Let's Talk About Hair & Skin or Is It A Science Lesson

You see this child?

And this one?


They are "high maintenance" children in the hair and skin department.

But they sure are cute!

These children?

Well they are "high maintenance" in their own special ways.

Needless to say taking care of brown skin and hair is a bit more challenging than taking care of those with lighter skin and straighter hair. I am VIGILANT about what goes on my children's bodies...and for good reason. Did you know that what goes ON your body is as equally important...if not more....than what goes in your body? Yep that's right, your skin...one giant organ. For some of us...that organ is bigger than others :) What goes on your body is absorbed DIRECTLY into you blood stream. It doesn't get filtered as much by your liver and kidneys, that do the fun job of filtering out all the nasty. All that stuff you buy in the store...has a WHOLE BUNCH of nasty. Especially if you are buying products specifically designed for those with dark skin.

Want to know some of those bad things?

The number one ingredient that is terrible for us...PETROLEUM. Seriously, this is ALWAYS one of the first ingredient's in products for dark skinned folks. YIKES, this stuff is terrible. Cancer, reproductive problems...you name this stuff has a link. Not to mention it actually does the opposite of what you want it to do. It DOESN'T moisturize, it dries out. It prevents natural moisture. Interested in reading more...ya know, in case you want to check my info out..lest you think I am just a paranoid wack nut... you can find one of MANY links HERE.

So if you are currently slathering your children in Vaseline...STOP what you are doing...right now.... and scrub them like they just bathed in hazardous waste, and never, ever, put that stuff on them again. Doctors orders. Well don't stop right now, finish reading this post...then go clean them up.

Here is a little tid bit for you...Did you know that black women are 50% MORE likely to get cancer than other races? Yep. Now, I am no doctor...I have said that before...but I THINK it might have something to do with all the terrible products that are put onto their bodies everyday to keep that beautiful dark skin and hair looking fabulous. Just a hunch...can't prove it...I'm just sayin' if your product has several ingredients known to cause cancer...just might be the cause.

Want to know another bad ingredient....Parabens. Their in NEARLY every bath and body product. Bad stuff...real Bad. These little compounds meant to act as a preservative, actually play a terrible little trick on you body. You put this on your skin, and your body thinks it is estrogen. That's right boys and girls. Too much estrogen=cancer, fertility problems, and more. Seriously...I am not making this stuff up. Read all about it HERE.

Now since this is supposed to be about moisturizer...I won't even mention the evils of Sulfates. You want to know more...you can click HERE.

Where was I?

Oh yeah,

I have been on the look out for great healthy products that actually work for my children.

Finding something for their skin has been easy. Almond Oil. This stuff ROCKS! It absorbs extremely well (unlike several of the other oils I tried), so the children are not greasy and oily. Just well moisturized, soft, and yummy. It doesn't have much of a smell, and is not at all expensive. I get a big bottle of it at Sun Harvest for $9.99 and it lasts forever. Sometimes I add some essential oils to make it smell...mostly not though.

Marissa's hair however has been another story all together. An since this post is getting to be too long...I will have to tell you all about our hair adventures another day.