Good oils for skin

You'd be amazed at how simple (and cheap) you can make your own face and body moisturizer. 

I've been doing some research into making homemade beauty supplies to get away from manufactured items that have ingredients that I can't even pronounce. Also, a lot of those ingredients are for extending the product's shelf life. Good for the company, but not good for your skin. 

I investigated a moisturizer I've used often in the past.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturizer SPF 15 

(Taken off their site)

Active Ingredients:
Octinoxate 7.5%, Octisalate 5% , Oxybenzone 3% 

These guys are all sunscreen components.

Octinoxate has been connected with endocrine disruption
Octisalate had reasonable ratings (semi toxic but not as bad compared to other ingredients). The interesting thing about it, however, is that it absorbs very easily, which may mean it can pull in other ingredients which may be harmful into your skin.
Oxybenzone is apparently found in just about every American (urine samples) according to the CDC. Well, that's a bit creepy. 

Inactive Ingredients:
Water, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Glycerin, Emulsifying Wax NF, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Dimethicone, Triethanolamine, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Carbomer 

 

Water: Reasonable
Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate: Used as an emollient
Glycerin: skin conditioning and is a humectant (keeps moisture on skin).

Little note on glycerin. Just found out that it may NOT be a good humectant if the environmental humidity is not high enough. If too low, the glycerin can actually PULL moisture from your skin, not keep it in. Interesting.
Emulsifying Wax NF: This basically carries all the other ingredients and makes the lotion creamy instead of watery or too thick. Wax is either bumped up to make salves or harder products or decreased to make smoother, creamier products.

Glyceryl Stearate: Helps to create emulsions and keep moisture on the face

PEG-100 Stearate: Used as an emollient

Dimethicone: Conditioning, emollient

Triethanolamine: Fragrance and pH adjuster (a little creepy to me...)

 

All those seem reasonable...but then I hit these ones...

Diazolidinyl Urea

According to EWG's Cosmetic Database, "Diazolidinyl urea is an antimicrobial preservative that acts as a formaldehyde releaser in cosmetics and personal care products".

 

What the WHAT?? Any vegans out there? This shit can also be animal derived.

Methylparaben (and Ethylparaben, Propylparaben)

Methylparaben is in the paraben family of preservatives used by the food, pharmaceutical, and personal care product industries. Parabens mimic estrogen and can act as potential hormone (endocrine) system disruptors.

 

So basically it can disrupt your endocrine system. Who cares about the endocrine system? Welll it's only the glands in your body that pump out hormones to regulate the whole system. No big deal or anything...

At any rate...I am now completely paranoid about what moisturizers I use. I have switched to more natural ingredients like almond oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E and essential oils. Soon, I'm going to add in beeswax to make a cream instead of a serum and see how that goes. Pictures coming soon!