oh it makes the mind boggle!
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » Skin Care and Makeup Forum

Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:35 pm

I have been making myself go slightly dizzy at all the alarming info. that is out there..but I thought I should share with you all, just the same..I guess to see if it makes you wonder too!
http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/productinfo.php?prod_id=905054 Rolling Eyes

Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:49 pm

Eeks! I saw my favorite line has a lot of suspect ingredients. Go figure.

I might be switching to Dr. Hauschka!

Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:59 pm

Thanks for the great site!!! I do holistic skin care and this is a great site for me to send my patients to see what they are REALLY putting on their skin!! I recently read an article that was stating that 85% of breast cancer tumors that have been removed and studied had very high percentages of parabens (preservatives found in non-organinc deodorant and skin care). YUCK!! We only come in contact with most parabens (iso-,butyl-,propy-, and methyl-parabens) in our daily skin care, hair care, make-up, ect. Ughh! The study did not state that these parabens are a cause for breast cancer, just that only the cancerous tumors were found to have these parabens in them.... I know...makes my head spin too!!

free skin care · Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:42 am

I think as with many things in life, you have to take a view on this sort of website. I think it's a bit like food - if we stopped eating everything 'they' told us was harmful we'd probably be pretty malnourished! But on the otherhand it would be silly to dismiss the health warnings altogether.

A lot of the ingredients have the magic words 'may be linked to' etc. I notice that a lot of sunblocks are rated as 'most harmful' based on the ingredients. While there may be truth in the fact that some ingredients may be harmful when excessive amounts are absorbed by the skin - you have to weigh it up against the likelyhood of contracting skin cancer and like I said 'take a view' - weigh up the pro's and con's and make an decision based on that. If like me your a pasty pale redhead the likely hood of me contracting skin cancer from lack of an SPF is significantly higher than contracting cancer from parabens in products, based on the research I've done personally. So I go for the least 'dangerous' option and slather on the highest SPF I can get!
I found the website fascinating but rather lacking in hard facts and far too much 'possiblies' and 'maybe's, so for me - I'll bear it in mind and avoid these ingredients where I can but not to an obsessive point, so hopefully cut down on the cumulative effect - if and when something is PROVEN harmful then it will be removed from products. I think that pollution/chemicals on your food, the sun, or an unhealthy diet and lifestyle are much more likely to cause cancer than a moisturiser with small amounts of parabens.
I may be wrong but it makes sense to me! Confused

Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:01 am

I couldn't agree more with what Lucia has said. This website has come up in posts on this forum before and we always have two camps of people: those that take everything on it very literally and those that take it with a grain of salt. I compare it to Paula Begoun saying that a product is a strong irritant because it contains a particular ingredient - I've used many products that she reckons are bad and I've had no problems. Granted, the effects of ingredients linked with cancer is clearly something that is more important.

However, my main gripe with such sites is that they cause panic (in some people anyway) without explaining how these ingredients "may be linked" to diseases. Is it through ingestion of some large amount of the ingredient? Is it just through contact with the skin? At what levels do these ingredients become harmful? Does the particular product have the ingredient in THAT concentration? Do these "bad" ingredients all accumulate in the body over time? The answers to some of these questions may be "yes" in some cases, but they may also be "no".

Also, I would guess that natural products would not necessarily come up on top based on such a comparison. Part of their assessment is based on whether chemicals have been assessed for use in skincare - if you look at Rite Aid Skin Care Lotion you'll find that Sunflower Seed Oil is one such "chemical" (for example). Natural ingredients might also come up on the "Allergies" radar as well.

free skin care · Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:13 am

Mabsy,
Glad I'm not the only one that takes that point of view!

I think you're right - you have to be sensible - anything can be harmful if used incorrectly/excessively etc - For example my favorite fruit - strawberries (yum!) - poisonous in large amounts and high on the allergy scale, but natural and as a fruit technically 'good' for you as is packed with all sorts of goodies!

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