Cinco Vidas

Many of us deal with daily or weekly frustrations with our skin, including acne and dull texture that robs us of our youthful glow. However, sometimes the answer isn’t more creams but a gentle, natural way of exfoliating.

The skin, like many of our body organs, regularly breathes through the pores. Products, perspiration and dead cells can clog those pores, reducing skin’s ability to eliminate toxins and renew itself. For optimal health, we need to regularly excrete as many toxins as possible, so in addition to drinking water and consuming enough fiber to help our system get rid of waste, we need to keep the skin healthy so it, too, can do its part in cleansing our bodies.

Have you heard of dry skin brushing? Used for centuries by many cultures, it’s another approach to exfoliating dead-skin cells to speed up cell turnover and open up the pathways of toxin release. According to Bella Online, Turkish bath rituals used a rough cloth mitt, and in ancient Greece and Rome a “strigiles,” which was shaped like a curved spoon, was used to scrape the skin prior to bathing. (more…)

It’s a trend that’s catching on—sun-protective clothing. Manufacturers claim their products protect the wearer from UV exposure (thereby reducing the risk of skin cancer), remain effective after several washings, and wear comfortably even for those with sensitive skin.

“Our goal is to provide the highest UV protection in a lightweight garment,” says Sun Protective Clothing’s web site, “while maintaining style, comfort, and durability.”

Can certain types of clothes really protect our skin better than others? According to skincancer.org, they can. “As a rule,” the organization says, “light-colored, lightweight and loosely-woven fabrics do not offer much protection from the sun. That white T-shirt you slip on at the beach when you feel your skin burning provides only moderate protection from sunburn, with an average ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) of 7.”
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Whether you’re after a healthy glow in the winter months or want to erase unsightly tan lines in the summer, self-tanners can be life savers for your best look. However, did you know that many contain chemicals that could be harmful to your health?

Lots of people choose self-tanners hoping to lower their exposure to UV rays and thereby reduce their risk of skin cancer. However, it doesn’t pay to exchange one cancer risk for another, so let’s look at some of the things you want to avoid when purchasing these golden goodies. (more…)

Like most of us in this economy, Jill didn’t have a lot of extra money to spend. She really wanted to get a good moisturizer, as cancer treatments had dried her skin, leaving it flaky and irritated, but there were so many other things on her shopping list, like shoes for the kids, new tires for the car, pet food, and prescriptions, that she figured a bargain jar from the drugstore would do the trick just fine.

Little did Jill know that she may have just cost herself more money in the long run.
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People used to think the skin was an impenetrable barrier, blocking anything from entering (or exiting) the body. After all, if it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be able to take a shower without bloating up with water, right?

Now we know better. Skin does provide a barrier to the world, but not an impenetrable one. Stay in the bath long enough and you’ll see—skin absorbs water to a certain extent, which is why it wrinkles.

“Your skin is enough of a barrier to keep fluids within your body,” writes Samuel Epstein, MD, and author of Toxic Beauty (BenBella Books, 2009), “but it also readily absorbs many things with which it comes in contact.” (more…)

Science still isn’t sure what causes breast cancer. Most likely, it’s a myriad of things dependent on a person’s genetic makeup, diet, lifestyle, exposure to dangerous chemicals, and stress levels. However, researchers have long speculated that estrogen—a hormone necessary for normal development and growth of the breasts and organs important for childbearing—may have something to do with it. According to researchers from Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors (BCERF) in New York, estrogen may be implicated in breast-cancer risk because of 1) its role in stimulating breast cell division; 2) its work during the critical periods of breast growth and development; 3) its effect on other hormones that stimulate breast-cell division; and 4) its support of the growth of estrogen-responsive tumors. Women with high lifetime exposures to estrogen may be at higher risk, BCERF concludes. (more…)

If you lose your hair during cancer treatments, you may be a little confused over how to take care of this new skin. Vin Diesel and Chris Daughtry have it down, obviously, but if you’ve never before taken care of the skin on your scalp, how do you go about it now?

All skin is fragile during chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and the scalp even more so, as it’s probably never been so “naked” before and may be a little tender and sensitive. So forget regular harsh shampoos and opt for a more caring approach—one you would take toward baby skin. (more…)

As we become more aware of the dangerous chemicals plaguing many of our favorite skin-care products, we find ourselves looking around for alternatives. Where are the more conscientious companies that use organic ingredients, avoid potential cancer-causing chemicals, give back to charity, think green, and shun animal testing?

In addition to some of the other brands we’ve mentioned in this post (including Burt’s Bees, Jason Natural Products, and Avalon Organics), we’ve come upon a new player in the game with a healthy hand of good sense. (more…)

Ah, chemical sunscreens. We love how they disappear on our skin, and we may think we’re being protected, but the more research that’s done on the subject, the more it seems we’d be safer avoiding chemical sunscreens altogether.

Look at the labels. If your sunscreen has any of these, you may want to consider tossing it:
Benzophenones (dixoybenzone, oxybenzone), PABA and PABA esters (ethyl dihydroxy propyl PAB,  glyceryl PABA, p-aminobenzoic acid, padimate-O or octyl dimethyl PABA), cinnamates (cinoxate, ethylhexyl p-methoxycinnamate, octocrylene, octyl methoxycinnamate), salicylates (ethylhexyl salicylate, homosalate, octyl salicylate), digalloyl trioleate, menthyl anthranilate, and avobenzone. (more…)

Imagine you have an open wound on your back. The area feels sensitive, and you’re especially careful what you put on it. You probably wear softer fabrics against it, like cotton, or keep the area uncovered completely. Most likely you baby it, applying only lukewarm water and a gentle cleanser to clean.

Would you want to pour alcohol or other chemicals on top of it? Probably not.

If you’re going through cancer treatments, however, and you use personal-care products that contain synthetic fragrance, (more…)