Organic skin care sounds healthy, but isn't quite what you may have expected. In relation to skin care, the word organic refers to products that do not contain artificial ingredients, petroleum-based ingredients or other unsafe ingredients.

Nevertheless, there are several ingredients that we don't deem as natural that are commonly added to natural skin care products. For example, petroleum is considered a natural ingredient added to several natural skin care products, however, I can't think of many people that would knowingly want to put it on their skin. So the best way of protecting your skin from ingredients you don't want, is by learning how to spot them on the product labels.

Stay Away From These Ingredients

Anti aging and organic skin care products are supposed to keep your skin young and healthy, but this is actually the opposite of what happens when you use certain products that can actually speed up the aging process and lead to dull skin and wrinkles.

Stay Away from Products Containing Petrochemicals

This group of ingredients is derived from crude oil. Petrochemicals coat your skin and make it impossible for your body to eliminate toxins. They can lead to dull skin, and cause allergies and clogged pores.

Stay away from anti aging creams that contain mineral oil, paraffin and petrolatum. This is especially important if you have oily or combination skin.

Do Not Use Products Containing Quaternary Ammonium Compounds

These components are used in conditioning products. However, they have been linked with antibiotic resistance. Stay away from products that contain benzalkonium chloride, cetrimonium chloride and cetrimonium bromide, among others.

Avoid Synthetic Colors

These ingredients are made from coal tar and heavy metal salts. They can lead to eye wrinkles and dull skin because they produce free radicals. If the product labels contain the abbreviations FD&C or D&C, it is best to avoid purchasing that product.

Sulfates Are Not Your Friend

These components are usually used to make soaps, detergents and cleansers. If you have a hard time finding them listed in the ingredients list, look for their alias: sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate. Sulfates dry out the skin and cause rashes, and in some cases have been known to cause ocular problems.

Avoid Certain Alcohols

An anti wrinkle cream should never contain alcohol because it is known to dehydrate the skin and lead to wrinkles. Alcohol can also lead to irritation and rashes, but this isn't true for all types of alcohol. In fact stearyl and cetearyl alchol are both acceptable ingredients in any wrinkle treatment cream.

It just takes a little time and research to find the ingredients that you should avoid. In fact, it's well worth the effort when you're looking for the best wrinkle creams out there.