I hit the 40 mark last June and feel like since then I've aged 5 years. Have you ever looked at pictures of yourself from days gone by and wondered what beauty flaws you had to complain about back then?  I know that I never appreciated my unblemished skin, my naturally curly hair, my full lips.  Dang I should have appreciated what I had in my 20's and 30's.  In 10 years from now will I look at pictures of myself from right now and say the same thing?  Yes, probably.  It's not like I'm getting any younger and I can say in 10 years that I look better than I did 10 years ago (unless of course I get plastic surgery and that's not on the wish list unless they come up with a more user friendly version of face lifts).

When I look in the mirror I see skin that used to be firm and flawless but is now dull and scattered with dark spots of different shades.  It seems like just a short time ago I was able to go out without wearing any makeup.  Where did the time go? It seriously feels like I just woke up one day and my face had changed. What next? I didn't even get time to adjust.  Aging just hit me without warning.

So, what can I do about it?  Well, ladies, if you're in the same boat as me you've probably been online or to the stores searching high and low for a miracle in a bottle.   Since we're all aging there has to be something out there to help us slow down the process without having to get laser treatments or having all the dead cells scraped off our faces.  I've tried many products and I'll share the names of the products in another post but for now I want to tell you about an ingredient I discovered in a product I just purchased but have not yet used.

The ingredient is HYDROQUINONE.   You may also see an impure form of hydroquinone found in the ingredients TOCOPHERAL ACETATE and other ingredients that start with the root TOCO.  It is used in products that reduce dark spots because of it's ability to decrease melanin production in the skin.  Products sold as non-prescription can have up to 2% of hydroquinone and prescription strength up to 4%.   This ingredient has been banned in Europe because of its side effects and the USA FDA has proposed banning it and labeling it as a carcinogen.  The Campaign of Safe Cosmetics website (safecosmetics.org) stated that it is one of the most toxic ingredients being used in cosmetics.  In lab tests on rats it has caused leukemia. Some people who used products with this ingredient long term (it doesn't say how long the term was) and in high dosages (it doesn't mention what  a large dose is) developed ochronosis, a bluish discoloring of the skin.  This was mainly found to occur in persons of color.  The ingredient has also been found to thin the skin, leaving irreversible stretch marks. One other thing I read was that it causes a degeneration of collagen and elasticity fibers.  Well that's great.  We won't have the age spots but we'll have saggy skin.  I can sort of cover up age spots but I can't pin up saggy skin.  Here is an article I found helpful
http://www.jernehbysheilamajid.com/hydroquinone-dangers.asp.  A differing viewpoint can be found on Paula's Choice website where she disagrees with the research findings (or rather puts them in a different light. http://www.paulaschoice.com/cosmetic-ingredient-dictionary/definition/hydroquinone.

Personally I would rather be safe than sorry.  I don't want to take the chance that in the future the researchers will discover more evidence linking beauty products with the ingredient hydroquinone in it to cancer. What is the alternative to products with hydroquinone? Is there anything that's just as good that isn't super expensive?  I'll do some searching and get back here to report tomorrow.  I can tell you that there are some natural remedies that may work.  Lemon juice (didn't work for me though), castor oil (I bought a bottle last month but only used for a short time, not long enough to see if it makes a difference), buttermilk, yogurt, aloe vera, sandlewood, horseradish, papaya, red currants, onion juice.  I'll read up on these , as well as frankincense and let you know what I find.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....and the only beholder we need to be concerned about is God.

Keep smiling because today is a blessed day.