A unsuspecting friend of mine who i am slowly educating in the world of organics recently bought an After Sun for her over exposed sun burnt skin (naughty girl!). She called me up in a panic! Her sun burnt skin had suddenly broken out in hives and was feeling itchy and dry! Now we all know sun baking is my pet hate – but she assured me that this burn had been getting worse until it eventually developed these bumps! I asked her what after sun she was using? “I took a special trip to the Organic Health Food shop Laura”, she explained “I bought an organic looking clear Aloe Vera After Sun Gel. The front of the bottle even promises 99% Certified Organic!”
I was skeptical – how many times have we read this “Promise” only to turn around to the ingredient list where we see a whole host of chemical nasties listed. I asked her to read the ingredients list to me. Low and behold here on this supposedly Organic After Sun Gel we discover the second, third and fourth ingredients are the dreaded PEG’s! These common toxic lurkers are listed in a host of skin care products such as Mousse, Hair Dye, Baby Bath Wash, Depilatory Cream/Hair Remover, Baby Lotion, Moisturizer, Deodorant and Makeup to name a few! Now they show up on After Sun!
PEG is the acronym for polyethylene glycol and are polymers of the same molecule. That means that many of the same molecules are bonded together. What is polyethylene glycol used for? Think of your favorite beaded necklace – that’s what they would look like if you saw them up close. We normally see the PEG ingredient with a number after it – for example PEG-33 – so for this you could imagine a beaded necklace containing 33 beads. The more beads the PEG has the more molecular weight it has. And each weight has its on function. Extremely high PEG’s are used in the medical industry. PEG-3350 is used to clean out the bowels before surgery or other procedures! But with regards to skin care we normally see PEG’s in weight from 1 – 150.
You will see on your ingredients list that most PEG’s are attached to another chemical. So in my friends case the ingredient reads PEG-33 Dimethicone, which means that the polyethylene glycol has an approximate molecular weight of 33 and is attached chemically to Dimethicone. Dimethicone is a silicone derived emollient used for its soft velvety texture in products that contain it. Unfortunately it also stops the skin from breathing like wrapping your skin in glad wrap! Far from ideal when your skin is sun burnt and desperately needs a bit of Tender Loving Care! Instead we slather on a suffocating ingredient and stop it from breathing completely
Now comes the shocking bit for my poor friend and her 99% Organic Aloe Vera After Sun Gel from the Organic shop! PEG is also known to cause allergic reactions on skin with sun exposure. So let me get this straight… my friends gets sun burnt (we will refrain from giving her a hard time about this now) and pops down to the local organic shop , buys some Aloe Vera gel in a bid to rescue and hydrate her sore and sensitive skin. She even checks that her chosen Aloe Vera gel is organic. With each application of her gel she believes her sun burn is being healed but little known to her the Dimethicone is suffocating the very skin that needs to breath and regenerate and the PEGS are quietly causing an allergic reaction on her sun exposed skin until Bam! She comes to me with pimples on her chest and shoulders where sunburn once sat and cant figure out why it happened when she thought she had chosen the best product on the market!
My Organic Angels … We absolutely can not believe what packaging is telling us! we have to be consumer savvy and do some research! as a rule stay clear of PEGS! it is true they are a good humectants – helping to draw moisture to the skins surface – but they are a chemical! there are many natural humectants out there such as …… lets use these instead of PEGS that can cause allergies and are normally attached to another nasty chemical!
As for my sun burnt friend – at least she figured out where all her nasty pimples are coming from and she has certainly learnt to read the ingredients listing! Don’t trust what they tell you on the front! Read the labels my organic friends!
Just cause it says 99% organic does not mean 99% of the bottle is actually aloe vera!