Skincare products and personal lubricants can play an important part in our lives. Nurturing your skin, moisturizing it and taking care of your sexual health, seems like an everyday activity for some (if not most) of women, who value their looks and body health.
But have you ever asked yourself, if what you are applying to your body is actually healthy? Does it actually help your skin or is it ruining it in the long run? And is it possible that your favorite intimate products contain harmful ingredients?
Recent analysis of various lube ingredients, performed by a sexual health source Lube For Sex, has shown that getting hands on a healthy, quality intimate lubricant can be quite a challenging task. It seems that bottles carrying these love potions can be labeled as safe and natural, but when one goes to check the actual ingredients and analyze them individually, the truth is far from what the manufacturer has written on the front label.
Same applies for other skincare products, not merely the lubes. Creams, lotions, lipsticks, makeups, and the list goes on. However, we’d like to focus on the lube topic, for it is the lubes that we put on our most intimate and sensitive parts of the body. This article is focused on vaginal health.
The most shocking news here is that lots of these products contain the so called “formaldehyde releasers” – these are formaldehyde releasing agents, which work as preservatives. These ingredients slowly (but constantly) release formaldehyde, killing all the germs and microbes that could make the product go sour. Some products that would normally go to a disposal after 1 month, can thus survive many years. As they said on lubeforsex.com, it seems that manufacturers are seeking for ways to prolong shelf life of the product, without making health the priority.
Now imagine that you are applying makeup every day, before work, and that you are constantly inhaling formaldehyde. This is beyond catastrophic. It is unthinkable that someone is able to sell people such products, without a clear warning.
There’s no wonder women all over the world are visiting forums and asking about their vaginal issues after using a lube. Most common symptoms of using a lube with harmful ingredients, are:
- Itching;
- Irritation and burning;
- Allergic contact dermatitis;
- Developing yeast infection;
- Bacterial vaginosis;
- And in the long-run, even growth of carcinogenic tumors.
Here we will publish the ingredients that you should avoid at all cost in your skincare products and in your personal lubricants. And we’d like to thank to original source to let us publish their findings, for it had to have been a truly hard work going through all the scientific studies about featured ingredients. Vaginal health is an extremely important topic and this findings are of big value.
The list of harmful lube ingredients in skincare products
Below is the list of dangerous ingredients found in personal lubricants and other skincare products. After you’re finished with this article, you can go check your favorite creams and lotions if they contain any of these.
Note that these ingredients may not harm you at all after just a couple of uses. Many of these ingredients work slowly (but surely), exposing your body to dangers that come as a consequence due to their usage.
For more in-depth data and information about healthy recommendations you can visit original source.
1) DMDM Hydantoin C7H12N2O4
This ingredient is a known and confirmed toxin that can be categorized under formaldehyde releasing agents. By using products that contain DMDM hydantoin you are exposing your body to several risks.
This ingredient is rated by ewg.org (Environmental Working Group – Skin Deep) with a rating 4-7 (red flag), which is an extremely high health risk. Besides being an irritant and an allergen, DMDM hydantoin is also thought to be cancer causing.
2) Diazolidinyl Urea C8H14N4O7
Diazolidinyl Urea is another nasty ingredient that basically has the same function as the previous one – releasing formaldehyde to kill microbes and prolong the shelf life of the product. It is even mentioned as being one of the worst possible ingredients your skincare products may contain by the naturopathic doctor Dr. Trevor Cates, who appeared as a guest in The Doctors show.
3) Butylphenyl Methylpropional (Lilial) C14H20O
Lilial has this amazing aroma that resembles the one of the Lilly of the Valley. However, it is a synthetic, artificial scent made by routes of a chemistry process.
This ingredient is so poisonous that its use was limited to 0.01% in rinse-off products, and to 0.001% in leave-on products. It carries the ewg.org hazard rating of 4-7, which is a red flag.
Lilial adds fragrance, but is proven to work harmful to human fertility system, that it is bioaccumulative and has very high toxicity to human health. It can also pose a threat to a yet unborn child.
4) Glycerin C3H8O3
Glycerin may look quite innocent with hazard rating of only 1-2, but recent studies reveal it is the mayor cause of Candida species overgrowth (primarily Candida albicans). This overgrowth can develop severe yeast infection.
It is added to skincare products because it is a humectant – it seals the moisture in your body making providing moist skin. However, it degrades to sugars and these serve as a feeding sources to Candida species, possibly causing an overgrowth.
Another thing about glycerin is, that its origins are vegetables and animal fat. This is how it used to be derived. In modern days it either synthetic or made as a byproduct of biofuel industry. It is not the same vegetable glycerin, which was actually quite ok back in the days. However, all types of glycerin degrade to sugar, so yeast infection can be caused regardless from the route it’s been derived through.
5) Methylparaben (+ other parabens) C8H8O3
Parabens (all of them) are ingredients widely used in skincare and cosmetic products. From Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, and the list goes on.
Even though this ingredient is rated with 4 by ewg, there’s a far sinister truth to it. It is due to parabens having a function of endocrine system disruption. It means it messes up you hormone levels, which contributes to the growth of tumors.
There’s been a research done in 2004, which found traces of parabens in breast cancer tumors – Methylparaben showing as the highest value. However it didn’t proven that parabens were also the cause for the cancer. Now, a recent 2016 study, did confirm that parabens directly affect growth of tumors.
6) Tetrasodium EDTA (+ other EDTAs) C10H16N2O8
Tetrasodium EDTA is a chelating agent, which means it can grab and stick to other molecules. It is also an ingredient that contributes to foaming of your favorite shampoo.
EDTA in all its forms (be it Tetrasodium, Disodium, Calcium disodium) is not considered “so harmful” by many people who are into skincare and chemicals. While it is marked by pubchem as an ingredient which is corrosive and irritant.
However the procedure of making of EDTA is what we should focus on. Synthesis of EDTA involves: formaldehyde, sodium cyanide and ethylenediamine. Researching these ingredients you soon realize they are extremely poisonous. So, can something that is made by 3 extremely poisonous chemicals, be good for your health? I doubt it.
7) Paraffinum Liquidum (mineral oil) C; nH; 2n+2
The word itself “mineral oil” doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Minerals are good they say. Mineral mean that a chemical is derived from nature… still good right?
Well, how about if someone told you that mineral oil is derived from crude oil (as in diesel). Yes, that same substance that is used to fuel our cars. Paraffinum liquidum is a byproduct of oil industry and has to be severely refined to make it useful for skincare.
It has to be refined because it contains all kinds of impurities in its original state, and because one of these impurities are Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, which are known carcinogens. It has been proven that lots of product based on mineral oil may still be contaminated with PAHs, regardless of the refining process.
Even if pure, there’s nothing good to it. It works like wax, trapping your body fluids under your skin, not letting anything good in or anything bad out. Anything that is made from the same stuff we fuel our cars with, should not be used on our face, body, and most private areas.
8) Propylene Glycol C3H8O2
Another irritant ingredient. If you are using a lube and you get burning sensations from it, you should check if there’s Propylene Glycol listed as an ingredient at the back of the bottle.
Why is it used? It is supposed to keep things moist. This is a common problem in water-based lubes – they tend to dry out quicker than any other type of lube (silicone, oil …), therefore it seems wise to manufacturers to feature propylene glycol in their lubes.
9) Benzocaine C9H11NO2
Mostly included in lubricants that are meant for anal penetration. Benzocaine is anesthetic, which means it makes you feel no pain at the local area of your body, to which you apply it to.
You should realize that if you use such ingredient for vaginal penetration, that you will also be unable to feel any pleasure from it. It just numbs you out, from feeling either pain or pleasure.
Human body is made the way it is for a reason. If your nerves are telling you something is painful, it is not a wise thing to block those nerves. When something is painful, you shouldn’t ignore that pain. By blocking the pain you are ignoring it.
The most concerning fact about benzocaine is that it’s related to methemoglobinemia, which is a disorder where the amount of oxygen in your blood flow is evidently reduced. There are numerous reasons to avoid benzocaine in all your skincare products.
10) Flavors (vanilla, strawberry, etc.)
If something tastes like strawberry, it does not mean it is a real strawberry. Some people prefer flavored and scented lubricants, without realizing that using such product may be very harmful.
You can find plenty resources and scientific data, where flavors are mentioned as a dangerous lube ingredient to avoid. Why? Because these flavors are fake, chemically made, and usually mostly contain artificial sweeteners.
Remember where we talked about glycerin being harmful due to the fact it degrades to sugars very fast, thus being a feeding source to Candida species? Same goes for flavors. If you are prone to vaginal infections, stay away from any type of flavored lube and stay loyal to natural.
The bottom line – Which skincare products are safe?
It not like I’m a chemist or from any related scientific profession, but I would like to state my opinion on this matter.
I have never said that chemicals are bad, and chemistry is field of science that has greatly contributed to development of society, and we should be grateful there are scientists making big steps towards safety and evolution of our planet.
However I believe that certain chemicals shouldn’t be used, where human health is at stake! And all just due to the lower price in comparison to natural substitutes. This is what bothers me.
There are tons of natural preservatives available, however not for the same cost. And not only in skincare and personal lubricants, also other niches are suffering to this human mentality that every resource has to be the cheapest, to make the best return on investment from it.
Did you know that if you make your own homemade Aloe Vera gel, it goes sour in 3 weeks? While in a store you can grab it from the shelf and it’s probably be in warehouses and on the shelf for at least a year. This is the problem. We aren’t focused on local and natural anymore. We are buying things from all over the world, regardless if these products contain formaldehyde releasing agents, and what freaks me out the most is that we are not presented with this fact.
Go ahead, sell skincare products which contain irritant ingredients, formaldehyde releasing agents and which work as endocrine disruptors. But let the consumers know about it. Label your bottle: “You will save $5 if you buy this, but you should be aware there are hazardous ingredients included.” – This seems like a fair thing to do.
These are, the thought going through my mind in the conclusion of this article. I was myself unaware of the facts presented by the original source. Every citizen of USA, and people all around the world should have knowledge of what they are applying to their skin, and have the right to pick their products without being deceived by false labeling.
Thank you all for reading our article on “harmful ingredients found in personal lubricants and skincare products”, which to us started like a normal one, and ended up as quite an emotional piece of writing.
