Dangers of the Anti-bacterial Triclosan

Forgive me if I'm being naive here but when it comes to washing your hands I was of the belief that a good bit of (SLS-free) soap and hot water would give you a nice squeaky clean that would see you through, especially if you wash your hands thoroughly, going around the fingers and nails, interlacing your fingers, tickling your palms, even taking it to the wrists! Maybe you like to pretend you have a little hamster running from hand to hand. And after drying on a clean towel you can't really get cleaner than that, right?

Well, in recent years, you may have doubted this simple truth. There are ridiculous adverts on TV designed to bring out the OCD in all of us, where washing hands is simply not enough. And even one warning you that your soap pump is germy and unhygienic. Doesn't really matter if it is right, because I'm washing my hands. My soap pump can be as germy as it likes because I'm going to wash those germs right off any second now. Obviously no one wants to be crawling with bacteria but is filling our cleaning or cleansing products with anti-bacterial agents the answer? Manufacturers of triclosan would have you believe that it's perfectly safe but it is currently under review by the FDA for very good reasons.

Triclosan is included in many toiletries like hand soap, detergents, toothpaste etc. and is supposed to give those bad bugs an extra kick up their bug bums that apparently soap and water can't do. But as it gets washed down the plug hole it gets washed up into the environment and has been found accumulating in the bodies of all sorts of critters. The higher up the food chain to goes, the higher these levels get. Apparently a Swedish study in 2002 found high levels in 3 out of 5 samples of human breast milk. Flipping heck! It belongs to a class of chemicals called chlorophenols which are suspected of causing cancer. And if that wasn't enough it seems to have strong links to dioxins, which are definitely highly carcinogenic substances which can effect us at relatively low levels. AND Triclosan can react with chlorine in tap water to create chlorinated dioxins, also highly toxic. These toxins could be sitting in your kitchen sink right now. 

Recently, (I'm really laying it on thick here) an article in the Daily Mail discussed how Triclosan is dangerous to pregnant women, as it can disrupt the blood flow to unborn babies, doing damage even before the baby gets a chance to get to that triclosan flavoured milk.

There might be some case to support it's use in hospitals where superbugs are concerned but there is little to support it's inclusion in household products. It even turns up in toys and kitchenware as part of this fad of anti-bacterial obsessiveness.Who needs an antibacterial oven dish, seriously!? If you're foods got bugs in that cooking won't kill then only God and Andrex can help you.

It's also worth noting that too much hygiene can actually lead to allergies and health conditions such as asthma, as the developing immune system doesn't get exposed to common allergens and microbes and therefore cannot defend against them when exposure occurs.

If you ask me, triclosan is worth getting paranoid about, not the silly germs they are supposed to kill. So check your labels people and avoid, avoid, avoid!!! Rant over.

Lip Silk vs Lip Rescue

As Harry Hill would say, I like Lip Silk and I like Lip Rescue. But which is better? There's only one way to find out. FIGHT!

Unfortunately, I have been animating my two favourite lip balms and doing little voices and wrestler moves and making them fight like the chicken and Peter Griffin in Family Guy, but alas, there is no winner. Here's why I like both...

So Lip Silk is by natural brand Essential Care. It is a very simple, white tube of your usual lip balm style. Here it is.

It's quite a solid balm, with moisturising shea butter, beeswax, coconut oil and orange essential oil. All Essential Care products are certified organic. 

There is one very simple reason that I think it is important to be mindful about what you put on your lips; we gobble it up! The skin is the biggest organ in the body and absorbs everything we put on it but if there is one product that should be natural, given the proximity to your mouth, it should probably be those that get used on your lips. You can count on it ending up in your system by either being eaten off or readily absorbed by the thin skin on your lips. I know that I don't want to munch on a chemical sandwich nor swig a synthetic smoothie. And if you're going to go natural, even better to punch higher and go for organic!

So then, it works very nicely. I have a really bad habit of picking and poking and biting any dry skin on my lips (sorry, gross) and this does extremely well to moisturise and soften any dryness and discourage me from repulsing onlookers. And it lasts for ages! Even when I have been snacking. Many of you will know this happens often.

The smell is pleasant yet subtle, slightly orangey, from the orange essential oil I presume. Orange essential oil helps repair tissue and build collagen. My lips just feel very nourished with a lovely, protected, not-too-shiny-looking finish. Dewy. 

I'm trying these out as we speak to aid descriptions and so on my bottom lip I have Lip Silk. And on my top lip I now have Lip Rescue by Desert Essences. Oohh minty. 

This is a very smooth, less waxy formula, it gives more of a shine and is silkier, despite the other one actually being called Lip Silk it's not as silky as Lip Rescue. So that means it gives quite a nice glossy finish if you like that sort of thing. And I do. In it we have jojoba oil and aloe vera. Jojoba oil is the most similar, of all other compounds, to the oil our own skin produces so is very easily absorbed and used by our skin. This makes your lips feel comfortable and moisturised without the pesky tendency of drying out once the balm has gone/been eaten. 

Actually it's important to note both lip balms give that lasting softness and will not cause or exacerbate dryness like mineral / petroleum based lip products can. Nor create a dependency for it.

Lip Rescue is fragranced with peppermint essential oil which is ever-so-slightly medicinal but nice and fresh all the same and I like that, as opposed to daft 'flavours' of lip balms like chocolate and strawberries etc. which make me feel like I've got cake smeared all over my face. And not in a good way. 

Right then, to summarise. With both Lip Silk and Lip Rescue offering you wonderfully softened lips, with a choice of glossy or dewy finishes, why bother choose? They are as cheap as chips and better for you.

Essential Care Lip Silk £4.50 at Naturisimo rrp £5.50 

Desert Essences Lip Rescue £2.25 at Revital 

Also available at Planet Organic shops.

Green and Spring

I just managed to delete a whole post on Green and Spring and now I have to re-write the damn thing. So I will try to write in a calm manner but you will understand if my enthusiasm is blighted by anger and my sentences are short with a general sense of annoyance and impatience for the whole tedious task of repeating myself.

So here goes... 

Ohh, look at the lovely little birds (this isn't how the original went, it was less sarcastic) Aren't they pretty sitting on the lovely packaging... (there was more of this, less flippant)

What a lovely range of natural products. No they really are and I'm not being fair to Green and Spring because they are a lovely company. Let's hear more... 

Green and Spring are a British company where only native plants and herbs are used in the chemical-free, natural formulations. The range is all hand-made and includes your usual bathroom products, skincare, hand and nail care and natural wax candles too. They also only use 100% natural plant material, without parabens, SLS, SLES, petrochemicals, PEGs, glycols, synthetic colours and fragrances. 

Most of the products are available in three fragrance blends, Relaxing with lavender, comfrey and rosemary, Indulging with rose, jasmine, elderflower and red clover, or Revitalising with peppermint, dandelion and fennel.

I have been using the Indulging Shower and Bath Foam which is just gorgeous. A great product, lathers very well, smells incredible, doesn't leave skin tight or dry after showering. 

Along with this I have been enjoying the Relaxing Body Lotion, another amazing fragrance, it's difficult to choose between them all. The lotion is light, easily absorbed and the fresh fragrance lingers a little which is nice so you feel like you've been rolling around in a fresh springtime meadow full of flowers and butterflies. (That wasn't in the original.)

I also have a teeny tiny travel candle also in Relaxing, its burning very happily (it was, I put it out days ago shortly after beginning this post) and although the fragrance isn't immediate I have on very firm recommendation that Green and Spring candles do deliver a good strong aroma. Some natural candles burn more fragrantly as they get lower because the essential oils sink down through the wax during the cooling process. Interesting.

There are also quite a variety of gift sets, including the bumper deluxe wooden birdhouse (nice) complete with 12 fullsize bestsellers nestling inside. All for £275! If you can't quite stretch to that!? there are loads of beautiful little sets that make really lovely gifts which won't require a remortgage or the selling of any organs. On the whole, the range is perhaps a little more than your average brand but it has by no means a super-luxe price tag for the quality and the ethos and the delightful packaging! It all makes a wonderful present or a well deserved treat for yourself in this dull, dreary winter. Roll on (Green and...) Spring! 

Clever.

Green and Spring Indulging Shower and Bath Foam £18 300ml (more in the bottle than your average brand too)

Green and Spring Relaxing Body Lotion £22 300ml

Green and Spring Home Candle £29 Travel Candle sets £18 for 3

All available at www.greenandspring.com and Liberty's

Phenoxyethanol

What a lovely looking chemical compound I hear you say! And you'd be right, but what exactly is the deal with phenoxyethanol...

During my research for the last post I got diverted trawling through ingredient lists and noticed that an ingredient I've seen popping up in natural products that I use and have mentioned- phenoxyethanol- was now popping up on all over websites reporting worries over its safety. Uh-oh.

Phenoxyethanol is a preservative and is present in many formulations where parabens have been shunned.  For a while all was well. The cosmetics industry has welcomed phenoxyethanol into the fold and held a party in its honour.

But the Japanese have been putting limits on its use. The FDA in America warned that it can cause the shut down of the central nervous system! vomitting! and contact dermatitis! The European Union classifies it as an irritant! All this whilst I was slapping it all over my face! Blimey.

So what is the story...The issue lies in the concentration levels of this ingredient. Many things that are deemed safe are only so if the concentration is limited. And phenoxyethanol seems to be one of these things. Typically the concentration in cosmetics is 1% or less. But that means in an average 200ml bottle of lotion, body wash, whatever, there's a teaspoon's worth of pure phenoxyethanol. I think that seems like quite a lot. And you must consider this - does it make a difference having that teaspoon all at once or consuming it gradually over the course of a few months?

It's inconclusive, but there is a question mark over it now. The cosmetics database make clear that any reactions studied were caused by phenoxyethanol itself and not by products containing it. So that's comforting!  It seems it is something I'll have to keep an eye on... Just how many times did I write the word phenoxyethanol?

One last time. Phenoxyethanol.

REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash

My New Year's resolutions are going quite well. That blanket I told you about now has 1.75 squares ready to patchwork together when that momentous day comes. And I'm currently roasting potatoes. With rosemary and seasalt and crushed garlic. So I'm not doing too badly in all.

So then, naturally that brings me to the REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash!!

I got a lovely set of REN body washes and lotions for Christmas from my sister. I've used these before but for some reason, this time around I love them so much more! The shower gel lathers beautifully, very creamy and nourishing and the smell from those Moroccan roses is gorgeous. After showering, it leaves your skin feeling comfortable, smooth, supple and without the desperate need to replace any moisture with body cream. (One of the very pleasant effects of an SLS-free formula!) However, in the set I have is a lovely Moroccan Rose Otto Body Cream and so I will happily use them together for that extra skin boomf! This is quite souffle-like, it's light, and quickly absorbed with the same delicate rose fragrance. Delicious. Rose Otto is an expensive and treasured essential oil, used in aromatherapy to ward away depression, it also soothes skin and aids deep relaxation.

The REN ethos is 'bio active skincare' and presented is a very interesting range of natural products with a scientific edge. They proudly declare on their packaging 'NO petrochemicals, sulfates, parabens, synthetic fragrances, synthetic colours, TEA, DEA, glycols, silicones, PEGS et al.' Good. You know what your getting here then. High quality, well researched skincare that works. A few of those naughty ingredients I haven't actually mentioned in my list of nasties to avoid but this will be researched and brought to your attention so we can all know why to avoid them and why REN is so good.

And just to mention there are three more fragrances to try out in the body wash range. Neroli and Grapefruit, Seaweed and Sage and Lavender and Bergamot. I know I will be...

REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash £17.00 200ml

Available at Ren Skincare

John Lewis and loads of places actually so have a look.

'Big Bad I Said NO!'

This isn't actually about Stop it and Tidy up. It's nothing to do with it. It's about the ingredients in products I generally try to avoid...

There is a lot of information out there on these so if you wish to know a little more do have a dig around. I won't go into too much detail because, in all honesty, I don't actually have a chemistry degree. But it's good to have a little bit to go on...

These are almost in order according to me...