Personal Care Products

Personal Care Products by Jane Thurnell-Read

There has been a lot of concern expressed by many therapists about the products that their clients/patients are putting on their skin. Particular chemicals that have given cause for concern include propylene glycol, Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES), the parabens ( methylparaben, propylparaben,etc.), TEA (triethanolamine) and DEA (Diethanolamine).

Many practitioners believe that products with these ingredients should be avoided as they are toxic to human beings. The manufacturers, many scientists and most governments would say that this is not a problem, when these chemicals are used in small quantities, as they are in most personal care products. But most of these ingredients have been tested in isolation rather than in the combinations in which we are exposed to them. They may have been tested on animals, which do not necessarily react in the same way as humans. Many of the older ingredients have never been tested in anyway. We just do not know the long-term effect of these ingredients.

‘Natural products’ are not necessarily safe. Countries do not in general have a legal definition of what ‘natural’ means, so it is possible for manufacturers to claim that their products are ‘natural’, when by any reasonable understanding of this term they are not. We should not take such claims at face value.

Even if a product does have only ‘good’ ingredients in it, it can still cause problems. ‘Safe’ ingredients can cause allergic reactions. Think of hay fever sufferers – they are reacting to something that is ‘natural’.  Many years ago I had a severe allergic reaction to a product that contained chamomile. I had not realised that I was extremely sensitive to this flower.

Extraction processes can also cause problems. When I was working as an allergy practitioner, I found that many children reacted to the ‘natural’ food colourings extracted from fruit and vegetables. The main reason for this was that various chemical solvents are used – these allow the maximum amount of the pigment to be extracted from the plant by breaking down cell walls. Minute traces of these chemicals cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals.

In addition the molecular weight of an ingredient is important. The skin is not inert, and molecules can be absorbed through the skin. Molecular weight measures the size of molecules. If an ingredient has a molecular weight of less than 3000, it can enter the skin; less than 750 it can enter the skin cells; less than 150 and it can enter the blood stream. (information from Neways). Though an ingredient may be natural, we would not necessarily want to put it on the skin, if by doing so it would get into the blood stream. This is likely still to be true of something that we normally eat. Foods that are eaten are broken down before being absorbed into the blood stream. For the body to encounter the  ingredient ‘as is’ in the blood stream could be very harmful. Equally it is important that we do not use products that sit on the skin and prevent the skin ‘breathing’.

All of this means that we can react to personal care products for a variety of reasons:

1. Toxicity

2. Allergy & Intolerance

3. Molecular Size

Although ‘natural’ substances such as aloe vera and almond oil can cause allergic reactions, they appear to be intrinsically safer, less toxic, than the chemicals that are used. There are now more and more formulations available from a variety of companies offering products that avoid many of the chemicals that give cause for concern, so it seems advisable not to take the chance, but to opt for these safer alternatives.

If you use kinesiology testing, dowsing or an EAV machine, our personal care testing kit of 31 vials covers a lot of these ingredients.

Because of the allergy possibility we have also included items such as aloe vera, wheatgerm oil, etc. Click here for more information or to buy this kit.

There are also related vials in other kits:

• The Fragrance Kit e.g. Benzyl Alcohol, Ethyl Acetate, Isopropyl Acetate, Ocimene,Phenethyl  Alcohol and Terpineol

• Industrial & Environmental 1 Kit e.g. Diethanolamine / DEA, Glycerin, Hydrogen Peroxide, Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) and Triethanolamine /TEA

• Industrial & Environmental 2 Kit e.g. Cetyl Alcohol, Glycolic Acid and Monoethanolamine

• Food Additive B Kit e.g. Carnauba Wax  and Lactic Acid

• Chemical & Inhalant Kit e.g. Lanolin

Copyright 2007 Jane Thurnell-Read