Featured from the Gluten Free Blog

How to Find Safe Healthy Gluten Free Lotion, Face & Skincare

With Celiac Disease, gluten, when ingested, affects the digestive tract primarily, with a chain reaction damaging systems from the inside outward to other organs.

Even though skin is technically a different organ separate from the digestive tract, sometimes gluten, wheat, barley, or rye products also affect people’s skin negatively when directly applied. Maybe a person has an allergy, not connected to Celiac Disease. For me, I get itchy and red. If someone has a severe allergic reaction or auto-immune response, they may blister.

If only it was as easy as reading the ingredients, like with food, to avoid the ingredients that are damaging to us personally.

Many lotion and skin products do not fully disclose their ingredients and make me burn and itch. What can we do to keep ourselves safe?

Maia, a dear trusted (and brilliant) friend of mine started her own skincare line called Sweet Science. From her we can learn a lot. Here are some questions I had for her.

1. What inspired you to take the fearless jump into creating face skincare products? 

I got into it because I have always been a skincare fanatic.  I was a trend shopper for many years. I bought and used EVERYTHING on the market.  I got really tired of not getting the results promised on the package. I also was becoming frustrated because I was spending top dollar on “Natural” skincare that went bad very quickly and was also totally ineffective.

2. What are the ingredients that you see in so many lotions and skincare products that make you cringe and why?

Dimethicone is one ingredient that I will not use on my face or my line.  It is a silicone and those coat your face for up to 5 days! Silicone is a synthetic polymer derived from a naturally occurring element, silicon. Silicone is very difficult to remove, if not impossible, it just has to wear off.  Any ingredient with a “cone” at the end, I do not use those in my line.  They are now being connected with tumorous growths. If you avoid them for a couple of weeks, you will be amazed.  Your pores shrink, you stop breaking out, the random dry spots clear up, your skin balances out.  Its a very deceptive ingredient, silicone.

3. I love your Sweet Science product line because it is honest, fresh, natural, and priced fair. I see that there is wheat germ oil in some of your products. Can you tell me about your products without any wheat, barley, rye, or gluten in them, products that would be safe and of interest to my readers? What are they called and what is their function?

We have a Vitamin C Serum Complex that is absolutely the best!  I have friends who are makeup artists at MAC and Tom Ford and they can’t believe the difference it makes. It fades melanoma and discolorations because we use the best Vitamin C (called tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate)  and combine it with niacinamide. It totally works!

     Yes, I have that one and I love it.

4. How are your products different from similar products? 

There is nothing similar to Sweet Science.  We are the only brand available that has the actives kept separate.  I believe it’s the future of skincare. It’s not a gimmick. It’s the best way to get the best results for your skin.

5. Why are freshly mixed actives important?

Actives are what make the product produce results. Scientists isolate new, great actives all the time and they work!  But actives degrade over time when they have been mixed in an aqueous formula, namely water. Big name companies often manufacture products years ahead of time, so by the time you buy it, it’s basically lost all it’s effectiveness. That’s why, with my products, you mix the elements together yourself when you receive them for a longer lasting more effective solution. It takes under 5 minutes and you have a product that serves its function.

6. Since you dove into skincare, what is the most important thing you have learned that you wish everyone knew?

High price doesn’t necessarily mean a better product. I see the most overpriced stuff with terrible ingredients. Just because it comes in an expensive bottle or has some fancy packaging, consumers think it’s going to change their skin for the better.

I recently got some samples from a brand that everyone knows, really expensive and they WILL NOT list their ingredients anywhere.  That’s a red flag for sure. But I had to test it. I had to! The stuff was good for a day or so, I looked good, but after about 3 days, I broke out and my skin looked terrible.  The product was swimming in dimethicone. I went back to using just my line and my skin went back to normal.

7. What can we do to buy safer cosmetic and skincare products?

We all know we get a better product from the smaller farms who actually care about what they grow and have some accountability to the people. Why shouldn’t you think the same way about your skin?

When you buy from smaller skincare lines, like with your organic local foods, you have access to speak with the owners who are passionate about what they do and want their customers to be well and happy. The smaller the product line, the better the odds of getting a safer more effective product from someone who cares.

Look for skincare products at your local farmers’ markets and local health food stores. Seek products made in your town, or state, or province, or even your own country is a good start. Try to buy products made closer to home, when possible. I know lots of people live in regions where, due to harsh weather or sparse population size, many items have to be imported. Opensky.com is one place I sell my product online. There are many websites that cater to small run businesses.

Thank you Maia for enlightening us on skincare.

Thank you for having me.