Your skin is the body’s largest organ of elimination, it is vital that the skin be free to release toxins.
Mineral oil impedes this process allowing toxins to accumulate which can promote acne and other disorders.
It also slows down skin function and normal cell development, resulting in potential premature aging of the skin.
Mineral Oil and petroleum based ingredients are incredibly cheap for the manufacturer compared to botanical ingredients and are used in very many personal care products today. For example baby oil which is 100% mineral oil!
Mineral Oil serves no useful purpose to the skin in terms of adding moisture as may be implied by some of the advertising.
It does however perform very well as a physical barrier because it is made up of large molecules which coat the skin just like a plastic wrap. Hence the reason Hospital burns units use pure mineral oil to initially prevent burns from further damaging the skin. For this purpose it is useful.
However, today we are encouraged through advertising to believe that Mineral Oil is moisturising for the skin and that preventing the release of moisture from the skin is beneficial somehow.
In fact, it is most definitely not beneficial to prevent the skin from doing what nature intended in any way.
When used regularly in toiletries Mineral Oil acts by disrupting the natural immune barrier, and inhibits the skin's ability to breathe and act as nature has designed it to do so since man first evolved.
Lip balm is a prime example of how coating the skin with a non breathable layer on a regular basis can seriously affect its normal moisture balance.
Petroleum Jelly, a derivative of crude oil forms a non absorbent oily film over the skin, to lock in moisture as the advert rightly says. However that’s not the full story!
Initially it will leave your skin feeling silky smooth. However, it also prevents your skin from performing its normal respiration function, causing it to sweat beneath the oily surface layer. This creates further drying of the lips and inevitably creates an unnecessary dependency on the product in question.
This is most easily illustrated by those who use petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to moisturise lips.
With continued use the lips become increasingly dry and a dependency is created. ie: Lips feel dry, petroleum jelly is applied, lips feel soft for a bit, it then wears off or is ingested, lips feel dry again. More petroleum jelly is applied, and so on...
The above catch 22 cycle of dependency can be broken. By replacing your usual lip balm with a plant based balm containing botanical oils and either beeswax, vegetable wax or similar, instead of the wholly unnatural mineral oil or petrochemical based ingredients.
Botanical Oils do help to replenish the vital oils needed to keep your skin functioning normally and soft comfortable lips will quickly return. The reason being that Botanical Oils are made up of comparatively tiny molecules known as lipids, which can easily absorb into the skin via pores and hair follicles unlike Mineral oil and petroleum bases.
In fact, over time with the use of a botanical balm or oil less of the product will be required once the normal moisture balance has returned to the skin.
At Innocent Oils we make our balms with cert organic refined Hemp Seed Oil for very good reason.
It is deeply penetrating due to its tiny lipid molecules and contains the most ideally balanced ratio of Essential Fatty Acids required for the production of healthy and supple new skin tissue. This is especially useful for dry lips and eczema affected skin.
Innocent Hemp Seed Oil Balm also contains lashings of pure Jojoba and Apricot Kernel Oil both highly reputed for their anti oxidant properties, vitamin and mineral content and no added nasties.
Namaste all, and enjoy Innocent Oils
Helen x
Available online: Innocent Oils full range www.innocentoils.com
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