25 Mar 2010

A chemical cocktail on our skins

The average UK woman wears 500 different chemicals every day.

There's an interesting article here on chemicals in make-up and toiletries.

It suggests that the average woman wears about 500 chemicals on herself daily and gives some tips on the worst ones, which you should avoid if you can.

Personally, I've tried to eliminate additives - especially parabens - from my purchases by buying organic products (the problem is, people keep giving me freebies...), but it is very hard to eliminate chemicals altogether, even with the best intentions.

My new sunblock, for instance, is under dermatologist's orders because I am a Type 1 phenotype (blonde, blue eyes, pale skin with freckles) and have already had several dodgy moles removed. It contains three or four different parabens, something which I had actually managed to eliminate from my skincream by switching to coconut oil, and I have been ordered to wear it for the rest of my life, March to October. Parabens are in almost all sunblocks in order to act as a preservative.

The other thing that is hard to find without masses of chemicals is shampoo (and conditioner). My shampoo and conditioner alone account for 44 different additives, including three parabens.

Any ideas, anyone? Is there an organic alternative out there?

By Trish

Comments (3)

Tags: skincare sunblock

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london rose
Posts: 2

Re: A chemical cocktail on our skins
Reply #3 on : Thu April 01, 2010, 10:10:47

I use jojoba oil and coconut oil my face and hands, and add to it other essential oils such as lavender, chamomile, rose, tea tree, neroli, etc. etc., depending on what I feel my skin needs.

I also use jojoba oil on my hair as a conditioner. Rubbing in about four drops when your hair is towel dry usually helps with detangling. When your hair is completely dry, rubbing in a couple of drops to the ends helps with split ends and frizz. My hair is dark (actually, it's grey but with the aid of a herbal colouring it's dark!), thick, long and pretty unruly, so it works for me. I guess the thing to do is experiment.

However, what I have done in the last couple of years to avoid so many chemicals in hair products is to stop washing my hair with them on a daily basis. A spritz to the hair with water and a rub through with a towel is a good freshen up most days. Even a natural hand-made soap with no chemicals (just oils) works as a hair wash occasionally. I actually only use shampoo (organic, no parabens) on my hair once a week. My hair is much stronger, and seemed to adapt itself over a number of weeks to its new regime of not being washed daily. (I don't use a hair dryer on my hair, incidentally, nor hairsprays and all those other nasties.)

Sabine Haller
Posts: 2

Re: A chemical cocktail on our skins
Reply #2 on : Sun April 25, 2010, 15:33:17

hmm - I think you might want to double check that figure again. I am not sure what your skin care regime is like, but 500 chemicals is very much excessive. Hair Shampoo and Conditioner accounting for 44 additives ? I know everyone has to write the ingredient list in fancy latin names which makes something as simple as water look like a chemical, but my hairshampoo doesn't even have 44 ingredients and of the 10 ingredients it has, most of them are natural.

Parabens - another hype-word. I make natural skin care products and I don't use Parabens, but mainly because that's what my customer base wants. Not because I am convinced that they are bad. Parabens are highly effective and therefore are used in much smaller amounts than other preservatives. So there is a trade-off with the alternatives.

If you want to cut down on chemicals, simplify your beauty regime. Use Handmade (cold process, not Glycerine) soap for your face and body. Try shampoo bars from the same supplier (most soap makers have one or two in their range). Some people can use them, some can't. It's a trial thing. I guess you cannot escape the sunblocker. But make sure it does not contain nano-particle Titanium Doixide. It will be listed as Titanium Dioxide and you will have to contact the manufacturer to find out if it is nano or not. That will be a much bigger issue than the 0.7% of total parabens (not each) in your product.

For Hairshampoo that doesn't contain too many chemicals, most basic brands are fine (ElVital, Herbal Essences, Elida Gibbs..), you might find the cheaper brands contain less ingredients than the expensive ones.

It really is as simple as cutting back on all the unnecessary things which people put on their skin, because someone says they are worth it. Keep it simple and you should be fine. London Rose has a good point, using jojoba oil, coconut oil or olive oil on the skin is easy, cheap and very good for you.

trish
Posts: 1

ingredients
Reply #1 on : Wed May 05, 2010, 09:08:29

Well, let's see. Allowing that aqua is hardly a problem, the conditioner contains: cetearyl alcohol, cyclopentasiloxane, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, cyclohexasiloxane, dimethicone, hydrolysed vegetable protein PG-Propyl silanetriol, keratin amino acids, phenyl benzoate, aspartic acid, isostearamidopropyl ethyldimonium ethasulfate, ascorbic acid (vitamin C?), panthenol, tocopheryl acetate, iotin, niacinamide, PEG-9, polysorbate 20, quaternium-18, disodium EDTA, sodium cholaride (salt?), citric acid, methylcloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, limonene, and parfum (ingredients not stated). Anything there to worry about?