Check the ingredients before you lotion up, ladies and gents! Something in that innocent looking bottle or jar that might be making you feel smooth for a while after application might actually be messing with your skin. What is that deceptive ingredient, you ask?
Some of you probably know where this is heading: petroleum products. Those of us who grew up slathering Vaseline on our lips before bedtime remember the feeling of waking up in the morning with dry lips and immediately needing to put more on. “Oh, I’m safe, I don’t use Vaseline,” you might be thinking. Look again at your lotion. Is mineral oil on the list of ingredients? If so, you too are using the by products of refining oil on your lips and/or body.
Okay, so this sludge that comes out of the bottom of barrels looks pretty innocuous packaged up in a nice little jar, though. So what’s the big deal about it? Many people find their skin feels smoother and that these products are especially effective at soothing eczema. The problem is that mineral oil and petroleum jelly feels smooth on your body because you are trapping moisture under the skin. Sounds good, right? We want to keep moisture in, don’t we? Well, not really. Trapping moisture in means that other bad stuff stays in too. The skin helps out body get rid of toxins through cell respiration which can’t happen if the skin is coated in oil by-products! Remember, just because Vaseline is a familiar brand, that doesn’t make it totally safe to use. It is found way below the surface, past where life exists and hasn’t been accessible until fairly recently. Is that something you want to be putting on your body? Or worse, in it? Many doctors recommend mineral oil as a constipation remedy. Yikes!
Read the entire article here: What’s So Bad About Vasoline?
