Facial Cleanser Probe
From http://graynut.wordpress.com
Alright, after a few bites at the heavenly durian, it's time for something educational. I'm sure everyone knows what facial cleansers are or at least have a vague idea of what it does from its glaringly obvious name. People use these to wash their faces so that their complexions glow like those models with porcelain-like skins on tv ads. I use them too. However, like all synthetic products, these things have dozens of chemicals in them (does mentioning this startle you enough to get you worrying now?) So, I grabbed the nearest facial cleanser I have (not disclosing its name and brand here as my intention is to bring the issue of chemicals in facial cleansers in light instead of finding parties to blame) and read through its label, specifically its list of ingredients. Here's what I found:
- Water
- Stearic Acid
- Glycerin
- Propylene Glycol
- PEG-8
- Lauric Acid
- Potassium Hydroxide
- Myristic Acid
- Beeswax
- Glyceral Stearate
- PEG-100 Stearate
- Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate
- Corn starch modified
- Methyl Lactate
- Phenoxyethanol
- Fragrance
- Tetrasodium EDTA
- Methyl Paraben
- Water, Butylene Glycol, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract
- Methylisothiazolinon
- Cl47005
- Cl42090
- Cl 17200
There, almost 2 dozens of chemical ingredients (maybe more, considering "fragrance" may consists of many aromatic compounds). Now, the amount of chemicals maybe startling, but that doesn't mean its unsafe nor vouch that it is otherwise. It's as good as saying some compounds found in margarine or butter (I couldn't recall which one) is only one atom less than some other poisonous compounds. In chemistry, one atom makes all the differences. I decided to dig around for some info on these compounds and this is what I managed.
Steric Acid ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearic_acid )
"Stearic acid is useful as an ingredient in making candles, plastics, dietary supplements, oil pastels and cosmetics, and for softening rubber.It is used to harden soaps, particularly those made with vegetable oil."
From the info provided, it is known that steric acid is widely used in industries and cosmetic products. In fact, steric acid is added in cosmetic products together with ethyl glycol to form esters (glycol stearate and glycol distearate) that give these products pearly effect. In the article, steric acid is said to be less unhealthy than other saturated fatty acids as it is less likely to be incorporated into cholestrol esters.
Glycerin ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerol )
Glycerin, formally known as Glycerol, is widely used in personal care products as lubricating agent and humectant. An interesting fact about glycerol is that it is also used in the production of nitroglycerin (GNT), an essential compound in explosives. It is generally harmless, as implied in the article, unless shoddy manufacturers substituted glycerol with diethylene glycol which is similar in appearance, smell and taste but toxic to human.
Propylene Glycol ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_Glycol )
Propylene glycol used in personal care products is racemic mixture. Unlike the previous chemicals, propylene glycol has potential health effects as stated in the article. However, these potential health hazards are only valid if huge amount of propylene glycol is consumed in short amount of time. Owing to its extremely low toxicity (and it's neither carcinogenic nor genotoxic), it is generally recognized as safe for physiological applications.
