In the past few years, researchers have been digging into the long-term effects of beauty products and their ingredients, and you've probably seen at least a few of the signs. One of the ingredients to come under a lot scrutiny lately is Petroleum, along with its relatives petroleum jelly, petrolatum and mineral oil. Over the years, some people have sworn by them, claiming one or the other has kept their skin perfect, smooth, and protected from harm and this might even be true, but it comes with some risks. Knowledge of these risks and dedication to only using natural ingredients in all our products is why you will never find petroleum or mineral oil in anything we make, and we'd like to share the results with you today.
Petroleum is not natural
It is made from crude oil, just like gasoline. It's not natural and is, in fact, one of the least natural things that beauty product companies can get away with putting in their products. As lovers of all things natural, you can see why Natralus is not a fan of petroleum, because who wants to apply to their skin or face a derivative of crude oil? While that was enough to convince us to avoid petroleum in our products, unfortunately, the reasons don't stop there.
Petroleum Jelly Stays Inside You Forever
No doubt you've heard the adage "You are what you eat", but did you know that you are also what you put on your skin? Think about it, there are dozens of nourishing ingredients, like Paw Paw and vitamin E oil, that we apply and rub in hoping that our skin will soak it up. Baths are another great way to soak up some nutrients, like Epsom salts, straight through your skin and into your body. But for some reason, people think that when they put non-organic ingredients like petroleum jelly on their skin, it won't soak in because it's known to be a surface protector.
Bad news: it does, but it can't be metabolised. What does this mean for your body? Little beads of petroleum and mineral oil (nearly the same product) settle into your fat cells and other parts of your body and just...stay there, making you more and more plastic. This was discovered by a particular study in 2011 that ran tests from 142 women who went through a C-section birth. The test collected fat tissue and postpartum milk then found that each woman had approximately 1g of mineral-oil particles in their bodies and the most likely culprit was, you guessed it, cosmetics.
This brings to mind a scary thought. The ingredients in your cosmetics not only get into your body, but they're also in your breast milk. Another excellent reason to stick to all-natural products, but the next factor might be even more worrisome.
Petroleum may Increase Your Risk of Cancerous Tumors
Petroleum itself has not been found to be carcinogenic, but the way they produce and handle petroleum and mineral oil allows in several known impurities that have been associated with cancer and other health problems. The unpleasant fact is that most petroleum products are contaminated with these dangerous substances, and there's no way to know which ones aren't. One particularly dangerous impurity called 1,4 dioxane is a known carcinogen and was found to be in at least one-third of all tested products, including over 30% of facial moisturisers and over 50% of baby soaps.
When you combine this with the fact that these products transfer to the milk you produce for your babies, this means that even with the most natural form of infant feeding, you could be accidentally transferring non-organic, carcinogen riddled particles to your little one.
Petroleum is Also Bad for Your Skin
It seems like such a little objection compared to the previous points, but worth bringing up nonetheless. Petroleum jelly has long since been touted as an excellent way to protect your skin from outside forces, but fully sealing off your skin isn't good for it. When you let petroleum and mineral oil both seal off your skin from air and moisture, it can't breathe, and if your skin wasn't perfectly clean to start with, it seals in contaminants like dirt and oil right in there with it. Petroleum is also terrible for sunburns because it will trap the heat in instead of soothing the skin and helping the heat to dissipate. This can lead to breakouts and rashes where you intended to prevent them and creates an unpleasant duality where the petroleum gets into your body, but nothing else can get in or out until you wash it off.
Finally, petroleum doesn't really have anything good to offer your skin other than the dubious benefit of sealing protection, which is very rarely what you want from your cosmetics. It doesn't have any helpful vitamins or minerals, it isn't a source of citric acid, and it doesn't provide any real moisturising.
So Why Do Cosmetics Companies Use Petroleum?
With all these harmful side effects and lack of helpful nutrients, you're probably wondering why other companies not only use petroleum but use so much of it? The answer is simple: it's an inexpensive filler that can be used to bulk up products and add a 'creamy' texture without having to put in more valuable ingredients. While they may not have known about the negative side effects initially, now there is very little reason not to switch, and yet the vast majority of beauty and self-care products still contain these non-organic and harmful filler ingredients. To our amazement, even the leading Australian provider of Paw Paw ointment, contains approximately 90% petroleum jelly.
To avoid the negative consequences of petroleum exposure, it's important to read the labels of the products you use every day. Petroleum and its close relatives can appear on labels as:
Petroleum
Petroleum Jelly
Mineral Oil
Petrolatum
Liquid Paraffin
Paraffin Oil
The Natralus Promise
Fortunately for you (and us!) Natralus is a fairly young company formed back in 2009 by a health-conscious family with a strong pharmaceutical background. We decided early on to only use natural ingredients in our products, providing only the nutrients and benefits that nature has provided us. This helps both us and you avoid all the potential negative consequences of under-tested artificial and chemical ingredients like petroleum. And our lip balm is petroleum free.
We use natural, organic, and where possible Australian sourced ingredients in all our products and have our very own R&D team to make sure every formula is healthy and does exactly what we say it does. We monitor every stage of the process, and our testing is cruelty-free. We don't need animal testing because we don't use any potentially harmful ingredients! Finally, when it comes to Paw Paw, we more of it for better effects, with a full 83 mg/g Paw Paw fruit compared to the 39 mg/g of our closest competitor.
Natralus promises to bring you the highest quality cosmetic and care products on the market with all-natural ingredients and zero chemical actives. We care about the health of your skin and the response from our current customers has been absolutely encouraging. For more information about how we build our healthy, natural formulas or to try some for yourself, contact us today!
