When Trina Felber learned the beauty and skincare products she used every day could be harming her body, she wanted to do something about it.
“I work so hard to eat healthy and exercise, yet the skincare I was using was literally poisoning me. It is filled with carcinogens, endocrine disruptors and neurotoxins, and it’s not necessary,” she says.
The registered nurse starting taking the healing properties of Paleo Diet-based real food and applied it to skincare and got amazing results.
Here, the CEO of Primal Life Organics and best-selling author Beauty’s Dirty Secret discusses Paleo Skincare and its benefits as well as offers her insight on the dangers of commercial beauty products. Read on:
What is Paleo skincare?
Paleo Skincare is made with “real food” sources and made fresh when needed. Real food contains nutrient-rich ingredients that feed the cells of the skin the nutrition it needs to look, feel and function healthy. Paleo skincare is made with oils, essential oils, herbs, foods and clays. Nothing processed, artificial or lab-made would be included.
How did you discover Paleo skincare?
I began making my own skincare during my first pregnancy when I discovered that even “natural and organic” products still contain harmful ingredients like preservatives, emulsifiers and even water (yes, water is harmful to the skin and in most products, water is the main ingredient).
Furthermore, with my background in nursing, I knew that the toxins in commercial skincare can and do affect a developing baby – and I was very sensitive to that fact because I had suffered an early miscarriage. Many of the ingredients in commercial skincare are neurotoxins – and the first fetal system that develops is the neurological system. I am very proactive toward the health of pregnant women and I have created the first “pregnancy formula” skincare products that contain only ingredients that are safe during pregnancy.
My husband and I converted to a Paleo diet in 2010, before the birth of our twins, and a light bulb went off! I realized that my skincare creations were 100 percent inline with my Paleo diet and since the skin is the largest organ of the body, it deserves the same nutrients from real food that I eat.
My skin responded so well to my Paleo skincare products and my acne resolved, old scars faded and my skin started to glow. I realized that my skin was lacking nutrients. Furthermore, many of the ingredients in Big Cosmo are skin irritants and can aggravate or cause skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, psoriasis and peri-oral dermatitis. Many who switch to Paleo Skincare find that their skin condition improves or disappears completely. Paleo heals the skin because it is nutrient dense!
Why is it not enough to stick to natural or organic beauty products?
The terms “natural” and “organic” have been exploited by the beauty industry. A product can be marketed as natural or organic if it contains a very small amount of a natural/organic ingredient. Unfortunately, it often also contains harmful ingredients that disrupt the normal functions of the skin as well as the entire body.
Think of this: water is technically a “natural” ingredient, right? Most commercial skincare products are between 40 and 90 percent water. Most of the time, it is not listed as “purified” or “distilled” which means it is polluted tap water. Not only are you paying a lot of money for polluted water, but when water is included, preservatives and emulsifiers must also be added to prevent bacterial growth and to keep the product shelf stable. Most emulsifiers and preservatives used are known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. Nothing beautiful about that!
Furthermore, to add insult to injury, water is not absorbed by the skin. In fact, it evaporates, and when it does it takes with it the natural, protective oils the skin produces. It dehydrates the skin. Dehydrated skin accentuates wrinkle and aging and prevents cells from functioning properly.
I make all of my products without water – there really is no need for water in skincare. The fastest way to “anti-age” is to put oils on your skin! When oils plump the cells, wrinkles become less noticeable.
What are the risks or drawbacks of commercial beauty products?
There are many health drawbacks, as I have mentioned, most commercial skincare products contain harmful ingredient that are known cancer-causing agents, neurotoxins and endocrine disruptors. Ingredient, such as the aluminum in antiperspirants, prevents the body from sweating. While no one wants to stink, sweat is your body’s way to detoxify (get rid of toxins) itself. If you prevent sweat from happening- those toxin travel throughout the body and cause inflammation. Inflammation is now known to be a contributing factor to numerous health conditions including heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
Aluminum (from deodorants) has also been found in the brains of Alzheimer’s victims as well as in the tumors removed from breast tissue- suggesting there could be a link to both.
Let’s face it; beauty is what we want. We want to look younger and feel better. How can that happen when we are feeding our skin (and possibly our entire body) chemicals and toxins instead of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and antioxidants found only in real-foods.
What are the benefits of Paleo skincare?
I advise to only use natural, food-based products, which I refer to as “skin-food,” and is commonly referred to as Paleo skincare. People need to start thinking in terms of “food” versus “artificial” ingredients. Some benefits to Paleo skincare are:
- Feeds the skin LIVE nutrients (vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, antioxidants)
- Hydrates the skin with oils (water, the main ingredient in Big Cosmo) dehydrates the skin and accentuates the signs of aging)
- Heals the skin and can help heal skin conditions (acne, rosacea, perioral dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis)
- Detoxifies the skin help normalize cellular function
- Optimizes health, both inside and out, with food sources. Big Cosmo products pollute the body with toxins (carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxins, etc.).
What types of beauty products can be Paleo?
Every product can be Paleo (or nearly every product). I have spent the past nine years developing over 125 “real-food” Paleo solutions including toothpaste, facial care (wash, moisturizer, acne treatments, anti-aging treatments, toners, masks), hair care (hair wash, styling, hair spray), makeup (foundation, blush, eye shadow), shaving cream, body washes and moisturizers, baby care, pregnancy care and many more. Everything I make is made from food, herbs, clays, oils and essential oils. Mother Nature offers simple solutions that can be used for skin and body care – and that is where I source my ingredients.
What should we look for when shopping for Paleo products?
I like to describe P-A-L-E-O like this:
PLANT BASED (oils, essential oils, herbs, foods)
ACTIVE (no water, only active ingredients)
LIVING (Living ingredients contain vitamin, minerals, essential fatty acids and antioxidants that the skin craves)
EARTH (ingredients must have a relationship with dirt. Look for clays – they detoxify the body)
ORGANIC (unprocessed, real-food ingredients. Not made in a lab)
What do you think are the biggest misconceptions we have about beauty products in the U.S.?
I think we have mistrust. We trust that what Big Cosmo is putting in our skincare products is safe for our bodies. There are no regulations governing the ingredients in Big Cosmo. Most people use more than 12 beauty products each day (toothpaste, deodorant, face wash, soap, shampoo, hair styling products, body moisturizers, shaving cream and makeup) – if each contains just five toxins (and most contain many more), we are polluting our bodies with at least 50 toxins every day.
I urge everyone to turn every product over and read the ingredients. If you don’t recognize it, most likely it is lab-made. If you are unsure, the Environmental Working Group has a database of most of the ingredients in skincare and rates them for their level of harm to the body. It can and will be an eye opener, it was for me and it changed my life, the life of my family and my health.
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