SLS - Super Bubbly...Super Irritating

How many of your products foam? Let’s think about this…Shampoo, toothpaste, shower gel, cleanser, hand soap, bubble bath, dishwashing liquid…the list goes on and on.  It is most likely that these products contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) which is a synthetic detergent added to products to give them a nice consistency and that wonderful foaming action.

SLS damages your skin’s natural barrier allowing toxins, chemicals and bacteria to easily invade your body and your blood stream.

SLS is a known skin & eye irritant which has been proven in an enormous amount of studies done all around the world since 1945 (hasn’t stopped the cosmetic companies using it though)! It is especially irritating to people with sensitive or damaged skin (including eczema sufferers).

  In addition to this, it is a fact that SLS aggravates the occurrence of mouth ulcers. As a long time sufferer of mouth ulcers, this piece of information really intrigued me because every day I use toothpaste containing this chemical! I am now on the hunt for a good natural toothpaste (I will keep you posted).

 What about your everyday handwash? Ever had a ‘moisturising’ hand wash? It most likely contains SLS (go check in your bathroom if you don’t believe me)…what a joke then that this chemical actually dries out the skin by increasing moisture loss! Pair this with the fact that it irritates your skin and you might as well be washing your hands with sandpaper.

Most shampoos also contain SLS…but hang on, don’t most shampoos claim to moisturise?

It seems to me that the cosmetic companies are taking advantage of our ignorance big time. Now is the time to start waking up to the realities of marketing…just because the bottle says that the product is amazing doesn’t mean that it is true.

And just to top it all off – for all you bronzed-up fake tan lovers out there - washing with a product containing SLS will begin stripping your tan like turps strips paint!

Please be aware of the other chemicals that are closely related to SLS:

-Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)

-Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS)

-Sodium Lauryl Sulphoacetate (SLSA)

xo

Miss Chemical Detective

References and links for further reading:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/beauty/article-1211423/The-seven-steps-perfect-skin-How-bodys-largest-organ-peak-condition.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1321559/Moisturiser-aqueous-cream-BP-cream-make-eczema-worse.html

http://www.nicnas.gov.au/publications/information_sheets/existing_chemical_information_sheets/ecis_sls_pdf.pdf - Especially ‘Health and Safety Information on the Chemical’

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/706110/SODIUM_LAURYL_SULFATE/

Parabens: Public Enemy Number 1

Parabens are a chemical found in the majority of cosmetics, lotions, shampoos, hand soaps and deodorants. They come disguised as many names – Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben and Isobutylparaben. You would be hard-pressed to find a product that does not contain some form of paraben. This is because they are used as a cheap preservative and will stop your product from going ‘off’.

So what’s the big deal?

Basically, parabens have been found to mimic the hormone oestrogen. Increased levels of oestrogen can cause all sorts of health issues and has been directly linked to breast cancer.
 In fact, concentrations of parabens were actually discovered in breast cancer tumors in a study done in 2004 by Professor Phillapa Darbre.

Discussions over this issue are becoming intense and lines are being drawn. There are some cosmetic companies that are now selling ‘paraben-free’ products. However, twice as many are still packing their products full of the harmful preservative.

In 2009 the Danish Minister for the Environment announced a recommendation on the use of products used on children under the age of two:

“I cannot see any clear proof that there is no risk from the two parabens (Propylparaben and Butylparaben), which the EU suspects of having endocrine disruptive effects. Therefore I now want to recommend that Danish parents avoid these two parabens"

 Following this, the Danish Government has recently announced that they plan to make it official and ban the preservative all together from baby products.

 When I decided to go paraben free, I grabbed a garbage bag, flung open the doors of my bathroom cupboard and began scanning product labels for parabens. When I had finished chucking the offending items into the bag I had a very empty cupboard and a very full garbage bag.

Going paraben free is a big commitment and will cut out a huge list of products that you can use. However, is it really worth taking the risk of slathering yourself in a product that contains such a controversial chemical?

 

xo

Miss Chemical Detective

References and links for further reading:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/biologicalsciences/about/staff/p-d-darbre.aspx#group_2004

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Breast_cancer_and_oestrogen

http://www.mim.dk/eng/News/New_campaign_dilute_toddlers_chemical_cocktail.htm

Let me introduce myself...

Welcome to my blog, where I aim to uncover the veils of mystery that surround the long lists of ingredients on cosmetics as well as open your eyes to nasty ingredients in popular foods.

How did I get to this point?

 As a teenager I was mesmerised by the big bright advertisements that consumed my everyday life and willingly believed the messages that they were marketing. Each time a new product came out with a bigger and better marketing campaign, I was off the shops to spend my hard earned after-school-job money. What a surprise it was then when the product didn't deliver on the promises. Oh well, there was always the next new product which was bound to solve my problems...

It wasn't until I was in university that I stumbled across a book that opened my eyes to the harsh realities of ingredients in cosmetics and also introduced me to bad ingredients in foods. The book is called "The Healthy Skin Diet" by Karen Fischer and I read it all in one sitting absolutely glued to the pages that made me...well it made me furious.
I was stunned that mainstream big brand cosmetic companies were using  ingredients that were just plain bad and marketing the product as being wonderful/amazing/fantastic. I was also shocked by some of the atrocious additives in food, especially food marketed as healthy! But most of all, I felt stupid for not having known any of this and blindly buying whatever the latest ad told me to buy.

This is why I want to share my findings with you, so that you can also feel empowered by this knowledge and know exactly what you are putting into your body.

xo

Miss Chemical Detective