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Skin cleansers come in one of two forms – foaming cleansers that are washed off with water, or creamy cleansers that dissolve any makeup and/or dirt from the surface of the skin, which are then tissued or rinsed off. Since ingredients for cleansers vary wildly from product to product, we'll concentrate here on the ingredients you are most likely to come across -
Foaming Cleansers
As for any personal care product which foams, two of the most common ingredients that you're likely to come across are SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate) or SLES (sodium laureth sulphate).
You only have to search online to find quite alarming reports concerning either of these two ingredients where it is implied that they are responsible for causing everything from cancer and irreversible eye defects in children to baldness. Sources for these reports claim impressive sounding research organisations. But equally impressive sounding research organisations claim that none of these reports are true, and that the so called dangers of SLS/SLES are down to misquotes and incorrectly interpreted research resulting in an 'urban legend'. To add to the confusion, some 'natural' foaming skin cleansers list their main detergent ingredient as a plant derived soap (ie corn sugar soap or coconut oil foaming agent or something similar). In fact, this could actually refer to SLS which is a foaming agent which can be derived from coconut or palm kernel oil (although it can also be petroleum derived). Added to this, there is very little information readily available about the plant derived alternatives to SLS/SLES.
Since SLS/SLES can be derived from petroleum, coconut oil or palm kernel oil, you can never be sure exactly where it comes from, since ingredient listings rarely provide this information. If you would like to avoid petroleum derived ingredients in your personal care products, you would do well to avoid them.
One other reason to avoid SLS/SLES is that they might be derived from palm kernel oil. The farming of palm kernel oil is responsible for deforestation of rainforest in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia as land is cleared for palm oil plantations. The palm oil industry threatens native species and is now considered by scientists as the biggest threat to the orang-utan, which could be extinct in the wild within 12 years if deforestation continues at it's current rate. With 'natural' skin cleansers labelling is clearer and it is easier to avoid products that use palm oil as the source for their foaming agent. In any case, if you are using products with palm oil based ingredients we would urge you to contact the manufacturer to enquire whether they are using palm oil from sustainable sources.
The only substantiated health reason we could find to avoid SLS/SLES are that they are potential skin irritants. It is true that SLS/SLES are used in industrial degreasing products as they are such efficient detergents. This is why they leave the skin feeling so clean. But they can also leave the skin feeling very tight and dry. For this reason, we recommend that if you prefer a foaming cleanser, the best option for a natural alternative to conventional products is just to choose a good quality natural soap – either a bar or liquid variety. Natural soaps also mean that you are avoiding any of the other synthetic ingredients commonly found in conventional foaming skin cleansers, such as parabens, fragrances, preservatives and colourants.
Creamy Cleansers
The simplest creamy cleansers are made up of a mixture of water, oil and beeswax (as are most basic moisturising creams and lotions). The problem with any product containing water, is that the product is likely to 'go off' if left on the bathroom shelf for too long. So conventional cleansers include a bewildering range of synthetic preservatives to add to the shelf life of the product.
In an ideal world, we would use skin cleansers without any preservatives. Preservatives are slightly toxic by their very nature – they have the ability to kill off living cells (bacteria, fungi, yeast and other micro-organisms) in order to keep the product 'fresh'. However, we have to be realistic about this issue and accept that in order to keep products usable, a certain amount of preservatives are a necessary evil. Having said that, some preservatives would seem to be more evil than others!
Parabens are amongst the most common preservatives used in conventional skincare products. British researchers have found traces of parabens in tissue taken from women with breast cancer, and although there is no evidence that parabens cause cancer, researchers have asked for the use of parabens in personal care products to be reviewed, as these studies suggest that these chemicals may accumulate within the body after having been applied on the skin. We have discussed parabens elsewhere on Scene Green and would advise people to avoid using any product containing them. Other preservatives that are best avoided are anything containing formaldehyde (studies suggest that it may be carcinogenic).
Creamy skin cleansers are available from 'natural' skincare companies, who do not use synthetic preservatives but rely on 'natural' or plant based preservatives such as essential oils with natural anti-bacterial action, vitamins, wheatgerm oil and citrus seed extracts to prolong the shelf life of their products. Aside from the issues raised above, these will tend to be more readily biodegradable than synthetics. However, it should be noted that many of these products will have a shorter shelf life than conventional products and many will have a 'use by' date. When using this type of product, it is probably wise to remove the product from the container using a clean spatula, as opposed to fingers – which may harbour bacteria and contaminate the products, thus shortening their shelf life further.
One alternative to 'creamy' cleansers containing water, is to opt instead for a 'balm' or 'ointment' based cleanser which is made from a mixture of oils and beeswax. They do not contain water and so are less likely to need to contain a vast array of preservatives in order to stay fresh.
Other ingredients to watch out for in conventional cleansers include synthetic colours and fragrances. Fragrances in particular can be made up of a complex mixture of chemicals, that are not legally required to be listed in the product ingredients so we would always recommend avoiding them wherever possible. According to Friends of the Earth the following ingredients should also be avoided as they 'bio-accumulate” (ie build up in the body), so should be replaced by safer alternatives – alkylphenols, artificial musks, bisphenol A and phthalates.
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