A good skincare website might provide information about the toxins, allergens and irritants present in many of today's health and beauty aids.

Although you might only be concerned about your appearance, it is your skin's health that is most important.

When healthy, the skin literally glows. This glow is related to moisture content, warmth, texture and tone.

It can be created artificially with the use of cosmetics or special lighting, but the only way to achieve it naturally is by focusing on your skin's health.

The foods that you eat can start the ball rolling in one direction or the other. Foods like white sugar and processed grains contribute to the production of inflammatory hormones.

Inflammatory hormones play a role in acne and wrinkle development. Conditions like eczema and psoriasis are accompanied by chronic inflammation.

The redness of rosacea is caused by broken blood vessels and complicated by inflammation.

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables helps to keep hormonal and insulin levels balanced.

The foods contain antioxidants that help prevent wrinkles and sun damage. Some have natural anti-inflammatory activity, which further reduces your risk of wrinkles.

What you apply directly to your skin is just as important as what you put in your mouth. A skincare website created by a major cosmetic company will not agree with that statement.

But, if you think about it, you realize the statement is true.

Chemicals applied to the skin's surface can be absorbed through the skin's layers. That's why medicated patches work.

Some molecules cannot be absorbed. For example, many protein molecules are too large to pass through.

That's why some creams that should be nourishing just don't work.

Trying to evaluate the ingredients in a cream or lotion can be difficult for the average person.

A good skincare website should provide the assistance people need to choose safe products. Skin Deep is one example.

Skin Deep was created by the Environmental Working Group to help people evaluate the health and beauty aids they use on a regular basis.

Since parabens and other chemicals have been found in tumors and tissues, it is known that these things create a burden on the human body.

The heavier the burden, the more likely the person is to have chronic diseases. If the inside of the body is unhealthy, the skin's appearance will suffer.

The typical non-commercial skincare website provides opinions about effective products.

You can compare the opinions provided by first looking at the website's stance on safety.

A product might be temporarily effective, but still damaging to the skin's health. The safety of some ingredients is simply unknown, because cosmetic companies are not required to perform safety testing unless numerous problems are reported or the ingredient acts like a drug.

An example of an ingredient to avoid is argireline. It is commonly marketed as a Botox alternative.

According to the manufacturers, it penetrates through the skin's surface and relaxes tiny facial muscles.

According to the FDA, that makes it a drug that has never been tested for safety.

Any skincare website promoting argireline is not to be trusted. That's just one example.

Take the time to learn more about the good, the bad and the ugly ingredients commonly found in cosmetics. It will be time well spent.