What’s The Big Deal About
Parabens?
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| Parabens are only necessary due to the commercial nature of skin today. However, if you use fresh organic skin care, they may not be necessary. |
By Dianne Little
I set up an organic skin care company not too long ago. I
started an organic range because all the rage was about going natural and how
preservatives like parabens and sulphates are bad for your health and/or skin.
Would you believe I never stopped to question this ‘wisdom’? Nope! Not once.
I started reading up about it when I needed ammo in my
marketing campaigns as to why exactly
parabens are harmful. Like everything else on the internet – you have the
proponents for and against parabens. All equally gung ho. Sigh! Isn’t anything
straightforward anymore?
Before I get into the nitty-gritty of the situation, let me
first explain what paraben’s are. Simply put they are an umbrella term for a
range of chemicals that function as preservatives. They either prevent the growth
of bacteria or kill existing bacteria. More often than not, a cream, serum or
gel will contain parabens.
Preservatives are necessary. In fact, they can be your
friends. If a skin care product has moisture in it, it will need a
preservative. If it didn’t, your toiletries would go bad and your creams would
actually cause skin irritation.
Having said that, preservatives are only used in the extent
they are now because of international trade, population boom and the need to
increase per unit profit. To help you understand the extent to which they are
used – 99% of everything you buy from a pharmacy, cosmetic counter, supermarket
or boutique toiletry stores will have it. They will be found in shampoos,
toothpastes, soaps, moisturisers and almost everything else.
All three reasons filter down to one single factor –
preserving shelf life. Because we are now involved in global trade, we are used
to using items from countries all over the world. So, from the time it leaves
the factory to the time it ends up on your supermarket shelf, it may have taken
as long as 5-6 months.
Similarly, an increasing demand for goods due to the urban
explosion means that consumers now demand more and consume more of what they
demand. To manufacture goods in this kind of volume, synthetic ingredients are
required, so is machinery and the production process also gets complicated.
Preservatives are needed as this juncture to prevent contamination during the
manufacturing stage.
Manufacturing processes must be automated to keep up with
this demand and factories are not cheap to build. But the bulk of the cost of
most items, especially non-staples, is marketing, advertising and packaging.
Looking for an organic, natural skin care alternative?
Try essential oils for skin. The right essential oil can solve almost any skin problem.
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