Top 5 Harmful Ingredients for your Face

We have plenty of home remedies available for our skin care using the natural

ingredients easily available at our kitchen shelves, and are also easy to our

pockets. But are these ingredients really safe on our skin? Here, we have a

list of ingredients that should be avoided on our skin:

 Lemon: Lemon juice has its own benefits and is considered to be the best 

ingredient for skin if consumed or applied on face. But the truth is even if

the lemon is good for the skin it should not be applied to the skin directly.

Lemons have a very low level of pH and are acidic in nature, so when you 

apply lemon on skin it will leave a flaming along with prickly sensation and

make skin more dry. To avoid this you can use a combination of ingredients

 like lemon juice in cucumber or egg yolk.

 Toothpaste: A common myth that toothpaste dry up pimples.Well, toothpaste

 is made up of fluoride and fluoride has no anti acne properties. Toothpaste

 is flavored and flavoring like mint and cinnamon can actually irritate the skin,

 make the pimple worse and in some case even burn the area around the pimple.

 To get rid of pimples, you should apply clay mask instead.

 Alcohol: Constant exposure of alcohol or alcohol gel on skin can cause something

 called irritant dermatitis which causes itchy, red rashes and pain in the areas 

exposed to the irritant. Such conditions occur because the irritant is damaging to

the skin. Alcohol is very drying and removes the oily protective layer of the

skin, leaving it exposed to surfaces and the elements making it more prone to

breaking down. To avoid this, switch to a more pH friendly soap or face wash.

 Rose Water: Since rose oil has anti-inflammatory properties, using rose 

water can help in reducing the redness from irritated or over-heated skin. 

But the best way to really benefit from the rose water is to make it at home

and not to buy it from the drug store as the packed rose water is not 

in its purest form and can cause irritation on sensitive skin.

  Baking Soda: Baking soda is famous for its exfoliating properties but it

is a base with a pH of 8 or 9 which is high and can break down the 

natural skin barrier and allow acne-causing bacteria to enter the skin and 

cause pimples. It's not the worst thing you can use, but it’s not good for

your skin either.

Before trying any home remedy you should properly research about the 

properties of the ingredient and should also understand your skin type or 

the problem you are suffering. A remedy that works for one’s skin might 

not work the same for your skin. Ingredients like tomato,papaya, turmeric,

gram flour, fuller’s earth etc work different for different skin.Every ingredient

in home remedies has a base of different pH level, understanding the need 

and type of your skin is important. And remember,just because its natural, 

doesn't mean it belongs on your face.

Author bio:  Melissa is a freelance writer by profession and fitness enthusiast

 at heart. She mainly covers topics related to health, fitness, beauty and skincare.