Acne No More

Having spent twelve years as a stylist, I have a reputation among women for being a dependable authority in the world of beauty. However, they fail to realize that simple being a sharp, gay male at an attractive 6′2” does not automatically qualify me as an authority on the subject of beauty. It is true, though, that I always look out for any information that can help me get ahead among my colleagues .

Not long ago I was giving highlights to a client who had been coming to me for about 5 years. She struck up a conversation with the stylist next to me, boasting about how well her recent 54th birthday party had gone. I couldn’t believe my ears; all this time that I had been styling her hair I had always assumed she was no older than her mid forties.

I kept quiet for another couple minutes, but eventually I found myself dying to know her secret to looking youthful. Although I thought of face lifts and Botox right away, in the past I had been proven wrong about their success. It turns out this case was no different!

I cracked a smile to my client after getting the confidence to speak up and asked, “Girl what are you doing to keep yourself looking so young?”. We both giggled a bit about it and she pulled me in towards her by my hand and said, “Do you promise not divulge my secret?” After I gave an eager silent agreement, she leaned in closer and said, “I found the fountain of youth”, and I found myself laughing wholeheartedly.

Then my client began to tell me about an organic skin cream she had been using for the past four years, and how she preferred it to the creams that were created in labs that she had tried before. Upon hearing this, I wondered privately, “How could there be that much of a difference?”

After work, I chose to find out more information about the topic myself. When I did a little digging, I realized that almost all skin creams, including many that used the label “organic” made use of preservatives that made the cream both less efficient and more expensive.

I later learned that the cream that my client told me about was made by a company that does not use any ingredients that have the potential to be harmful; that they only use ingredients that are guaranteed to be from completely organic farms. Their ingredients remain totally natural, no matter how concentrated they are, and the company also guarantees the effectiveness of their product by not adding any artificial coloring or aromas.

I know now that it is vital to look at what potentially toxic ingredients are present in skin creams when looking for one to begin using; most will contain some of they are not 100% organic. A study done in 2004 found that Prebens, a preservative used in many beauty products, was also a component of 18 out of 20 malignant breast tumors. Overall, sticking completely organic products when searching for a skin cream is the most healthy, economical, and successful option.