Saturday, 7 April 2012
Review - Nivea Pure and Natural
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Review - Sanex Zero shower gel
In a magazine a while go I found a sample of Sanex's new Zero % shower gel. I was intrigued to try this as it contains no parabens, phthanthates, colourants or phenoxyethanol (a preservative often used a an alternative to parabens, see post here). It also has a biodegradable formulation so it is good for the environment too!
So with the claims of having no nasties in it I was quite pleased when I looked at the ingredients that it only contained 10 rather than the usual 15+ like other shower gels.
I used the formulation for 'normal' skin (centre in the picture above) and was slightly apprehensive about how good the product would be. This is a clear product and contains no artificial fragrance but it did have a slight odd smell to it but it wasn't unpleasant. It did lather up ever so slightly but as it contains no artificial foaming agents if I expected massive bubbles and lather I would have been a bit silly. When I got out of the shower I did feel cleansed and it was actually nice to get out with out my skin being scented by a shower product so I could layer up fragrance as I wanted.
I don't think I would use this myself but if I did develop a skin condition I would without a doubt head to the shops to buy this and would recommend it to others.
Available from all good chemists!
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Nivea - Pure & Natural
I'm not a fan of Nivea products, they never appeal to me, but I'm certainly interested in trying these especially the cleanser and toner and they are a really affordable price.
These are currently only available at Boots.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Review - Good Things skincare
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Product Wishlist - Naked
2. Detox Deep Cleanse shampoo - £3.99
3. Sensitive shampoo - £3.99
4. Detox Deep Cleanse Conditioner - £3.99
5. Sensitive Conditioner - £3.99
6. Orange Blossom body wash - £3.99
7. Coco de Mer Body Wash - £3.99
8. Sea Minerals Salt Scrub - £6.99
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Product Wishlist - Organic Surge

Sunday, 15 August 2010
Paraben and SLS products and ranges
So after yesterday’s post about parabens and SLS in beauty products and highlighting all the bad stuff this post is about good products, brands, websites etc etc! All 10 products below are free from parabens and SLS.
Pregnancy/baby care.
1. Mamma Mio tummy rub oil - £22.50 (120ml)
2. Baby Organics nappy lotion - £6.99 (250ml)
Bath and Body.
4. Extra Pur shower gel - £9 (250ml)
5. Yes to Carrots body butter - £8.99 (250ml)
Skincare.Saturday, 14 August 2010
Product Awareness: Parabens and SLS
A few years ago I saw a program on TV (sorry I can’t think of it’s name or who presented it) and it was about what we put in our bodies by using beauty products. It did talk about fluoride and things like that but then went on about parabens. I had never heard of these before in my life and was very shocked at how harmful they can be.
This post is going to hopefully explain in the simplest terms possible about ‘bad’ things in beauty products so here it goes....!
Parabens.
There are many different parabens and common ones begin ‘methyl, butyl, ethyl, isobutyl, propyl’ paraben. Health risks include:
- Cancer
- Allergies/immunotoxicity
- Endocrine disruption (hormones responsible for bodily functions)
- Organ system toxicity
- Neurotoxicity (harm to brain or nervous system)
- Irritation (eyes, skin, lungs)
- Developmental/reproductive toxicity
By having effects on the endocrine system parabens mimic oestrogen, which is a female hormone, and there is research to indicate a link between this and breast cancer. Which product do you use near your breast everyday? Deodorant. This also has an effect on men as they shouldn’t have oestrogen in their bodies and as a result some men have been found to have a low sperm count.
But checking your products isn’t necessarily easy by looking for ‘paraben’ as they are sometimes called something different. Common names for isobutylparaben are:
- BENZOIC ACID
- 4-HYDROXY-
- 2-METHYLPROPYL ESTER
- 4-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID
- 2-METHYLPROPYL ESTER
- ISOBUTYL P-HYDROXYBENZOATE
- ISOBUTYL PARAHYDROXYBENZOATE
- PARAHYDROXYBENZOIC ACID
- ISOBUTYL ESTER
- 2-METHYLPROPYL ESTER BENZOIC ACID
- 4-HYDROXY-
- 2-METHYLPROPYL ESTER 4-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACID
- ISOBUTYL ESTER PARAHYDROXYBENZOIC ACID
- 4-HYDROXY- 2-METHYLPROPYL ESTER BENZOIC ACID
- SODIUM ISOBUTYLPARABEN
- BENZOIC ACID
- 4HYDROXY
- 2METHYLPROPYL ESTER
But it is also important to remember that parabens also naturally occur in some food but like everything in life in moderation these are ok but when they’re in everything you use it’s not that good.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS).
SLS is a detergent and is found in many beauty products as well as many cleaning products (in a much higher concentrate). It could cause:
- Cancer
- Developmental/reproductive toxicity
- Restrictions and warnings
- Irritation (skin, eyes, lungs)
I had seen that this was also listed as an ingrediant on my toothpaste and when doing research for this post I found out that SLS in toothpaste can cause an increase in ulcers and sores in the mouth. Eeek!
With all this in mind Im trying to use up all my ‘old’ beauty products in the hope of finding new paraben and SLS free products. So I have a number of products which I love and am currently using so thought it would be interesting to see if these contain parabens and SLS. I’m going to do this as follows: (I (ingrediants): amount. P (parabens): amount. SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate): amount) % of ingredients which are ‘bad’ stuff. Hopefully it’ll look simpler than it sounds here!
L-R:
- Body Shop banana shampoo (I: 24. P: 5. SLS: 1) 25%
- L’Occitane red rice cleanser (I: 28. P: 0. SLS: 1) 3.5%
- Avon Senses shower gel (I: 18. P: 0. SLS: 1) 5.5%
- L’Occitane citrus verbena shower gel (I: 25. P: 0. SLS: 1) 4%
- Body Shop seaweed toner (I: 23. P: 4. SLS: 0) 17%
L-R:
- No7 Perfect and Protect lip cream (I: 32. P: 2. SLS: 1) 9%
- Batiste dry shampoo (I: 8. P: 0. SLS: 0) 0%
- Lee Stafford flat iron protection spray (I: 25. P: 5. SLS: 0) 20%
- Lee Stafford poker straight glistening balm (I: 26. P: 5. SLS: 0) 19%
- No7 Lift and Luminate eye cream (I: 37. P: 5. SLS: 0) 13%
So a quick summary, the product which contains the highest percentage of ‘bad’ stuff is Body Shop’s banana shampoo and the product which contains the least is Batiste dry shampoo.
Why don’t you check out what’s in your beauty products, you could be suprised!
Tomorrow I’m doing a follow up post to this so check back then!
PLEASE NOTE: THESE INGREDIENTS HAVE BEEN CERTIFIED SAFE TO USE AND THERE IS NO CAST IRON EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST OTHERWISE. THIS POST SHOULD ONLY BE USED AS A GUIDE ABOUT WHAT YOUR PRODUCTS CONTAIN.
















