If you didn’t know before your moisturiser can be dangerous. Here’s an example

Everybody knows Vaseline. It’s a household name, and it’s been put on the bottom of just about every baby. Vaseline almost seems synonymous with great skin.

There’s probably some in your bathroom cabinet right now. After all, if you’re looking for great skin care who can go past Vaseline products?

Lets examine one, Vaseline Intensive Care Healthy Hand and Nail. A product commonly used as a handcream for dry hands, and commonly described as preventing skin moisture loss.

After all, what could be more innocuous than a Vaseline product?

In our last article we talked about using the Cosmetic Safety Database to search out information on any potential health risks that may be present from potentially toxic ingredients found in so many modern skin care and anti aging products, including moisturisers.

So let’s go to the Cosmetic Safety Database and do a search on this product. The image below shows you the results, if you’d like to see the complete page then click here.

If you read our last article about using the Cosmetic Safety Database you might immediately notice that this product has a hazard score of 10 out of 10, namely that it is considered at the database to have the highest potential health hazard it is possible to have.

Probably this alone is enough to make you sit up and take notice. Perhaps already you’re beginning to wonder how innocuous Vaseline Intensive Care Healthy Hand and Nail really is.

But don’t just look at the number. That page gives you a stack more information on exactly why the publishers of the Cosmetic Safety Database have given the product a score of 10 out of 10. For example you can see that it is considered to be linked to cancer, developmental and/or reproductive toxicity and many other potential health concerns.

Scroll down a little further and you will see all of the ingredients in the product listed with their own individual score showing to what degree the publishers of the database consider that ingredient causes potential health risks.

It’s an extremely long list, with 2 ingredients, namely DMDM Hydrantoin and fragrance being shown as a 7 or 8 potential health risk on a score out of 10.

The top listed ingredient, namely DMDM Hydrantoin is a form of formaldehyde, and it is commonly found in cosmetics products and skin care products.

Many of our readers are surprised to learn that so many modern skin care products and anti aging products, including a huge number of moisturisers, can contain ingredients which may well be harmful to your health. Hopefully this example, taking one product which is which is commonly used by so many women, gives you a better idea of what we mean.

Fortunately there are some excellent high quality natural skin care products available which are manufactured without the use of any ingredients such as those found in Vaseline Intensive Care Healthy Hand and Nail, or others which are considered to pose any risk at all too human safety.

Because at the end of the day you use a skin care product such as a moisturiser to enhance your skin health, not to risk the health of your skin or for that matter your general health overall.

So this information has opened your eyes to the risks of products you may well have in your bathroom cabinet right now can spend a little more time learning more about this, both by reading our website and by using the Cosmetic Safety Database, and make sure you use high quality and effective all natural skin care products which moisturise very effectively of which don’t contain any potentially dangerous ingredients. Read the rest of this entry

Why should cancer in mice make you throw out your skin care products?

You may have heard about Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. There has been some publicity lately about the use of Sodium Lauryl Sulphate in personal products such as soaps and shampoos. But what is less well known is that Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, what is otherwise known as SLS, is also found in many moisturisers.

A study has been published which might make you a little wary of using some mainstream moisturisers.

This was a study on mice. Each of the mice had a moisturiser applied to the skin 5 times a day for 17 weeks. Each of the moisturisers contained Sodium Lauryl Sulphate.

To the surprise of the scientists it was discovered that the use of these moisturisers led to an increase in the rate of skin cancer in the mice and in particular that this use of these moisturisers “increased the total number of histologically characterized tumors by 69%”.

The moisturisers used on the mice were Dermovan, Dermabase, Eucerin, and Vanicream.

As the intention of the study was not to find out the effects of moisturisers containing Sodium Lauryl Sulphate the scientists were a little surprised by the result. And because of this result they decided to run another test. They then applied moisturisers did not contain Sodium Lauryl Sulphate to the mice and found that the use of these moisturisers caused no statistical increase in the rate of skin cancer in the mice. Scary stuff.

One of the best resources for finding out more information about the use of potentially dangerous chemicals in personal products is the Cosmetic Safety Database. There you are able to search individual chemical names as well as the names of products to see whether there are any health concerns linked to that particular search.

Here is the search at the Cosmetic Safety Database for Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. (Note the US spelling of Sulfate). You will see from the search that this particular chemical is linked to cancer, developmental reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, cellular level changes and much more.

As far back as 1983 it was known that there were potential health risks attached to the use of Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. In volume 2, number 7 a report in the Journal of the American College of Toxicology observed that a 10% concentration of SLS cause damage to the eyes of rabbits and that doses of from half a percent to 10 percent cause severe skin irritation.

And at a 15 percent concentration around 20 percent of the animals tested died.

Perhaps now you’re beginning to see some powerful reasons why you should be considering throwing away any big name products including skin care products that contain Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and opting for safer and more effective natural skin care products.

There is a wide range of natural ingredients used in natural skin care products which do not subject you potential health problems and many of which are extremely effective as natural moisturisers. Avocado oil, for example, has been used for centuries for its moisturising properties. Obviously avocados are safe, as they have been eaten for centuries as well.

Macadamia oil is also an excellent natural moisturiser and has been shown to help protect the skin cells from ageing. It is readily absorbed into your skin and does not leave an oily residue on the surface of the skin or block the pores.

Natural skin care products making use of safe and effective ingredients such as these, and much more, moisturise extremely effectively and protect your skin without subjecting you to any of the risks inherent in so many of the chemical ingredients found in modern skin care products. Read the rest of this entry