Tuesday, November 26, 2013

How to read into ingredients on labels.

I've quoted Dr Oz on my facebook page, so you should avoid any products that contain petroleum jelly and mineral oil as they are by products of the petroleum industry. Using these ingredients is equivalent to drinking gasoline. Now that is really quite frightening. Another by product that is commonly found is paraffin, which is a wax used to make candles. If you love the ambience that candles create, avoid paraffin, it is no better than smoking. If you have children, imagine what you are exposing them to.

So there are three key words to look out for when you purchase a product

1. Petroleum Jelly (think vapour rub, lipbalm)
2. Mineral Oil (commonly found in baby oil, baby liquid bath)
3.Paraffin (facial bar, note no mention of soap)

It gets a bit more complicated when you read the ingredient list when they throw in big scientific words which may be good or bad, but chances are if it is good they will put the common name in a bracket for the product eg Cocos nucifera (coconut oil). It is more important to spot what you can and just avoid that product all together.


I have spent a tiny fortune on all sorts of raw material and with all that I have, I usually can make my own products and they are not difficult. I buy mica to colour my soaps, but the same mica (cosmetic grade) can be used as an eye shadow. All I need really is a brush. Sometimes when I am in hurry I forget to pack my make-up and when I get to the airport, I'll try to get some make-up to make myself presentable for an event I maybe attending. I will be eyeing all the expensive cosmetics, knowing fully well they contain some ingredients I do not agree with. So I walk off and go into the bookstore, heading towards the teenage magazine sections. You know what they have there, a free make-up kit attached to the magazines. I feel less guilty because once I use it I will throw it away. I am starting to sound really cheap here, but to me it is more about the principle. So even though these sample cosmetics are just the right stuff I need, I can't help reading the ingredients(Paraben another story for another time). That makes me even more mad that these magazines are targeting young teens. Shame on them. Time we take control and look after our children in more than one ways, help them to start caring for themselves and google around, they will be educated much faster than we would.