Could it be possible that the moisturizer that you may have used this morning is dangerous? How could a moisturizer possibly be dangerous? Isn’t it just a product intended to moisturize our skin?
There are many chemical and petrochemical ingredients found in moisturizers, as well as a wide range of other personal products such as cosmetics, bath and beauty products. Examples include mineral oil, an extremely common petrochemical derivative and sodium lauryl sulphate.
Usually these chemical ingredients are used in skin care products such as moisturizers that so many women use because they are incredibly cheap. Mineral oil is the perfect example. Mineral oil is cheaper to buy than it is to dispose of.
There is an organisation called the Environmental Working Group which maintains a database of ingredients used in these sorts of products. This is called the Cosmetic Safety Database and provides information on the massive range of chemical ingredients used in so many of our personal products, including moisturizers, and even one marketed as the best moisturizer.
If you go to the Cosmetic Safety Database and search sodium lauryl sulphate you’ll find that it is listed as being linked to neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, cancer, irritation to the skin and plenty more. The same will apply if you search for mineral oil.
Studies have shown that many of these ingredients commonly found in skin care and anti aging products such as moisturizers can have negative health risks. For example a study recently published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology called “Tumorigenic Effect of Some Commonly Used Moisturizing Creams when Applied Topically to UVB-Pretreated High-Risk Mice” demonstrated that a number of moisturizers which contained mineral oil and sodium lauryl sulphate, when applied 5 days a week for 17 weeks, “increased significantly the rate of formation of tumors and the rate of increase in tumor size per mouse”.
Interestingly, after the results of the study were established, (which were a surprise because the study was actually to see if caffeine produced skin cancer in mice), the researchers requested that the manufacturer of the moisturizer tested manufacture a further moisturizer without mineral oil or sodium lauryl sulphate in it. This was also tested and the results showed no effect on tumor formation or growth in the mice.
When searching at the Cosmetic Safety Database you can search any of the chemical or petrochemical ingredients that are so commonly found in modern skin care and anti aging moisturizers, and you will see studies such as this one listed in the search results for you to read.
Perhaps it never came to your attention that your moisturizer could be dangerous and that you are risking cancer amongst other things by using so many of the big name brand moisturizers and other skin care products.
Does this mean that you should swear off moisturizing? Should you avoid all anti aging skin care products altogether or is it possible to find moisturizers and other anti aging products that do not expose you to the health risks which you are exposed to by using so many of the products manufactured by the big brands? Not at all.
There are excellent niche skin care companies which recognize this problem with the big brand skin care products and which take this as an opportunity to get into the anti aging market by manufacturing high quality anti aging skin care products such as natural moisturizers using only known safe and effective natural ingredients such as the oils from fruits and nuts.
Of course it is extremely difficult for a small niche skin care company to compete with massive multinational companies in the skin care market, where billions of dollars are at stake. However these companies, one in particular, manufacture high quality skin care lines that are extremely effective and are comprised only of known safe and natural ingredients such as the oils from fruits and nuts. The big name companies don’t use these ingredients because they are more expensive than the chemical alternatives.
It may take longer to find but if you manage to track down some of these natural skin care products, one range in particular, and try them you will be very pleasantly surprised at the results you get. Firstly you won’t be risking your health because they use only known safe ingredients and secondly you will find that the products are extremely effective. But it can sometimes be difficult to find these products because the small niche companies that manufacture them cannot compete with the big brands on television advertising and so do not advertise on television at all.
So the bad news is that if you use modern big name moisturizers the chances are that they are laden with chemical additives which, whilst very cheap for the manufacturer to use, may be putting your health at risk. The good news is that there are natural skin care products available which are highly effective at producing better skin health and which don’t use the chemical ingredients, including the best facial moisturizer.
On my website about natural skin care I try to alert my readers to these problems and point them in the direction of safe are more natural alternatives such as natural moisturizers and other natural anti aging products. Visit my website to find out the best face moisturizer.
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