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?
Unfortunately there are many petrochemical and chemical ingredients found in many moisturizers as well as many other products such as bath and beauty products and cosmetics. 2 examples are sodium lauryl sulphate and mineral oil.
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 search for sodium lauryl sulphate in the Cosmetic Safety Database you'll see that the results tell you that sodium lauryl sulphate is linked to cancer as well as developmental and reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity, skin irritation and much much more. And you will get similar results if you search for mineral oil.
There are many studies that show that these chemical and petrochemical ingredients so commonly found in our skin care and anti aging products such as moisturizers can have health implications. There was a study published recently in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology which was called "Tumorigenic Effect of Some Commonly Used Moisturizing Creams when Applied Topically to UVB-Pretreated High-Risk Mice". In this study it was demonstrated that, when applied 5 times per day for 17 weeks to mice moisturizers containing mineral oil and sodium lauryl sulphate "increased significantly the rate of formation of tumors and the rate of increase in tumor size per mouse".
And it was also interesting that the researchers, (who were very surprised at the results because they were actually studying to see if caffeine caused skin cancer in mice) decided to ask the manufacturer of the moisturizer to manufacture another moisturizer without mineral oil or sodium lauryl sulphate. And when tested this further moisturizer showed no effect at all on the tumor formation or the tumor growth in the mice.
If you examine the search results at the Cosmetic Safety Database when searching either of these chemicals, (or any other of a wide range of chemical ingredients found in modern anti aging products such as moisturizers), you will see all of the studies relied on in the results quoted are there for you to reference.
It may never have occurred to you that your moisturizer could be dangerous and that you could be exposed to the risk of, amongst other things, cancer simply by using a modern moisturizer. However it seems clear that this risk exists.
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 small niche companies which recognize the problem with mainstream chemical laden anti aging skin care products and see this as an opportunity to manufacture safe and effective skin care products containing none of the chemical ingredients that are commonly found in mainstream skin care products such as moisturizers.
The anti aging market is massive and there are billions of dollars at stake and it is extremely difficult for small companies like this to compete with the big brand names, but they do so by differentiating themselves by producing safe and effective natural skin care products that will produce the results you want without risking your health. These companies do not use the chemical alternatives used by so many of the big brand-name manufacturers despite the fact that these chemical alternatives are much cheaper.
Whilst these products are not household names as so many others are you will be pleasantly surprised at the results you get if you track down these natural skin care products and try them. You won't be putting your health at risk and you'll find highly effective at serious skin care. But sometimes it's difficult to find these natural skin care products because these small niche anti aging companies cannot compete with the big brand names on marketing budget and cannot afford to advertise on television.
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.
