Natural Skin Care - A Recipe For Disaster?

When we see the preface "natural" before the words "skin care", it tends to conjure up images of something "pure" or "as nature intended". But, in this world of extreme hype, the word "natural" has now taken on a very different meaning and it can well be interpreted as "excuse to charge more" or "beware - hype at large".

In the multi billion dollar industry of skin care, our scepticism is sometimes well justified. What we want, after all, is something that's natural, wholesome and jolly good for us! And it's got to be a product that doesn't contain those nasty artificial additives or chemicals.

But, as things stand, the manufacturers still have enough license to produce products and market them with enough spin to encourage us to think that they are as "nature intended" but, in reality, it's the clever marketing that give us messages that are powerful by implication.

Let me digress here for a moment and share with you a couple of examples of this type of marketing power that have reared their heads recently in our household.

My husband could not start the day without his two slices of toast with lashings of peanut butter. Last week, he saw a new brand of peanut butter advertised as "made from whole peanuts" and he made a point of writing this on our shopping board in the kitchen - to be honest, I was never sure if he knew we had a shopping board, let alone write on it!

But, ever-loving wife that I am, I searched out this new brand of super peanut butter but didn't buy it as it was almost 50% dearer than the usual store brand that I'd been buying for years. He was a little dismayed and protested that the new brand is made from whole peanuts - that's why it's dearer... (No wonder he's a highly successful and super charged business consultant!).... I asked him what he thought the usual brand of peanut butter was made from - recycled cardboard?

He'd only seen what the marketing boys wanted him to see and he hadn't given it a moment’s thought. He had been sold by implication.

Another great example of this is the TV campaign that’s on at the moment for "filtered milk" - gets you thinking, doesn't it? Have I been putting this non-filtered muck on my corn flakes every day for the last umpteen years? I could have been seriously ill - go get two quarts of the filtered stuff, immediately!

And so it is with natural skin care. It's the implication that you're buying the most natural, the most effective product you can possibly buy - all geared to our dream of looking good. I recommend that you take a close look at the list of ingredients of the product and research the active ones to check on the potency you need for the best effect.

You may find that the product does indeed include “Wonder Plant Extract” but that it’s such a minute amount that it will be of no effect. It's easy to be duped and have your dreams shattered – so take care and choose your products carefully. Author Bio - Jan Edwards Jan has a wealth of personal experience in the field of skin care. She believes in the "whole" approach to skin care, rather than just relying on "quick fix" lotions. Taking time out from her "day job" as a corporate model, Jan shares the secrets of looking great for the camera - and dispels many of the myths about skin care.

http://www.wrinkle-wrinkle.com