�?0 is the new 30,�?proclaimed a recent ‘regenerist survey�?conducted on behalf of the UK’s number-one skin-care brand, Olay. The statement might have made a good contribution to Private Eye’s Neophiliacs column had not the implicit message of the survey been so disturbing.

Date:01/03/2005 Author:Pat Thomas

Behind the Label - Skin Cream

Our population is getting older. By the year 2010 around 40 per cent of female Europeans will be aged over 50. Of the more than 2,000 women surveyed by Olay, most spent an average of £200, and some a whopping £500, a year on anti-ageing treatments. Globally, the picture is much the same. The skin-care market is valued as being worth around £21 billion a year and rising, and anti-wrinkle creams make up a sizeable proportion of sales. Panic buying is the only reasonable way to describe it.

Most of today’s anti-ageing formulas boast sophisticated technology and unique ingredients. But at the most basic level there is very little difference between them. What is more, many contain ingredients that can accelerate skin damage and which may even have more serious health implications over the longer term. Regenerist is Olay’s top brand. It’s costly but claims to ‘harness the latest peptide technology in an exclusive amino-peptide complex�? The product needs to be well absorbed, but that’s not much of a challenge as facial skin is thinner than skin elsewhere and Regenerist contains penetration enhancers to help the process along.

The effect is superficial and temporary, however, lasting only as long as you keep using the product. Regenerist contains the usual range of skin irritants, strong perfumes and colours. Full safety data appear to be lacking for some of its ingredients. However, it does contain carcinogenic acrylamide, triethanolamine (which can form cancer-causing oily compounds called nitrosamines) and Teflon (recently dubbed by environmentalists as the ‘new DDT�?.

Regenerist also contains a range of ultraviolet filters, enough to have a potential additive effect in the process of skin damage. Sun-screens have become de rigueur in anti-wrinkle formulas, almost to the point of insanity: scan the label of some night creams, and you will find UV filters in these as well.

The British facial skin-care market generated sales of £478m last year. Olay (owned by household products giant Proctor & Gamble) claims nearly 19 per cent of this market, more than double the share of its nearest competitor, L’Oreal. According to Olay’s figures, four Regenerist products are sold in the UK every minute.

ALTERNATIVES

No external treatment will be as effective as maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you are going to use cosmetics, try these:

Barefoot Botanicals (www.barefoot-botanicals.com)

Essentially Yours (www.essentially-yours.co.uk)

Green People (www.greenpeople.co.uk)

Higher Nature (www.highernature.co.uk)

Weleda (www.weleda.co.uk)

Aubrey Organics (www.aubrey-organics.com)  Available in the UK from Au Naturel (0800 0851 697)

Neal’s Yard (www.nealsyardremedies.com)

Jason (www.jason-natural.com)

Rio Health (www.riohealth.co.uk)

Mybeingwell.com www.mybeingwell.com

Earthbound Organics www.earthbound.co.uk

Purenuffstuff www.purenuffstuff.co.uk

Akamuti www.akamuti.co.uk

Primavera Aromatherapy www.primavera.co.uk

Pat Thomas is the author of several books on the environment and health, including: Cleaning Yourself to Death: how safe is your home? and Living Dangerously: are everyday toxins making you sick?(both published by Newleaf) and Under the Weather: how the weather and climate affect our health (Fusion Press).

Bubble bubble, what’s the trouble?

Behind the Label - Radox Herbal Bath with Juniper

Date:25/04/2005 Author:Pat Thomas

But bubble baths can irritate more than just your skin. Regular bubble bath use is associated with a high rate of urogenital infections. Harsh detergents can strip away protective oils from sensitive areas of skin and the mucous which lines the genito-urinary tract. This allows bacteria to take hold. Children are particularly vulnerable, and bubble baths are a major cause of urogenital infections in babies. In the US children’s bubble baths are now obliged to carry a warning advising that prolonged use can cause skin and urinary tract irritation.

Radox is arguably the best known, and most trusted, of UK bath additives. The range is a subsidiary of the giant US corporation Sara Lee, which also owns Sanex and Badedas. In the UK, the bathing market, which includes bath additives, shower gels and soaps, is worth £665m a year and counting; bath additives account for approximately £150m of this.

We buy more bottles of Radox than any other bath additive. But what do we get for our money? Radox Herbal Bath Relax contains harsh skin irritants, potential carcinogens and reproductive toxins, hormone and central nervous system (CNS) disrupters. Several of its ingredients are penetration enhancers: chemicals that alter skin structure, allowing other chemicals to penetrate more deeply into the skin and the bloodstream.

The whole Radox range has recently been reformulated and expanded using aromatherapy as the selling point. While Radox Herbal Bath Relax does contain natural juniper extract, it is largely based on synthetic perfumes, which cannot claim the same therapeutic effects as natural essential oils and may even be harmful.

In addition to ‘parfum�?(industry code for a compound comprised of several unnamed perfume ingredients), the mixture contains fi ve individual perfume ingredients which can be strongly irritant and have been shown to cause a range of health problems in other animals. Amazingly, this product also contains a sunscreen �?to protect the product, not the person. It’s hard to see how anyone could ‘relax�?while soaking in a mixture like this.

More than Soap www.morethansoap.co.uk  

Soap Around the Corner  www.soaparoundthecorner.co.uk  

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=487