Helpful or Harmful - Decoding Cosmetics Labels

originally given as a talk at Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute

There are known knowns; 

there are things we know that we know.

There are known unknowns;

 that is to say there are things that, we now know we don't know.

But there are also unknown unknowns

– there are things we do not know, we don't know.

US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld speaking in 2002 

Donald Rumsfeld was talking about the problems of knowing whether the Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but the same principle applies to many areas of knowledge.  The more we think we know about the human body, the more we find out how much we don't know.

Nefertiti was Queen of Egypt around 1500 BC.  Sometimes described as the most beautiful woman of all time, she used cosmetics made from animal and plant oils, fragranced with herbs, to protect the skin against the sun and wind.

The black kohl, used as a traditional eyeliner, contained lead chlorides.  Recent research by French researchers has shown that these compounds would have been very effective against eye infections, so the cosmetics may have offered health benefits as well.





Fashions change, and in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, pale skin was fashionable.  Unfortunately, the white lead used to create the 'look' was poisonous, and often led to skin problems, madness and infertility.



Today, in the 21st century, we know better - or do we?  The latest fad in New York is the so-called "Geisha Facial"  which is a mask made from Nightingale droppings, and in Spain they use Caracoles - Snail Slime - as a cosmetic ingredient.  Many products on sale in the UK, even some that are medically licensed,  are made with white paraffin or mineral oil, or contain known irritants such as SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulphate).  Mercury is banned in cosmetics in the US and the EU, but it is still used, mainly as a skin lightener in Mexico and some Asian countries.

In the EU, the manufacture and Sale of Cosmetics is governed by the Cosmetics Regulations.  A cosmetic is defined as

"any substance or preparation intended to be placed in contact with the various external parts of the human body (epidermis, hair system, nails, lips and external genital organs) or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the oral cavity with a view exclusively or mainly to cleaning them, perfuming them, changing their appearance, correcting body odours, protecting them, or keeping them in good condition except where such cleaning, perfuming, protecting, changing, keeping or correcting is wholly for the purpose of treating or preventing disease."

We can see that this definition covers must products used for skin and body care, except those having a primarily medical (treatment or prevention of disease) function.  If the main purpose of the product is to change the appearance, protect or keep in good condition then it still qualifies as a cosmetic.

Cosmetic products must be labelled in a particular way.  The regulations say

"Cosmetics must be labelled with a list of ingredients in descending order of weight.

Each ingredient must be identified by the name provided for in the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) or in the absence of such identification, by its chemical name, its European Pharmacopoeia name, its International Non-proprietary name (INN) as recommended by the World Health Organisation, its EINECS, ELINCS or CAS identification reference or its colour index number"

This is why cosmetics have a long list of pseudo-latin names.  These are usually the INCI official names for products.  Unfortunately, there is no requirement for suppliers to say whether the ingredients are natural or synthetic.

There is also a list of 26 substances that must be included in the list if the concentration exceeds .001% in products that are left on the skin, or ,01% in products that are rinsed off.  In this list of 26 are components of some essential oils such as linalool and limonene. The organisation Cropwatch claims that these 26 substances cause so little chance of allergic reaction that there is negligible risk to humans. They claim that the sponsors of the legislation have agree to review the requirement for this labelling, whereas another story recently claims that the list is to be extended to include over 100 substances.

What would certainly seem to be true is that substances such as Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS), parabens, paraffin, and aluminium, all approved cosmetic ingredients, are far more likely to do you harm than these 26 compounds.

The message is:  Read the label carefully.

There are a number of lists on the web suggesting some of the worst cosmetics ingredients in general use:

http://thegreenbeautyguide.com/100-ingredients-to-avoid-download/

http://www.organicbeautytalk.com/ingredients-to-avoid

http://feelgoodstyle.com/ingredients-to-avoid/