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free skin care · Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:27 am

Please help me find the irritating ingredient(s) in this product! Its supposed to be for sensitive skin, but it irritates my skin, burns upon application, and flares up my excema. Its La Roche-Posay's Toleraine Riche Soothing Protective Cream, what ingredient could possibly be causing the nasty reaction?

Here they are:

Aqua/Water
Isocetyl stearate
Cyclopentasiloxane
Squalane
Butyrospermum parkaii/Shea butter
Glycerin
Cetyl Alcohol
Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate
Pentylene Glycol
Peg-100 Stearate
Glyceryl Stearate
Dimethiconol
Sodium Hydroxide
Citric Acid
Ethylhxylglycerin
Acrylates/c10-30Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer

Thanks! Smile

free skin care · Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:50 am

mossette unfortunalty I don't know what ingredient might be causing your reaction. I go through this all the time myself and often never do pinpoint the ingredient that caused the problem I will mention this though I have used the Toleraine Fluide which has I believe only 5 ingredients and I found that this product stung my skin on occasion so perhaps it is something common to the Toleraine range?

free skin care · Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:07 am

Aqua/Water - Obviously won't be the cause. It is listed as the highest ingredient and will be loaded at around 60% or higher.

Isocetyl stearate - This is a skin conditioning agent and an emollient. This probably is causing no irritation.

Cyclopentasiloxane - A volatile silicone put in to aid spreading and delivery of the product. This one will evaporate off so it's not doing it.

Squalane - an occlusive skin conditioning agent that feels very good in lotions and creams. This one probably isn't irritating you.

Butyrospermum parkaii/Shea butter - A nice creamy emollient. Shouldn't be a problem either.

Glycerin - This is a humectant used to draw water to the skin. Shouldn't be a cause of irritation at all.

Cetyl Alcohol - This is an emulsifier and viscosity booster used to make the oil stay in the water to make the lotion. This one shouldn't be a problem either.

Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate - This is a "flow aid". It will help give a silky feel to the product. There is an outside chance that this one might cause irritation. But I doubt it.

Pentylene Glycol - This is a skin conditioning agent. Some people can be sensitive to glycols, but it is rare. So, I doubt this is the one.

Peg-100 Stearate - This is the one that I worry about. A lot of people are sensitive to PEG derivatives, and I'm one of them. Back when I used to lay out in the sun, if I used sunscreens with PEG ingredients in them I would break out with itchy red irritated skin. It was very uncomfortable. It wasn't until I learned about PEG irritation that I stopped using sunscreens with PEGs, and my problems went away. This product is a surfactant and cleansing agent. Most PEGs are good at what they do and do have a place in cosmetic formulas. But some people can't tolerate them. I think this is the one that is bothering you.

Glyceryl Stearate - This is another skin conditioing agent and emollient that shouldn't be a problem for irritation.

Dimethiconol - A skin conditioning agent probably in the formula for a smooth, slick skin feel.

Sodium Hydroxide - a high pH neutralizing agent, probably used to react with the polymer listed below to set up a gel and thicken the product.

Citric Acid - a low pH neutralizing agent also probably used to balance the final pH of the product

Ethylhexylglycerin - One more skin conditioning agent. But this one is near the bottom so it's a low loading and probably won't cause any problem.

Acrylates/c10-30Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer - This is a polymer usually used to create a gel or to thicken lotions and creams. Very, very little of this is used to get thickening. won't be a problem.

So, in my opinion, it is probably the PEG derivative that is causing your problems. If you can find a similar product that doesn't use PEGs, then you will probably see no irritation.

(remember, this is just my opinion and may or may not be correct)

John

free skin care · Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:37 am

John...Thankyou so much for taking the time to go through each ingredient individually for me... I have a hard enough time trying to spell them, let alone knowing what the heck they do! Confused

I will try to find another moisturiser that doesn't contain the "peg" and see what happens! It would be nice to pinpoint exactly what causes my reactions since I waste so much $$ on skincare products!

Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:47 am

Out of curiousity - what is PEG exactly? I've seen it in relation to olive oil (cosmetic use) also.

Thanks - Theresa

free skin care · Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:59 am

tmeyer66 wrote:

Thanks - Theresa

I don't think that I am the one that should get a thanks here. I was as clueless as anyone. Confused

free skin care · Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:09 pm

PEG stands for "polyethylene glycol". What they do is react "ethylene oxide" with the emollient oil that they use to make a derivative of the original oil. Adding a certain amount of PEG on the oil itself can make the oil somewhat water soluble or very water soluble. That's why you will see a number right after the PEG such as the "100" in this case. A large number usually means the oil or ingredient is very water soluble. A low number means it is more oil loving than water loving.

So, in a nutshell, making a PEG out of an original oil is a way of adding some water solubility to an oil which is naturally not water loving.

Don't be negative about PEGs just because of my concern that this might be the irritating material. PEGs are used quite often and with good purpose. They are a way of getting oil emolliency into products that have a lot of water in them.

John

free skin care · Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:33 pm

Another question for John, or any other skincare expert...I have a product with peg-4 laurate in it that doesn't irritate my skin,(the dove sensitive day lotion) is this a different type of PEG, would it be less of an irritant because its only a peg-4 instead of 100??

Also I've heard of some people that actually react to squalane, is this possible? I know I can't use alot of natural products because of sensitivity issues to essential oils like lavender etc...and one time I used extra virgin olive oil on my face to do the OCM method, but I broke out horribly in tiny red itchy bumps and had the worst case of eczema I've had in a long time! Is squalane the same as olive oil?

Thanks!

free skin care · Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:44 pm

Britannica
Poly(ethylene glycol) is non-toxic and is used in a variety of products. It is the basis of a number of laxatives and skin creams - frequently combined with glycerin.PEG is used in a number of toothpastes as a dispersant. It is also under investigation for use in body armor [3] and tattoos to monitor diabetes[4]. Functional groups of PEG give polyurethane elastomers their "rubberiness". Its backbone structure is analogous to that of silicone, another elastomer.

ethylene
Simplest olefin (CH2CH2), a colourless, flammable gas with a sweetish taste and odour. The petrochemical having the highest volume, it occurs in petroleum and natural gas. It reacts with numerous other chemicals to produce ethanol, solvents, gasoline additives, antifreeze, detergents, and various plastics. In plants, ethylene is a hormone that inhibits growth and promotes leaf fall and fruit ripening.

glycol (glī'kōl) , dihydric alcohol Because of its low volatility (b.p. 197°C) and low corrosive activity, it is widely used in mixtures of automobile antifreeze. Ethylene glycol can be esterified to form polyesters, e.g., Dacron, and can be nitrated to form an explosive used in mining. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is used to thicken shampoo and cosmetics.

You may find this interesting as well Moosette,
NIH (Nat'l Institues of Health)
Chemical Name: Cyclopentasiloxane, decamethyl-
Synonyms: Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane; Cyclic dimethylsiloxane pentamer; Cyclomethicone
Also called D5, Cyclopentasiloxane is used in dry cleaning fluid, Automotive dressings, cosmetics, deodorants, and scar therapy. There are a lot of toxicology studies being done for an ingredient that evaporates.

From conversations with bio, cosmetic and environmental chemists, the volatile silicones are manufactured from mineral oil and silica. Mineral oil being a VOC (volatile organic compound) derived from petroleum distillates.

Dimethiconol is a silicone based product.

sodium hydroxide n.A strongly alkaline compound, NaOH, used in the manufacture of chemicals and soaps and in petroleum refining. Also called caustic soda, lye.
Sodium Hydroxide is used in body hair removal products and is also found in cigarettes. Do you consider lye an irritating ingredient?

As a RN, Moosette, I wouldn't recommend this product for someone with sensitive skin. Hope this helps, Amy

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