Continuing down the equal opportunity path of busting up overpriced network-marketed “health” products–I’ve tried many of them over the years, from NuSkin to Arbonne to MaryKay to Melaleuca. Maybe some of them have given me better skin as a result. But now, instead of little tubes of $30 creams, I put a little extra-virgin coconut oil on my skin, and it feels and looks better than it did ten years ago! It costs 1/30th of what the skin creams do, because $1 worth will last you a year. It’s so simple, and I make $0.00 telling you this. It’s the real, raw, unadulterated stuff, not a chemical extract.
When someone tells you they’ve discovered the fountain of youth, it always involves a patented process! Proprietary technology! Specially formulated extract! Realize that it simply must be proprietary or patented, or there would be no true profit potential. We don’t need technology to save us. Quite the opposite: we need low-tech foods in their purest form possible.
Just like refined oils aren’t good for the insides of our bodies, refined extracts of plants aren’t going to stop the aging process of our skin, either. NuSkin’s skin-care products contain PROPYLENE GLYCOL, a toxic chemical known to cause liver damage. (I talked to them four years ago, and they promised they were going to eliminate that chemical from their products, but have not done so.) InnerLight’s greens product is high quality but costs $93/lb.—and that’s if you’ve paid your distributor fee to get wholesale pricing!
ReLiv’s (and many others’) products have CORN SYRUP in them. You really can afford to eat great nutrition, as I’m trying to teach in 12 Steps to Whole Foods, if you’re savvy enough to use your critical thinking skills to cut through the unfounded, unpublished, occasionally downright unethical claims of network marketing companies. (Their distributors are usually innocents repeating marketing mantras. I’m talking about the companies themselves.) You’ll spend a lot and get very little return on your dollar, in terms of health.
And now that I’ve ticked off everyone I know who sells these nutritional products, let me just say that I love you all (“it’s not personal,” I promise!)—just trying to help people find ways to afford real, whole, live plant foods. I’ve robbed you of some of the false gods we worship (tried to, anyway), stripped away the hallelujahs of the revival-style network-marketing testimony meeting. Continue to buy and sell those products if it makes you happy. But in a couple days, I’ll suggest to you what you CAN count on, what you CAN put your faith in. It’ll cost you nothing, and I won’t line my pockets doing it.
You are on a roll now…… :-)
Do you feel as strongly about “specially formulated extracts” marketed and sold through channels other than network marketing? Generally, I agree with your premise that we don’t need special ointments or functional beverages…. but only IF we eat right, exercise, sleep right, have no stress, and apply coconut oil to our face at night (could resist that last one!). However, many people do not live in that world. I know people — regular customers and not distributors, who have benefited from these products (in my case, Univera). I think your refined oils and refined extracts analogy might breakdown upon closer inspection. I do agree that pricing is a problems but am not convinced that it is due to Network Marketing.
Still, GSG, you are on the right mission and have my enthusiastic support and admiration. I love your passion and sense of purpose. I hope to get on your 12-step program soon or at least get a decent blender and have a green smoothie.
John
Yes, some products marketed through traditional means are too expensive and a waste of money. It’s not that I feel so strongly about it; it’s just that people spend exorbitantly on this kind of thing when they don’t need to (based on emails I get) and then don’t have enough money for simple plant foods in their diet. The point of these posts is to help us evaluate where our money’s going and if it could be spent on inexpensive, unrefined products instead of expensive, refined ones that help much less.
” . . . only IF we eat right, exercise, sleep right, have no stress, and apply coconut oil to our face at night . . . many people do not live in that world . . . ”
Well, I don’t live in the world of no stress. But all the others? That’s what I’m here to do, invite people to live in that world, and show them it’s affordable, and it gives them time rather than takes time, because of the net energy gain.
Hi Robyn,
My daughter is an aestitcian and she wasn’t very happy when I told her I was putting coconut oil on my face. She told me you never put an oil on your face because it clogs up your pores. What is your take on this?
You would THINK so, but coconut oil has such unique properties. Anyone wanting detailed info can read Dr. Bruce Fife’s Coconut Oil Miracle. It’s light on the skin and really does soak in beautifully (remember, it’s going to the bloodstream through the skin, so the advantages are many).
I had the usual acne as a teenager. At 41, I still don’t have perfect skin. But I have never in my life had completely random strangers tell me I have beautiful skin like I do now! I can’t say that everyone will have the amazing experience I’ve had, but coconut oil on my skin NEVER makes me break out. (Chocolate does, though.) ;-) And I use LOTS of it at night.
Also, most all the stuff I have cluttering up my bathroom drawers has various oils in it (evening primrose, for instance)–from Arbonne, NuSkin, and more. Oils are the perfect protective barrier and nourishment for the skin, which has plenty of oil in it, but as we age we produce less.
If you are young and have very oily skin, you may not like putting anything with oil on your face.
You can use a facial exfoliant now and then for your pores, but clogged pores lead to infections, zits and stuff . . . and I have none of that. I have heard aestheticians recommend oils, so they must have a divergence of opinion on that.
A gsg.com reader just wrote me yesterday saying her FIL put coconut oil on his back, after YEARS of a rash not clearing, even with steroids and other Rx stuff. The coconut oil has completely disappeared the rash. Interesting.
Chocolate causes acne? Ha! :-)
How does the coconut oil feel on your skin? Does it absorb immediately or do you feel slippery or sticky?
What your opinion on he Burt’s Bee line of products, especially the facial cleansers?
Hi John — I’d love to hear Robyn’s reply on this — here’s mine. The coconut oil really is awesome on the skin. For me personally, I find it does take a few minutes to completely soak in… in the meantime it is not slippery as most because it actually melts just from your body heat. My son is almost 12 & has terrible pre-adolesence (probably adolecence, but let me just live here for a while yet ok LOL) acne over his entire face & scalp. After just ONE time of coconut oil he woke with visibly better looking skin. It was not all gone but you could tell that it was healing — smaller & less red! No other cleanser we have purchase had this effect.
Hi Spoiled, thanks for the feedback. I’ve read several books that recommend using coconut oil for your skin, for cooking, and even ingesting but I’ve never met or spoken with anyone actually doing it. I know gsg does not like supplements but I’ve also read others recommending that alpha-Lipoic Acid, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Pomegranate, and other supplements be applied topically. I like the simpler, less expensive approach of using coconut oil if it works just as well.
My teen son’s face is looking better with daily coconut oil application, too! I don’t find it stands on my face to make oily-looking skin–it absorbs rather quickly. And it’s definitely not sticky. Like Spoiled said, the instant you put the solid oil on your skin, it melts (because your body temp is 20 degrees higher than its melting temp, part of why it doesn’t clog arteries).
I bought myself some coconut oil yesterday, b/c I was interested to see what difference it would make… I love it! It feels completely different then it felt before… my skin feels fresh and happy now! I must say I’m awfully impressed, and definitely convinced!
Thanks Robyn, I’m loving the green smoothies too!
professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as stroke, Alzheimers disease, epilepsy, Parkinsons disease, and multiple sclerosis.
What about Jojoba oil? I have been using that on my face because it’s non comedigenic, but I can’t say that I have fantastic skin that everyone comments on.
Tried it years ago, didn’t do anything for me either. And I seriously doubt most cosmetic companies sell it unrefined.