Home >>
Diet Forums >>
Parabens ion beauty productsParabens ion beauty products
spectrachic311 said: "I have a coworker who decided to switch off of paraben-containing products because some natural health practitioner told her the same thing. I don't know if I believe it though. Just about anything could theoretically cause cancer...all it takes is enough DNA mutation and POOF!, you screw up growth factors and you get cancer. They've been using parabens in products for many years and I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting skin cancer from using sunblock containing parabens...but I have heard of people getting skin cancer from not using any sunblock at all. So I'm not too worried about parabens. The best defense you can give yourself from cancer is to eat a lot of antioxidants. I truly believe they're the secret of not getting cancer. They help your DNA repair itself and neutralize any free radicals that could potentially mess up your DNA."
spectrachic311 said: "I think you're pretty ok using Benzaclin on your face for acne. The bacteria that cause acne are just Staph. epidermidis species...they're very harmless. About all they really do is well, cause zits. S. epidermidis is all over your body all the time anyway. A zit is just when a pore gets clogged with oil or something and traps bacteria in it. If you exfoliate regularly as well as use a topical antibiotic, your skin should improve. I actually have found that using a gentle cleanser and an oil free moisturizer regularly has really helped my skin out.
Dbrew--you remind me so much of my sister...she gets very freaked about almost everything. The latest thing is the paint thinner she uses to clean her paintbrushes. It's true that your skin comes in contact with a bunch of stuff every day, but just think: what if you didn't have any skin? All that would go right into your system. And also, the top layers of your skin are dead so most stuff doesn't even get through that and into your system. Skin is really a barrier between your body and the outside world."
DBrew said: "I was watching a morning news show a couple of weeks ago and on it was a segment about natural beauty lotions. At the end of the segment, the natural expert said that the natural lotions were free of a thing called parabens, which have been linked to cancer.
I then looked at the lists of ingredients on my self tanning lotions, baby lotions, etc. and there were parabens in almost all of them.
I have been gradually switching to natural products since then. I have been purchaseing Jason and Kiss My Face products. These are all natural and not tested on animals, do not have any animal ingredients and have alot of good stuff in them too.
I just thought I would let everyone know about those two brands and also get some feedback from all of you about Parabens. Especially from the two Science gals( you know who you are).
I wish I would have switched to the all natural stuff sooner. When I look at all the weird and needless ingedients in my beauty products, I just have to ask myself why they are there."
DBrew said: "Well, I am definatley okay on the antioxidant front. I eat so much produce! I kind of like the natural stuff better now that I have tried it. It does not have an offensive smell like some of my old products, it has ingredients I understand and it is free of animal cruelty and the companies are eco friendly. i kind of thought that the media might be trying to exploit the paraben thing, so thanks for your input. I love having both you and Karen as resources as I know very little of Science in comparison two you gals."
DBrew said: "Do either of you know exactly what a paraben is?
When I think of all the stuff that my skin comes in contact with everyday, it freaks me out. Skin just kind of sucks in everything.It is a very porous organ. I try to clean on ly with baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice and sometimes natural cleaners. I am a little bit of a freak about it.
Another thing that worries me is, I use an antibiotic cream for my acne called Benzaclin and I am worried about antibiotic immunity in the future if I keep it up. I guess there has been some research of late claiming that anti fungals might have the same effect on acne. I hope so!"
DBrew said: "Well, I agree that paint thinner is very high fume, and therefore cannot be good for the lungs, or the skin. Your sister and I would probably worry each other to death.
You are a bit like MY sister. She is studying to become a microbiologist and I love having discussions with her about all things biological. I am a much bigger worrier than she, but , anyone should think twice about all the stuff they are allowing to come in contact with their bodies. We only get one life so the stuff we allow into it should at least be checked into and thought about."
lakelady said: "Yeah, 'brew, there have been claims that parabens contribute to cancer for YEARS. Most recently they're looking at breasr cancer. The reason for the suspicion is that parabens are [I]faintly[/I] estrogenic. There hasn't been anything [I]remotely[/I] close to a definitive link though. But that's ok. If it worries you, go ahead and switch. I've never been able to use face or eye cosmetics with parabens because I'm VERY allergic. They don't seem to bother me in shampoo or conditioner, probably because you rinse most of that away."
lakelady said: "The general chemical structure is an ester formation (a compound formed by the reaction of an alcohol and an acid) of para-hydroxybenzoic acid. There are lots of them found naturally in plants. Blueberries contain a significant amount. (they're also very high in anti-oxidents), but the ones in cosmetics are synthetically produced. I'm allergic to many of those, and there are SO many, I just don't buy cosmetics for my face with any of them.I can EAT them with no problem, because parabens are rapidly absorbed, metabolized, and eliminated.
They actually have a very low toxicity profile, and until recently, with the sort of anecdotal story that captured your attention, were considered totally safe, and mostly still are.
In my opinion, you don't have to worry about you, yourself developing an antibiotic immunity. The reason over-prescribing of anti-biottics is such a problem isn't because WE develop an immunity to them, but because it creates 'super-bugs' that ARE resistant. I don't know anything about Benzaclin, but I doubt it absorbs into your system since it's designed in a cream for topical use. I can't imagine why an anti-fungal would be good for acne, bacteria cause acne, not fungus."
lakelady said: "[QUOTE=DBrew]Do either of you know exactly what a paraben is?
When I think of all the stuff that my skin comes in contact with everyday, it freaks me out. Another thing that worries me is, I use an antibiotic cream for my acne called Benzaclin and I am worried about antibiotic immunity in the future if I keep it up. I guess there has been some research of late claiming that anti fungals might have the same effect on acne. I hope so![/QUOTE]
The general chemical structure is an ester formation (a compound formed by the reaction of an alcohol and an acid) of para-hydroxybenzoic acid. There are lots of them found naturally in plants. Blueberries contain a significant amount. (they're also very high in anti-oxidents), but the ones in cosmetics are synthetically produced. I'm allergic to many of those, and there are SO many, I just don't buy cosmetics for my face with any of them.I can EAT them with no problem, because parabens are rapidly absorbed, metabolized, and eliminated.
They actually have a very low toxicity profile, and until recently, with the sort of anecdotal story that captured your attention, were considered totally safe, and mostly still are.
In my opinion, you don't have to worry about you, yourself developing an antibiotic immunity. The reason over-prescribing of anti-biottics is such a problem isn't because WE develop an immunity to them, but because it creates 'super-bugs' that ARE resistant. I don't know anything about Benzaclin, but I doubt it absorbs into your system since it's designed in a cream for topical use. I can't imagine why an anti-fungal would be good for acne, bacteria cause acne, not fungus."