L’ali's World
STRESSORS AND POLLUTANTS – The main causes of sensitive skin?
Today, in just 30 days, our bodies are exposed to more toxic chemicals than our grandparents’ were in their entire lives.
Every day, thousands of substances and microorganisms contaminate our skin. Aggressive environmental influences such as exhaust gases, fine dust particles and sun rays, harmful substances in cosmetics, cleaning detergents for clothing and furniture coverings, smoking and alcohol abuse, stress and lack of physical exercise, contribute negatively to our health and skin beauty. While some of these pollutants are part of the modern lifestyle and cannot be completely avoided, others, such as the harm from poor quality cosmetic products, can be completely eliminated.
What
What are the main groups of pollutants?
Urban pollution
⇒ Fine dust particles – clog pores; they often carry toxins, bacteria and spores of pathogenic microorganisms.
⇒ Heavy metals – despite countless regulations imposed by institutions to control heavy metals in the environment, they are an invariable companion of the modern way of life.
Urban pollution
⇒ Exhaust gases – toxic both to the skin and to the body as a whole.
⇒ Sun rays – in the context of the current climate situation we live in and the annual reports on the depletion of the ozone layer, one of the most serious causes of skin aging is solar radiation (UVA + UVB) and the subtle effects it has on the skin , hair and scalp.
What
What are the pollutants in cosmetics?
When using conventional cosmetic products, a number of “masking” substances, such as silicones and petroleum derivatives, are applied to the skin. Their function is to give an immediate positive effect on the skin and/or hair, masking their actual condition. Their action is short-term and does not help to bring about a real improvement.
These xenobiotics and numerous other impurities actually accumulate on the surface of the skin and hair and make it difficult for the active substances intended to really help to penetrate, often causing sensitivity reactions.
A clinical study conducted with over 400 volunteers showed that 85% of people showed symptoms of sensitivity on the skin of the face, and 70% – on another part of the body (hands (58%), scalp (36%), feet (34%), neck (27%), torso (23%), back (21%)), and the causes of discomfort are mostly cold (66%), heat (28%), stress (61%), sun rays (51%), wind (42%), hard water from the aqueduct system (29%), water maintenance preparations in pools (40%), soaps (42%), cosmetics (28%), friction from coarse textiles (28%) and urban pollution in general (18%).
Who
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Photos: Rūdolfs Klintsons, Kat Smith, Avijit Singh, Karolina Grabowska, Zydeaosika