including phthalates, parfum and triethanolamine — which also appear in many soaps, shampoos, detergents and toothpastes, so commit these bad boys to memory so you can look out for them on the labels (you do read your labels, right?).
Here’s the effects these toxins pose against your health:
Phthalates: Phthalates can disrupt the functioning of hormones, which can harm important balances throughout the entire body, including those impacting the immune system and brain. Traces of phthalate metabolites found in human urine are associated with obesity and insulin resistance in men because they inhibit testosterone function. About 80% of people are exposed to this type of toxin.
Parfum (fragrance): Would you rather smell good or live longer? Parfum is a potpourri of toxicity, with many of the 3,000 chemicals used to make fragrance untested — neither in isolation nor in combination. Some that have been submitted to lab tests, however, have been associated with neurotoxicity and cancer. So either perform the extensive research to determine what those cancer-causing chemicals are, or just cut the stuff.
Triethanolamine: This is what you get when you take two known toxins, create a reaction between them and put it in consumer products. Triethanolamine is a skin and respiratory toxicant. What’s more, animal studies have also shown Triethanolamine can cause bladder and liver cancer, as well as cell mutation in testicles. No, thank you!
Other offenders include parabens, which increase the risk of breast cancer in women, and sodium lauryl sulfate, which is toxic to organs and can cause cell mutation that leads to cancer.
Thankfully, there’s a way around it all.
Stick to the Good Stuff
Frankly, we don’t always know how and why our bodies react to certain toxins. Studies can tell us a lot, but they mostly just reveal the common dangers. Some people are more susceptible to certain dangers than others.
Since it depends on so many variables, we should simply reduce our exposure to as many potential risks as we can.
Tossing your shaving cream in the trash can, for instance, will eliminate your exposure to toxins, no doubt. But it won’t help you get hair off your face (or legs). So when it comes time to shave, consider the all-natural ingredient alternatives to chemical-laced creams,
Somersets Shaving Oil is the original & the best. When it comes to what’s in it, we don’t compromise. Somersets always use the highest quality natural ingredients to create the best formulations - No SLS, petrolatum, parabens or artificial fragrance. The Original world renowned Shaving Oil which we introduced in 1991. It’s a blend of pure plant oils - including soothing essential oils - Lavender, Tea Tree, and Rosemary which help prevent razor bumps and irritation.