Paraben Free Products
Written by: Margherita Miserandino
Parabens are synthetic preservatives used in cosmetics
and personal care products and are which can give many people allergic reactions.
These are some alternatives.
Parabens-- such as propylparaben, ethylparaben
and butylparaben--are synthetic preservatives commonly used in cosmetics
and personal care products like shampoos, skin creams and deodorants. They
are suspected to be endocrine disruptors, and they have been found to mimic
estrogen in laboratory experiments. Many people have allergic reactions
to these preservatives causing skin rashes and irritation. Needless to say,
there is a great ongoing debate as to the safety of products containing parabens.
There appears to be a demand for paraben free products, and when conducting
our research, we had a tough time locating any. We decided to seek out paraben
free products and recommend some we found to be the best.
Starting with body products, we found some excellent shower and
bath products. Tanline Shower Gel with Aloe and Chamomile left our skin
softer than most other products but was not very sudsy. vonNatur Shower
Gel Bitter Almond was sudsier and left skin soft as well. We enjoyed all
the bath products we tried, but our clear favorites were AuraCacia Tranquility
Aromatherapy Mineral Bath, Aromafloria Pomegranate Bath Fizz, vonNatur Lemongrass
Bath Salts, and Soothe Your Senses Lagniappe Calming Bath Tea. We also discovered
some excellent body scrubs. Three of our favorites were Artemis Woman Gem
Therapy Body Polish- Amethyst, Aromafloria Honey Papaya Nut Meal Exfoliant,
and Soothe Your Senses Sensual Cane Sugar Scrub.
After a nice bath you want to pamper your skin with a great moisturizer.
For those who prefer body oil, AuraCacia Grapeseed Natural Skin Care Oil
was very silky and not greasy. We discovered some great butters-- most of
which had plenty of shea, which is so good for your skin. Some of our favorites
were Tanline Body Butter with Shea and Coco, vonNatur deep tissue whipped
butter and Brown Bag Botanicals Lavender Orange Shea Butter. The vonNatur
deep tissue whipped butter really soothed achy muscles. Both the Tanline
Body Butter and the Brown Bag Botanicals were emollient without being greasy,
and they both smelled great. Artemis Woman Gem Therapy Hand & Body Cream
Energy- Clear Quartz was a great product that doubles as a hand cream. One
of our more interesting finds was Tinsel Delights Tinsel Skin solid lotion
bars. They were easy to apply and came in some great scents such as Bed
of Roses, Coconut Dream and Caribbean Coffee. The tins they come in are
very pretty and can be reused.
There have been many sunless tanning products developed in the
last few years, but we found two of the only paraben free ones that were
pretty easy to use-- Tanline Visible Results Self-Tanning Spray and Coppertone
Endless Summer Gradual Tan Moisturizing Lotion. As you put the Tanline Self-Tanning
Spray on, you were able to see how the color was being applied. It is a
little tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it the tan is very realistic
looking and pretty dark-- no orange-- and it lasts for several days. The
Coppertone Gradual Tan Moisturizing Lotion was my personal favorite because
it is idiot proof. I am pretty fair, and it gave me a slow tan. I needed
to apply it everyday for a few days before I noticed my skin look darker.
Because it is so natural looking, this is a perfect product for fair skinned
people who rarely tan. The fact that it doubles as a moisturizer is an added
bonus.
One doesn’t want to see any of that dreaded “C” word- cellulite
when showing off that great tan. We found an excellent product from Ziaja
cosmetics called Ziaja lipocell bloker firming massage oil. It works very
well at firming the skin and is also a great moisturizer. The only downside
is that, similar to other cellulite products, you need to use them continuously
or you lose the positive effects.
Our feet and hands are always being abused and can always use some
pampering. We discovered three great paraben free foot treatments. Max
Green Alchemy (MGA) sole rescue Foot Balm, Artemis Woman Healing Gems Topaz
Foot Butter, and Burt’s Bees Coconut Foot Cream. The MGA Foot Balm is light
and very softening for every day use. The Artemis Woman Foot Butter is a
little thicker, for when your feet need some extra help. If your feet need
a lot of help Burt’s Bees Coconut Foot Cream is an overnight cream that you
put on under socks and it works like magic!
We also discovered two great hand creams both by Ziaja, a Polish
company that is making its way to the States. Ziaja Goat’s Milk Hand &
Nail Cream and Ziaja Aretinol Q Nourishing Hand & Nail Cream are both
excellent products. Both creams are very nourishing and they do not leave
a greasy feel. The Aretinol Q Nourishing Cream has an added bonus of helping
to reduces wrinkles and lighten pigmentation spots.
Now that we’ve covered body products, let’s move on to the face.
Burt’s Bees makes a great Wild Lettuce Complexion Soap which is great for
sensitive skin. It leaves your skin very clean without over drying it.
We discovered two great facial scrubs--Replenix Fortified Exfoliation Scrub
and Lamas Cosmeceuticals Pumpkin Spice polish. Both left our faces very
smooth without being overly abrasive. We came across a great mask for oily
or acne prone skin-- D’Arcy Laboratories Clarifying Clay Mask. vonNatur
Cucumber Toner and the Environ Mild Toner were both excellent for sensitive
skin. You can definitely smell the cucumber in the vonNatur Toner. Neither
product was irritating to some of our staff members who have very sensitive
skin and rosacea. Burt’s Bees Wild Lettuce Toner is an excellent toner for
normal to dry skin.
Wrinkles, the awful “W” word. We found many products to help combat
those horrible lines we all get on our faces sooner or later. Ziaja’s Aretinol
Q Smoothing Face Mask was a crowd favorite, as well as their Aretinol Q anti-wrinkling
cream Revitalizing Night Cream. Kinerase C6 Peptide Intensive Treatment
has had amazing extremely visible results after a 30 day treatment course.
It needs to be used in combination with a moisturizer. My personal favorites
were Frownies Pads. When doing our research, we realized they have almost
a cult following. They are being used by many celebrities and have been
substituted for more painful treatments like Botox injections. You activate
the pad with Frownies Hydrator Spray and stick them on. They make Frownies
for the forehead and in between the eyes and for the corners of the eyes
and mouth.
We found quite a few good facial moisturizers for different types
of skin. Ziaja Goat’s Milk Face Cream and Aretinol Q Smoothing and Moisturizing
Day Cream were excellent for really dry and mature skin. If your skin tends
to be combination or oily, we wouldn’t recommend it because it is very emollient.
Frownies Immune Perfect (IP) Continuous Active Hydration is a gel cream
that goes on very smoothly and contains biologically interactive antioxidants
that are quickly absorbed into the skin. Environ Debut Moisturizer is a great
moisturizer for sensitive skin that contains more beneficial vitamin A than
most other products. Ziaja Aretinol Q Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream is great for
more mature skin. Environ Eye Gel is a fine product for sensitive skin.
It goes on light and is non-greasy.
We tested some terrific hair products as well, but we had some
clear favorites. The Max Green Alchemy (MGA) scalp rescue Shampoo and Conditioner
were the best in the shampoo and conditioner categories. These two products
deep clean your hair and provide relief for an itchy dry scalp. They also
leave hair fuller and soft. Keune So Pure Natural Balance Revitalizing Elixir
Stimulating Lotion is an excellent product for those with thin hair. It
contains biotin, ginger and lemon oils which promote hair growth, adds volume
and strengthen hair.
We fell in love with two makeup lines-- Jane Iredale and Bare Escentuals.
They are both mineral based makeup that are excellent for your skin. Jane
Iredale’s Amazing Base, PurePressed base, Liquid Minerals A Foundation, PureMoist
LipColor, PureGloss for Lips and PurePressed Blush contain no parabens.
Most of Bare Escentuals facial makeup, with the exception of its Mineral
Veil does not contain parabens. Both lines provide excellent coverage and
actually are good for your skin.
Some other paraben free products are worth mentioning as well.
We came across some excellent all natural aromatherapy products such as
AuraCacia’s Soothing Lavender Stick and Occasiotherapy’s Sexy Girl Romance
Mist- Lavender & Ylang Ylang and Yogi Girl Bliss Mist- Lavender &
Peppermint. They all had wonderful scents. The Occasiotherapy products
are great, not only to spray on your body, but to spray in the air or on
bed linens.
The most interesting product award went to the Clenzology Advanced
Hygiene System. This company takes hygiene to a whole new level. It is
a complete system for cleaning and sanitizing your face, ears, hands, mouth
and the mucous membranes of your nose and eyes. This set of products will
help boost your immune system. The hand soap actually gets under your nails
where most germs live. The Clenzology System includes everything you need
including a wonderful natural sponge.
I do need to list some negatives we discovered in the paraben free
world. Many of these products are much pricier than their paraben counterparts
because parabens are relatively inexpensive to use. Some of the products
listed can only be purchased through a salon, doctor’s office or spa-- making
them not as readily available or accessible. As time progresses, we hope
that paraben free products will become more mainstream, so people who are
sensitive to them or who want to avoid any potential health risks can more
easily purchase them.
Pages Updated On: 15-Jul-2005 - 09:02:23
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