The Beauty Brains

Michael says: I liked very much your review of Ren products and thought to myself, “What would they say about my products?” Then answered myself, “Why not ask?” So, I am putting myself and my products up on the block. Would you be willing to tell me and your readers what you think of our ingredients, copy, etc?

The Right Brain responds:
Michael thanks so much for contacting us about your line of Emily Skin Soother products. Since you were brave enough to offer your products up for our review, the least we can do is give you our honest feedback. Below you’ll find a few statements taken from your website followed by our comments. So take a deep breath, here we go!

The Pros and Cons of Emily Skin Soothers

Emily: Our original creation, Baby and Adult Skin Soother was created because of our daughter’s baby eczema. It was born of a father’s love and concern.

Beauty Brains: Wow! You have to find that statement touching unless you’re a cold hearted bee-yatch like a certain lobe of the Beauty Brains. (Just kidding, LB!) Seriously though, we like they way Michael summarized his philosophy in an email to us:

“I am not trying to scare consumers, I am trying to reach out to people who have a similar mind set and concern. I do not think such statements will make someone who does not care suddenly worry about these ingredients. This type of statement is more a pledge to those people who are concerned that we will not use such ’suspected’ ingredients because we can easily make a quality product without them.”

This is a much better rationale than companies who say “don’t use this because it causes cancer.”

Emily: It was created to soothe and beautify any type of dry and itchy skin condition.

Beauty Brains: While olive oil and beeswax will soothe dry skin, “soothing itching” is technically a drug claim and shouldn’t be made by a cosmetic product.

Emily: It is made of the bare, essential ingredients of the highest quality. We use olive oil, beeswax, and three herbs.”

Beauty Brains: While we don’t question the quality of your ingredients, let’s not to confuse naturalness with efficacy. There’s a reason that skin moisturizers contain silicones and mineral derived oil – these ingredients are better moisture barriers. You may not like these “unnatural ingredients” but they DO perform!

Emily: Skin Soothers products are natural and effective…powered by Chinese Herbs.

Beauty Brains: While we accept that olive oil and beeswax are good for skin because they provide emolliency and moisture retention, we’d like to know how the herbal blend “powers” the product. Do the herbs have proven benefits or are they just known for their folkloric uses?

Emily: We do not add anything unnecessary, so our products do not have colorants, added fragrance, preservative or any unpronounceable nasties.

Beauty Brains: Ok, Michael, be careful with this one. First of all, you’re implying your herbs are “necessary” without any proof of efficacy (see above). Second, you’re promoting fear of chemicals with your remark about “unpronounceable nasties.” Not everything with a scientific name is bad for you. For example, the official names for the herbs in your product are “Potentillae Chinensis” and “Mentha Haplocalyx.” Those names don’t exactly roll off your tongue, but that doesn’t mean they’re harmful!

Emily: Our herbs …are from an American company that batch tests all of its herbs for contaminants, heavy-metals, and pesticides and does not use sulfur preservatives.

Beauty Brains: We’re not sure how much of a danger this represents, but we give them credit for at least trying to support their claims about having pure products. Not all companies are this thorough.

Emily: A 2 oz jar costs $14.00.

Beauty Brains: We’re used to expensive products, but $14 bucks for 2 ounces of olive oil and beeswax seems a bit high!

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Compared to other companies we’ve seen, Emily Skin Soothers has a refreshingly realistic approach to marketing an “all natural” product. While we nit-picked a few technical points above, overall we respect the honest way they offer as pure a product as possible without making exaggerated claims. And most importantly, they DON’T try to scare you into buying something you don’t need.

We’ve blogged before about the soothing power of oat extract and Aveeno has positioned an entire brand around oat protein, so it MUST be good for your skin, right? For adults yes, but maybe not for babies.

A recent article in the Dermatology Times (which is always on my nightstand right next to Cosmo) reveals that children with sensitive skin may be allergic to the oat proteins used in skin products. French researchers worked with over 300 eczema patients at the Hopital Pellegrin-Enfants in Bordeaux, and found that almost a third of the kids (between 4 months and 15 years) were sensitive to oat proteins. Apparently, repeated use of skin lotions with oat derivatives can sensitize the skin and cause future allergic reactions. The researchers recommend that you do not use these products on children less than 2 years old. Ok people, let’s check our baby lotions for oats right now!

Do you or your kids have any strange skin allergies? Leave a comment and share your stories with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.

–Mid Brain

Franca speaks frankly: I’ve heard that you should avoid putting certain ingredients on your skin when you’re pregnant. Are salicylic acid, self-tanners, and sunscreens safe to use whey you’re expecting? Are there any other ingredients or skincare products pregnant women should avoid?

The Right Brain gestates this reply:

Experts agree that you should limit unnecessary drug exposure when you’re pregnant. Here’s what we found out from two expert sources: the American Pregnancy Association and American Academy of Dermatologists.

1. Retin–A (Isotretinoin)

This prescribed acne medication can cause cardiac problems in a fetus.

2. Minoxidil

Aka Rogaine, the over-the-counter hair loss drug, is also known to contribute to birth defects.

3. Fluconazole

A topical antifungal drug, can also be teratogenic (causes birth defects).

4. Sunscreens and Sunless Tanners

Fortunately, these appear to fine. There have been no reports of babies born with problems related to the mother’s use of sunscreens. In fact, since UV radiation may cause folic acid deficiency, which can lead to neural tube defects like spina bifida, sunscreens could actually help!

5. Salicylic acid facial products

We couldn’t find any mention of risk from these products either. But muscle creams containing a related compound (methyl salicylate) can be dangerous if overused, even if you’re not pregnant.

We hope this info is helpful but please be sure to check with your doctor to make sure you’re doing everything right for your baby’s health.

Penny is perturbed: I’ve been using Aveeno Baby Sunblock Lotion on my 2 year old but I read that it contains dioxane which causes cancer. Should I switch sunscreens? The Left Brain explains:

What is dioxane?

Penny, the chemical you’re referring to is actually 1,4-dioxane. It’s not an ingredient so it won’t be listed on the package, but it is a contaminant that does show up in small amounts in some cosmetic raw materials. Typically it comes from ingredients that have “PEG,” or “Polyethylene” in the name. In the case of the Aveno sunscreen it comes from PEG-100 stearate, which is used to dissolve the oil soluble ingredients in the product.

Can this chemical be dangerous?

Yes, under some conditions. 1,4 dioxane was linked to cancer in animal feeding studies done in the 1970s by the National Cancer Institute. Given that danger, the FDA decided to conduct additional studies to determine if the chemical can penetrate skin when applied from cosmetics. They found that yes it can. But they also found out that since the levels of 1,4 dioxane in cosmetics are low and that since it evaporates relatively quickly, very little actually gets into the skin. So this appears to be another case of an ingredient that is carcinogenic at very high levels but does not pose a danger under normal use conditions.

Is my sunblock safe?

Yes, according to the FDA: “The 1,4-dioxane levels we have seen in our monitoring of cosmetics do not present a hazard to consumers.” Furthermore, they say that their testing shows that levels of 1,4 dioxane are actually decreasing due to improved manufacturing processes. For more details, including full technical references, see the FDA’s report on 1,4 dioxane. That’s good enough for me.

Katie C Writes:
I just got married AND I have a new baby. My friends told me to try “The Original Little Sprout line of baby products but, even though my husband Tom says we can afford it, I wonder if it’s really worth the money. What do you think?

The Right Brain Reciprocates:
As a rule, we find that cosmetics for celebrities (baby or otherwise) are over-hyped and over-priced. The Original Little Sprout line doesn’t appear to be much different.

We looked at several products including their “2 in 1 Soft & Clean BABY SHAMPOO & BODY WASH” ($13.98 for 8.5 oz) and we weren’t impressed. While their website assures us that “An exquisite mixture of SOOTHING BOTANICALS leave your Little Sprout’s hair & skin ultra soft, nurtured & clean” a review of their ingredients reveals a pretty standard baby shampoo type formula. And as we’ve said MANY times - botanicals don’t really do squat!

Here’s how they list their ingredients (complete with their spelling errors!):

Aqua (WATER,Cocamidoproplye Betaine (FROM COCONUTS & BEETS), Sodium sweetalmondphoacetate (FROM ALMONDS) Sodium lauroyl Glutamate (MILD CONDITIONER & ANTIOXDIDANT) Decyl Glucoside (GENTLE SURFACTANT) Sunflowerseedamphoacetate (from SUNFLOWER OIL) peg 150 distearate, methylisothiazolinone-mild preservative,Methylchlorothiazolinone (E.U. APPROVED PRESERVATIVES).

It`s hard to fully decipher their ingredient list because of multiple spelling errors and their use of incorrect ingredient names. (they even misspelled “anti-oxidant.” As scientists, it’s hard for us to support a company that can’t even spell the names of their ingredients correctly. We hope they’re not that sloppy when formulating their products!! But we digress…)

Basically, it`s a baby shampoo. Instead of sodium or ammonium lauryl and laureth sulfates (which most shampoos use) this product uses the same basic ingredients as other baby shampoos: amphoacetate, decyl glucoside, and glutamates as primary cleaning agents and PEG-150 distearate to thicken and boost foam.

Is this a good shampoo for babies? Yes, it appears to be. Is it in any way better than a regular baby shampoo that costs much less? Not technically speaking. We do have one good thing to say about their formula, however: it`s fragrance free. So if your baby is particularly sensitive to fragrance, then this product could have an advantage. But it`s really rare for that to be a problem. For the most part, they`re trying to mislead you by cashing in on a fear of chemicals that’s based on bad science. They even make a big deal out of their products being paraben free when there’s no proof that parabens are bad in the first place (Go read our post on the perils of parabens for the true story on that topic!)

The Bottom Line:
Do you need to be cautious about the products you use on infants? Certainly! But you don’t need to spend a lot of money to be careful. On the other hand, if you`re the kind of person that wants to impress other women by using the same thing on your baby that Angelina Jolie uses on little Maddox, or if your goal is to be like Courntey Cox, Debra Messing, Brooke Shields, and other Hollywood types who are Little Sprout Devouts, then go for it. But The Beauty Brains would rather skip the extravagant celebrity-hyped products and start saving for college!