Are "All-Natural" Skincare Products Worth The Hype?

There is a very pervasive perception out there in Skincareland that "natural" is better because any products with chemical ingredients surely must be dangerous or unhealthy.  See a long sounding name on a label and all sorts of red flags go up.

The thinking goes like... If it goes into a car, it can't go on the face. If it has a bunch of long names you can't pronounce, put it back on the shelf. It's usually the ingredients that are derived from petroleum that cause the most trepidation. But petroleum does come from the ground. ...Is that not natural? Silicone also comes from the ground.  As does heroin...

There is a question in the minds of many as to what happens after something has penetrated the skin: Do these ingredients go anywhere else in the body? Do harmful chemicals enter the blood stream? 

Here's a really important fact that should give you pause:

Many medications that are used topically.  What many don't know is that the labs and drug companies that manufacture them have spent millions and millions of dollars figuring out how to get these drugs into the skin! How much more difficult must it be to get these into the blood stream from there??  As a colleague of mine said exasperatedly, "The skincare industry is not out to get everybody!!" 

In my opinion, there is more to worry about with bacterial or fungal laden kitchen ingredients in DIY home remedies than there is about whether or not you can pronounce everything on an ingredient list.

What Ingredients Really Matter In Your Skincare Products?

"I’ve read that it’s better to use 'all natural' products to treat acne because there are no chemicals.  Is it better to use all natural products or is it all hype?"

As an Esthetician who deals exclusively with adult acne and sensitivity, I'm asked this question a lot. You might think the answer is quite simple, but it really isn't. The problem is that acne cannot always be effectively addressed by ingredients that are typical of "all natural" skin care lines. In fact there are some "all natural" ingredients that can be horribly aggravating to acne.