Our lives are rife with stress and worry. It's hard to find any way to get some time to oneself and really experience a sense of relaxation. One of the few times in a day when somebody can really kick back, unwind, and reflect on a day's events is during a bath or shower. This is a common time for people to escape the world for a short respite. While this stands to be seen, there is also a very obvious problem of health that accompanies the many chemicals in our bath soaps and body washes. Companies that supply us with these products have been placing unknown chemicals in them for over a decade. With all of the ethoxylated ingredients being brewed together with the rest of the odd fragrances and chemicals, it's hard for anyone to know what is actually being absorbed into their skin, or being released into the environment for that matter. It's this concept that has brought upon a very necessary revolution in the realm of personal hygiene: Organic soaps and bath products.
When somebody uses soap, they use it to accomplish a few simple tasks, two of which include smell good and clean your skin. Commercial soaps focus on one of these factors much more than the other. Even a quick glance at the ingredients of the commercial soap on a shelf can reveal the plethora of disgusting chemicals that dry and irritate the skin. The preservatives can cause allergic reactions to customers with sensitive skin or any sort of irritable senses. Furthermore, these chemicals can include things like synthetic lathering agents and artificial colors that don't actually do much to benefit the human body and can actually do harm to it after constant use. The skin is constructed to absorb, so when a habit is made of absorbing specific materials and chemicals, the skin makes a habit of storing them in the fat, or even brain, of the applier. Furthermore, the lather created in modern products can contain things like phthalates and parabens, both of which are known to harm humans. Phthalates are known to cause hormonal disorders in both humans and animals, while parabens are usually linked to cancer.
Moreover, all the excess chemicals that aren't being absorbed by your body are being sent down the drain. Every object that gets sucked down the drain is eventually going to end up back in the environment, and that includes all the harmful, cancer causing gunk that is used in soaps and washes. One chemical in particular has been produced in very large amounts: 1,4-dioxane, also known simply as dioxane. In fact, in 1990, between 10 million and 18 million pounds of dioxane was released into the environment. This colorless, flammable liquid has been ignored mostly because the human body breaks it down fairly easily in small amounts. However, large amounts of dioxane causes liver and kidney damage and was detected in 37% of well water samples collected near waste landfills. It's things like these that make commercial soaps so much more harmful than they initially seem, and make organic soaps seem more and more feasible.
Organic soaps don't contain the many dangerous chemicals present in commercial soaps. They are all-natural and use ingredients that are home produced without all of the pesticides and fertilizers. The potential of irritation on the skin is significantly decreased because of the natural ingredients. Additionally, there are no synthetic fragrances used that could cause irritation of the senses and of the skin. Instead, the scent is a very obvious reflection of the natural ingredients used. In fact, this natural, soothing scent can attribute to the relief of stress many people experience when using organic soaps and the like. This effect is actually a form of aromatherapy and the good smell, or expectation of a good smell, help stimulate an emotional and mental connection and trigger a sense of relaxation.
This form of aromatherapy is one of the many benefits of using organic bath additives like tea, milk, or salt. While salt isn't necessarily considered "organic" because of its being a mineral and not legally organic, it has the same effect as many other organic bath additives. Along with the soothing smell, soaking in an herbal or salt bath can have distinct benefits on the mind and body. A warm bath with the addition of luxury bath additives can soothe the skin, as well as release tension in muscles in joints. The circulatory system is also known to experience some unique benefits when exposed to such luxurious circumstances. While luxury bath products don't have any distinctly beneficial effects on the environment, they don't harm them whatsoever and prevent, once more, the commercial chemicals that would normally be used from entering the ecosystem.
All in all, there are some very obvious perks from using organic soaps and luxury bath products. However, these products aren't easily found on the shelves of a local supermarket. For real, all natural products I strongly suggest ordering online from Osmia Organics. The merchandise has a very homemade, natural feel one would expect from an organic product. Every bar of soap is handmade, and every product supports the concepts discussed in this article. It's time to start breaking away from the laboratory brewed concoctions we call bath soaps nowadays and return to a state of simplicity. All natural and organic is the way to go. After all, as the great Leonardo Da Vinci once said, "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication", and it doesn't get much simpler than products that come straight from nature.
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