"Never Put This on Your Face or Skin" Despite all the marketing hype – this popular substance coats your skin like plastic, clogging pores and can create a build-up of toxins that creates earlier signs of aging. It's implicated as a suspected cause of cancer and can even disrupt hormonal activity…

The most relevant question of the day is…

Why Do So Many Skin Care Products
Use These Potentially Hazardous Ingredients?

Simple answer: because they're cheap, readily available, and easy to dilute.
Are they in the products you currently use? It's time to check. Go grab your containers of skin care products and check them against the following…

Ingredient	Use	Dangers
Parabens	Heavily used preservatives in the cosmetic industry; used in an estimated 13,200 cosmetic and skin care products.	Studies implicate their connection with cancer because their hormone-disrupting qualities mimic estrogen and could disrupt your body's endocrine system.
Mineral Oil, Paraffin, and Petrolatum		These petroleum products coat the skin like plastic – clogging pores and creating a build-up of toxins. They can slow cellular development, creating earlier signs of aging. They're implicated as a suspected cause of cancer. Plus, they can disrupt hormonal activity. When you think about black oil pumped from deep underground, ask yourself why you'd want to put that kind of stuff on your skin…
Sodium laurel or lauryl sulfate (SLS), also known as sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)	Found in over 90% of personal care products! They break down your skin's moisture barrier, potentially leading to dry skin with premature aging. And because they easily penetrate your skin, they can allow other chemicals easy access.	SLS combined with other chemicals may become a "nitrosamine" – a potent carcinogen.
Acrylamide	Found in many facial creams.	Linked to mammary tumors.
Propylene glycol	Common cosmetic moisturizer and carrier for fragrance oils.	May cause dermatitis and skin irritation. May inhibit skin cell growth. Linked to kidney and liver problems.
Phenol carbolic acid	Found in many lotions and skin creams.	Can cause circulatory collapse, paralysis, convulsions, coma, and even death from respiratory failure.
Dioxane	Hidden in ingredients such as PEG, polysorbates, laureth, ethoxylated alcohols. Very common in personal care products.	These chemicals are often contaminated with high concentrations of highly volatile 1,4-dioxane that's easily absorbed through the skin. Its carcinogenicity was first reported in 1965, and later confirmed in studies including one from the National Cancer Institute in 1978. Nasal passages are considered extremely vulnerable, making it, in my opinion, a really bad idea to use these things on your face.
Toluene	May be very poisonous! Made from petroleum and coal tar… found in most synthetic fragrances.	Chronic exposure linked to anemia, lowered blood cell count, liver or kidney damage…May affect a developing fetus.

You see, your skin is not only your largest organ – it's also the thinnest. Only 1/10th of an inch separates you from all sorts of toxins. Your skin is highly permeable, allowing what you apply to your skin access to your bloodstream (and thereby to the rest of your body)…
Which is why I remind you not to put anything on your skin that you wouldn't be willing to eat.
As you've heard before, beauty is more than skin deep. Pampering your skin with 'beauty' products laced with toxins is playing Russian roulette with your health. More on that in a minute.
But first…

Four Tips to Make You Quit Singing the "Dry-Skin Blues"

Is smooth skin a hopeless goal for you?
Not really. These four strategies can help…

1. Hydrate your entire system with lots of water and high anti-oxidant green tea. During winter there's a tendency not to drink as much due to cool temperatures. You may want to bring your water to room temperature to encourage drinking more. Or enjoy more warm green tea, like the Royal Matcha Green Tea sold elsewhere on this website.
2. Eat a healthy diet of mostly raw foods, foods high in omega-3 fatty acids which produce a hydrating effect from the inside out, and antioxidants which help fight signs of aging. Winter might be a good time to increase your intake of Krill oil also, for its omega-3s – and antioxidants such as Purple Defense and Turmeric.
3. Take a revitalizing bath – in warm water, not hot! Himalayan salt baths are rejuvenating, and help dry skin to slough off. Hot water is damaging to your skin, so stick with warm water.
4. Moisturize daily with non-clogging organic moisturizers such as coconut oil or body butter. These nourish your skin instead of clogging it, as many toxin-impaired moisturizers do.

It's especially important to cleanse and moisturize before you go to bed at night, to remove impurities from your skin before your revitalizing sleep time. Just be sure your moisturizer isn't tainted with toxins.
Why do I stress organic so much?
Because what you don't know – or even what's intentionally hidden from you – really can hurt you.
Continue reading to discover just how dangerous many moisturizer ingredients can be – even some very high-end (expensive) 'spa' products.
Be sure to check your products against the list of dangerous ingredients that follows.

Who's Watching Out for You?

When it comes to the beauty industry, anything goes…
And money reigns supreme. Which means that it's caveat emptor – "buyer beware". You need to be the captain of your own ship and know what's in the products you use.
If you thought the FDA was watching out for you…
Well, let's just let that idea blow off right now. They let the cosmetic industry, including skin care products, police itself (your tax dollars notwithstanding). The list of people trying to help you out is surprisingly small – almost non-existent.
Currently, there are estimated to be more than 10,500 cosmetic and personal care products on the North American market. Of those products, the Environmental Working Group estimates that 99% of the products contain one or more ingredients that have never been evaluated for safety.

Who's Responsible for this Mess?

The cosmetic industry and their love of loopholes. Some of the biggies are:

• "For Professional Use Only" – This phrase allows cosmetic companies to remove harmful chemicals from their labels.
• "Hypoallergenic" – No actual testing is necessary to claim that a product is "hypoallergenic", "allergy-free" or "safe for sensitive skin". Neither the FDA nor any other regulating body even requires the companies to prove these claims.
• Harmful Chemicals – Unless they are intentionally placed in the product, harmful chemicals are not required to be listed. It's no shocker that you never see these.

What Can You Do?

The cosmetics industry is a $50 billion a year business (in the US alone). They spend a remarkable $2 billion a year on advertising.
Even more appalling than that is the amount of chemicals you place on your skin every year. Women who use makeup daily absorb, on average, 5 pounds each year.
As with the Vioxx debacle, the FDA cannot actively act on a product until after it has already severely injured or killed many people. And because the cosmetic companies are motivated by their profits, they won't be pointing out the dangers of their products to you any time soon. Your only solution is to rely on your own skills of investigation.

Always Avoid Applying Potential Toxins To Your Skin…

Many people – even those who carefully select organic or gourmet foods to eat choose skin care products that can do serious damage to their skin.
Now, realize that I'm not suggesting you'd intentionally apply toxins to your skin. You simply may not realize the extent to which many common skin care products contain suspect ingredients with unrecognizable or unpronounceable names.
Do you ever put things onto your skin that you wouldn't think of eating? I hope not…
You see, I believe that what you put on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream and integrated into your body's tissues. A number of these potential toxins have estrogen-mimicking effects that can wreak havoc on all your good health intentions.
Besides avoiding these hazards, there are some other steps you can take to create that young-looking skin you really want…

What Can You Do to Keep Your Skin Looking Healthy?

First of all, if you're doing many of the things I talk about elsewhere on this website, you may have already noticed a major difference in the way your skin looks – as well as other aspects of your health.
Eating according to your nutritional type with plenty of fresh raw organic foods in your diet, and getting enough omega-3 fats are ways to improve your health on many fronts…
And need I mention exercise? Through exercise, your skin detoxifies impurities from your system – what you know as perspiration.
But beyond that, here's a critically important issue you need to be aware of…

Just 5 Minutes Per Day Gets You on the Road
to a More Youthful-Looking, Vibrant Face

Every day of your life, pollution, grime, and dust attach themselves to the surface of your skin.
If you don't take a couple minutes daily to cleanse your face and unclog your pores, your skin may look sluggish – instead of at its bright and shining best.
Cleaning your skin is important, just like keeping your internal organs clean and healthy is.
But here's a caveat…

Take Your Own Hippocratic Oath for Skin Care ("First, Do No Harm")

It may seem like a cliché, but there are things you can do to prevent damaging your skin. Many of the visible signs of aging are caused by external factors that you can at least partially control.
These actions may be the easiest and least expensive things you can do to prevent damage to your skin, gain a more youthful appearance, and build a strong foundation for your pro-active natural skin care. Not to mention, creating a buzz about your new looks.
Please be aware that skin damage doesn't always involve pain or immediate visible change, and can often go unnoticed for some time. But the cumulative actions you begin taking today can also improve your skin slowly over time. So get started today doing these simple things:

• Avoid or minimize damage from hot water and chlorine. Although taking baths and showers may seem like it's health-promoting and relaxing, your skin may disagree – especially if you have chlorinated water, which is almost certainly the case (unless your water comes from a well).
Chlorine causes oxidative damage. The hotter the water, the more potential for damage – because the rate of chemical reactions increases with temperature. Hot water may cause your skin to age faster.
So what can you do? Adjust your water temperature to be a bit cooler, limit your showers to one per day, and decrease your soak time in the bath.

• Use gentle and safe skin care products – organic whenever possible. Your skin absorbs it all. Don't compromise your health and the health of your skin by using potential poisons.
• Be very sure to remove your makeup each evening. It's a really bad idea to flop into bed, leaving makeup – not to mention environmental grime – on your face while you sleep. Take a couple minutes to remove it, and you'll find your face looking and feeling younger.



Sleeping on your back reduces gravitational pull on your face. Be sure you remove your make-up before sleeping. Leaving it on during sleep creates extra stress on your skin. Use botanicals from nature for a nutritional approach to your beauty.

• Sleep on your back. Gravity creates a downward drag on your skin all day. Give your skin a break at night. By sleeping on your back, you reduce gravitational pull on your face. If you press your face to your pillow, you will likely experience increased puffiness in the morning.
• Don't smoke… for your general health's sake, and for younger looking skin. Smoking causes free radical production, which is one cause of the signs of aging.
• If you will be in the sun for extended periods of time, use sunscreen with safe and effective ingredients, such as Mercola Natural Sunscreen.
• Limit exfoliation to twice per week and use a gentle exfoliator. Exfoliation refreshes your skin's surfaces and brightens your appearance as it removes dead cells from the surface of your skin. But if you exfoliate too often or too aggressively, you risk damaging living cells.
• Apply your skin care products to warm skin in order to help your skin appear healthier. This maximizes absorption. If your skin is cold, use a warm towel to warm your skin.
• Never pull or rub your skin. Apply your skin care products gently, and lightly tap for a few moments to help your skin absorb them. Rubbing stretches your skin and can promote sagging and wrinkles. (Note: This principle includes leaning your face on your hand while sitting at a desk, which also stretches your skin.)
• Don't expect overnight changes. Even if you start doing everything right today, don't be discouraged with seeming lack of progress tomorrow.
It may take a month or even two to three months to notice changes. Plus, it's quite possible that others will notice your increasingly youthful-looking face before you do.
Remember: it took years to get where you are today, so show patience when expecting changes and improvements.

Now that you're taking these practical steps as well as choosing not to use dangerous and damaging products on your skin, let's explore your skin care alternatives – organic food products from nature's storehouse.

Nourishing Botanicals for Your Skin's Healthy Appearance

Whenever you apply skin care products, it is ideal to use products from nature that nourish your skin the same way you nourish your body. Look for products that encourage rejuvenation and work synergistically with your own skin to support its efforts toward a healthy appearance.
The potentially dangerous ingredients listed above concerns me greatly. And you know me to be passionate about changing the existing health paradigm. So it should be no surprise that I considered it imperative to locate a wholesome source of skin care products for you.
Last year we introduced USDA Certified Organic Body Butter, which has been enormously popular.
But Body Butter was hardly a complete skin care line. So we've been working diligently to find additional skin care products to promote your skin's healthy appearance…

Nature's Skin Care – For Outer Beauty that Looks and Feels Healthy

How to Apply Your Organic Skin Care

It's hardly a secret that plant foods nourish your body. For years, I've heartily encouraged you to eat plenty of raw, uncooked foods directly from nature for your best health and wellbeing.
Applying skin care products that are derived from these foods is a smart and natural way to make your skin appear both healthy and beautiful… to make your face feel and look as vibrant, radiant and flawless as your healthy body does.
My new USDA Certified Organic Skin Care line uses organic ingredients straight from nature's storehouse to promote both your natural beauty and a healthy appearance. After all, why strive to make large health improvements in your life, only to compromise them when you cleanse and moisturize your skin?
Now you have a smart alternative available that does everything you want it to… promote young- and healthy-looking skin with vital phytonutrients and antioxidants.
Top quality ingredients from around the world – like acai juice, green tea, sea buckthorn oil, cupuacu butter, and more…
First, let me introduce my brand-new USDA Certified Organic Skin Care line-up – just six quick daily steps for your more youthful appearance and healthy living…

• Daily Step 1. USDA Certified Organic Citrus Cleanser – Revitalizing – twice daily
• Daily Step 2. USDA Certified Organic Chamomile Toner – Purifying – twice daily
• Daily Step 3. USDA Certified Organic Sea Buckthorn Anti-Aging Serum – once daily
• Daily Step 4. – Morning. USDA Certified Organic Cupuacu Day Moisturizer – Antioxidant – mornings
• Daily Step 4. – Evening. USDA Certified Organic Acai Night Moisturizer – Rejuvenating – evenings
• Daily Step 5. USDA Certified Organic Eye and Lines Treatment – twice daily
• Twice weekly after cleansing. USDA Certified Organic Sugar Exfoliator – Refining Face Scrub – twice weekly

As you might imagine, there are a large number of ingredients in these seven different products.
However, it is important to understand that, they're all natural or organic, so they skip the additional (petroleum-based, suspect) chemicals that are in the vast majority of skin care products.

Multiply Your Skin Care Benefits

My USDA Certified Skin Care line will provide you with incredibly comprehensive benefits when you apply it as a total package to supply the wide spectrum of nutrients to your skin. Each product complements the rest to maximize your skin's healthy and youthful appearance.
As mentioned above, you'll want to demonstrate a degree of patience just as you would when improving your diet. Consider this your skin's diet for nutrition.
But over the next couple of months you may be surprised by what others are saying about your amazing good looks. Some who notice might not mention anything, but they will likely think about it.
And now you can be prepared with your new more beautiful face for all your upcoming holiday parties and family get-togethers.

Why 'Organic' Ingredients?

It's important to use only ingredients that promote your healthy appearance without doing any potential harm whenever possible.
You eat organic foods to avoid many of the chemicals in commercial foods. Now you can do the same for your skin. This is important because what you apply to your skin invariably winds up in your blood.
"Certified organic" means agricultural products are grown and processed per the USDA's national organic standards… then certified by USDA-accredited state and private certification organizations.
There is a specific process – and a price tag – to becoming certified.
Set standards must be met and extensive paperwork filed to verify that those standards are met. Certifying agents then review applications for certification eligibility.
Qualified inspectors conduct annual onsite inspections of organic operations, observing their production and processing practices to see if they're in compliance with organic standards…
But in general, your product ingredients are the pre-eminent issue. Do they qualify as food? Are they organic, and free of potentially harmful pesticides?
We use ingredients that the USDA permits in its certified organic food – using the same standards for these items as for those items that are intended specifically for human consumption. And we proudly list every ingredient in our products – hiding nothing – so you can examine them for yourself.
All to give you another option to stay healthy.
So now, just check out this sampling of food ingredients from the new Mercola USDA Certified Organic Skin Care line that enhance both your healthy appearance and your beauty…

Astounding Natural Beauty – Compliments of Nature

You'll probably recognize a number of the ingredients in this skin care line… things like apple juice, apple cider vinegar, green tea, aloe vera, coconut oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, and vitamin E.
But we didn't stop there…
Aromatherapy is the art and science of using volatile plant oils to promote relaxation and wellbeing. There is much ongoing research into the interrelationships between psychology and fragrances.
Mercola Organic Skin Care products utilize aromatherapy ingredients to contribute to your peaceful relaxation, energize you, and much more.
Take a look at some of these key organic aromatherapy ingredients in the Mercola Organic Skin Care line, and the astonishing ways they promote your skin's healthy appearance and your overall wellbeing:

• Sweet Orange Oil
A valuable herb that originated in India. This essential oil is refreshing, fruity, tangy – as if you've just peeled a fresh juicy orange. It lifts your spirits at the same time it calms you. Its light and airy aroma is cheering, refreshing and uplifting, at the same time contributing to your tranquility.
I'm sure you know oranges are rich in vitamin C. They also contain bioflavonoids like hesperidin that continue the work of vitamin C. In other words, the hesperidin complements the antioxidant effects of vitamin C.
But the oils found in the orange peel also contain a phytonutrient called limonene which does some remarkable things for you, like providing antioxidants.

The oil of the sweet orange is rich in nutrients that promote skin rejuvenation… plus its refreshing, fruity scent is uplifting and cheery – at the same time as it leads to tranquility.

Sweet orange oil is considered an excellent skin tonic and supports rejuvenation, so it has an important role to play in Mercola Skin Care.
You'll find sweet orange oil in Mercola Skin Care Organic Citrus Cleanser, Organic Sea Buckthorn Anti-Aging Serum, Organic Cupuacu Day Moisturizer, and Organic Sugar Exfoliator.

• Calendula
Calendula is a versatile herb with fiery red and yellow petals, similar to a marigold, although a different variety from the marigolds you commonly see in gardens.
Calendula dates back to the days of the ancient Egyptians. Yet even today it remains one of the most popular herbs for supporting healthy-looking skin. When mixed with other oils such as olive oil, calendula becomes even more nourishing.
It's widely used to moisturize and soften all skin types, rejuvenate your skin and reduce the appearance of the natural signs of aging.
Relaxation is an additional benefit of calendula.
You can enjoy the spicy-sweet bitter-warm aroma of organic calendula in Mercola Organic Skin Care Chamomile Toner, Sea Buckthorn Anti-Aging Serum, and Acai Night Moisturizer.




• Lavender
Lavender is the most popular and widely-used essential oil, enjoyed by both aromatherapists and individuals. It's very versatile, with many different uses.
Lavender's smooth and sometimes sweet floral aroma has a definitive calming effect, helping you forget about everyday stresses in your life.
Try it in our Chamomile Toner and Organic Acai Night Moisturizer.

Lavender is widely used and widely treasured for its skin care benefits and calming influence. Check it out in the Mercola Organic Skin Care Chamomile Toner and Acai Night Moisturizer.

• Chamomile
Chamomile is considered by many to be the world's most soothing herb. Its sweet, herbal and fruity scent promotes relaxation.
Not only that… it also soothes your skin. And it's generally regarded as safe – with few or no known side effects.
Constituents include the bioflavonoids apigenin, luteolin, and quercetin.
Chamomile is included in the Mercola Organic Skin Care Citrus Cleanser, Chamomile Toner, and Sea Buckthorn Anti-Aging Serum.

But these aren't all the special ingredients in Mercola Organic Skin Care products. In fact, this is just a fraction of the story…

In My Opinion, Plant Oils are Far Superior to Petroleum Oil

Not only do you receive benefits from aromatherapy – you also obtain natural and refreshing plant oils and butters that your skin will delight in.
No petroleum products allowed… because I want you to look and feel at your greatest each and every day of your life, to fulfill your purpose and to enjoy all the people and events of your life. And you can do that by using true nutrients that help keep your skin looking its best.
Let's look at a couple of these special, exotic oils here – more details will follow on each individual product page.

Discover Today How the Many Marvelous Qualities of Sea
Buckthorn Oil Promote Your Youthful-Looking Skin

Legend has it that before the 12th century, certain Greek warriors released some weak horses to die, but they came back looking better than ever.
The turn-around was traced to the whole berries of a scrubby shrub called Hippophae rhamnoides, which means "tree that makes the horse shine".
Native to Russia, northern China and northern Mongolia, sea buckthorn's seeds produce thick reddish-orange oil with the viscosity of syrup.
Since its discovery, it's been revered for its nourishing and rejuvenating properties. And no wonder…
Sea buckthorn seed oil is an absolute powerhouse of nutrition. It provides protein, plus over 100 nutrients, such as linolenic acid, vitamins E and A, carotene, polyphenols, flavonoids, and trace elements including iron, copper, manganese, and selenium.
Moreover, scientists are always on the hunt for antioxidants. They found a real gem in sea buckthorn oil.

Sea buckthorn – nicknamed "tree that makes the horse shine" because weak horses sent out returned quite revived after eating their berries – offers you a powerhouse of nutrition for skin rejuvenation. Sea buckthorn is found in Organic Sea Buckthorn Anti-Aging Serum and Organic Acai Night Moisturizer.

Its rich content of flavonoids, glucosides, phenols, terpenes, vitamins E, A, and C, beta-carotene, and trace elements (iron, zinc, selenium, manganese) are all antioxidants with very low molecular weight that neutralize free radicals. Collectively, they are even far more beneficial than alone.