Opting for Fruity Beauty

Most women and many men have a vague sense that the overuse of personal care products is potentially dangerous. And while some of us may read ingredient lists on shampoo bottles and shower gels hoping to avoid the usual suspects (sodium laureth sulphate and too many parabens), often we choose products impulsively, paying little real attention to what they contain. So, how can we try to limit any potential damage of what some call "the chemical warfare of the beauty industry"? And are the holistic beauty therapists overstating their case?

As with many issues, it depends on who you listen to. Pat Thomas, a writer on environmental issues, says the biggest problem is that we absorb the chemicals in personal care products through the mucous membranes of our eyes, mouth and nose and through our skin.

"The absorption of substances through the skin and mucous membranes is particularly disturbing because the body's normal filters -- the kidneys and the liver -- are bypassed," she writes in her most recent book, Skin Deep -- the essential guide to what's really in the toiletries and cosmetics you use(Rodale Press).

Dublin-based expert on natural beauty, Mary Berkery, even suggests that we should wash less. According to Berkery, unless you're a motor mechanic or farm worker, you really don't need to shower every day.

"We are stripping our skin of the natural protective oils when we over wash," she says.

Berkery says we need to wash only the hairy parts of our bodies with soap on a daily basis.

The natural health and beauty regime promoted by many holistic healthcare practitioners includes using fewer carefully chosen products. "The average adult uses nine personal care products each day containing up to 129 potentially dangerous chemicals," says Berkery.

"If you eat something toxic, your digestive system and liver enzymes will break it down, neutralise it and eliminate it through your bowel and kidneys but if you use something on your skin, it goes directly into your lymphatic system and blood stream," she explains.

She is against night creams as, she says, they prevent the skin from breathing and producing its own natural oils at night. "People should simplify their skincare regime and only moisturise during the day," she says.

"Your skin absorbs up to 60 per cent of the chemicals that come into contact with it and sends them directly into the bloodsteam," writes Thomas. In her book, she gives plenty of clear advice for anyone keen to simplify their beauty regime.

First off, she suggests that we use soap rather than detergents: "Soap is a simple and largely natural cleanser but detergents are part of a larger group of chemicals called surfactants which have additional foam boosters," she writes.