European Product Review: Superdrug TEA TREE facial wash

Superdrug
TEA TREE Facial Wash
~$6.00 USD

So here's a review of a product made by Superdrug that I found while in London. And the review is, well, GOOD! It's always a good day for me to be able to give a good review of a product.

Superdrug is sort of like what Walgreen's is here in the States. This product is a simple face wash gel with natural tea tree oil and peppermint oils. So let's get started with the nitty gritty . . .

Ingredients: Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Acrylates Copolymer, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, PEG-20, Glyceryl Laurate, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Triethanolamine, Menta Piperita, Melalaleuca Alternifolia, Benzophenone-4*, Disodium EDTA, Triethylene Glycol, Benzyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylsothiazolinone, Magnesium Nitrate, Colors, Limonene.
*see post on benzophenone here

So, as far as the ingredients go, this is pretty much a typical face wash gel. The Sulfates/Betaine are the "soaps" in this product that wash and bubble. Since I don't like the color brown, I decided from now on I'll just highlight ingredients that I don't like in brown :-) As you see above, not too crazy about the use of the brown highlighted ingredients. And from reading this blog you know all about the glycols right? If not, read this post here.

Overall, I'm not convinced about the use of Peppermint, it has been shown to irritate the skin, but it may actually also have some benefit for the skin though, so the jury is out on that. I also don't care for the use of benzophenones in this product either. (Again, click here for my post on benzophenones). On the other hand, the Tea Tree Oil is a definite plus. Tea Tree Oil is a natural antiseptic and is also good for oily skin. It has been used for ages, it's safety is well-proven as well as it's benefits. So, I am very happy to see it used in this product. How much is really in there, who knows, but certainly you can smell it in the product! Tea Tree has a scent all it's own, once you smell it, you won't forget it anytime soon.

Ingredients Deciding Factor:
But what stands out in this mix?!?! And is what contributes to my favorable review . . . THERE IS NO ARTIFICIAL FRAGRANCES! Congrats on that, since this is a rarity in skincare products.

How does it work?
I have to say better than most expensive face washes I have used. This product does a great job as far as cleaning the skin goes (and hey, it does have a bunch of different "soaps" in it so it should!) and if you want to combat oily skin, I have to say it does an excellent job.

Price:
Excellent. Can't really find a face wash today for much less than the price of this product.

Overall Review: THUMBS UP
The main reasons why I gave this a good review was for the fact that there are no artificial fragrances in this product and the price. Good Job to Superdrug for a good product, especially at the price.

Demystifying Ingredients: Benzophenone

So, one of my favorite things to do is to write about many of the seemingly "complicated" ingredients in skincare products and explain what they are and, more importantly, what they are doing in your products! So today we'll tackle benzophenone. It's quite a pretty cool looking structure huh?

Unfortunately, for our sakes, benzophenone is quite a tricky and complicated ingredient, well, even more so is the question of whether or not it should be used in skin products!

What is it used for?
Well, the very unique property of benzophenones is that they are, ahem, photosensitizers and act as UV blockers is a multitude of products. They are in everything from skincare products to plastics. In skincare products, they help prevent some of the ingredients from being degraded by UV light / sunlight. It basically helps to protect the product, it's smell, it's color, etc. This is also why they are in plastics, to prevent the sun from damaging and fading them!

Does it work?
Sure it does! It is definitely effective in blocking out UV rays. Again, this is why it's in sunblock. Benzophenone-3 is a common type that is found in sunblock products, and it is usually called oxybenzone. This will be an important tidbit in a second.

FDA cleared
These benzophenones have been cleared to be used in skincare products. They have "acceptable" safety levels according to the FDA as well as CIR, better known as the Cosmetic Ingredient Review. Trust me my friends, I will write a blog or two about the CIR as well in future posts! Basically the CIR is an "independent" organization that was set up by the Cosmetics/Fragrance industry and is also funded by them as well. Again, let's save that for another post :-)

Any Dangers?
Now we get to the point of this post! There really are no long term studies done on humans. In fact, there really aren't too many studies done dealing directly with humans and benzophenone use. But there have been studies that show a carcinogenic effect; namely that ingestion of benzophenone by rats is linked to renal adenomas, especially in male rats. BTW, an adenoma is not cancer, but can be a precursor to cancer. But get this, the only reason this research wasn't able to prove the cancerous end-effect was because the rats died too early to tell whether these adenomas would turn into cancer! Yikes.

Don't get freaked out Yet!
Now remember this, studies in rats can not be simply equated to effects on humans, we are just way too different. It's just a good point to start. And remember, these rats were fed the benzophenone, and in large amounts, more than we could ever absorb through using even large amounts of skincare products. So let's not get freaked out about this. All we know is that we need more research, and the conclusions of these studies, the researchers say the same thing "we need more investigations".

Let's Reiterate This Point:
Succinctly; we need more studies. Unfortunately for the vast majority of skincare ingredients and the ones I mention on here as well, there is simply a lack of research. There is especially a lack of good research!

Not Out of the Woods Yet:
There is one very important feature of Benzophenone-3 (again, known as oxybenzone in sunblock and some personal products) that I think we should all be very aware about. Benzophenone is SIGNIFICANTLY ABSORBED THROUGH THE SKIN AND INTO THE BODY AND MUCH MORE SO THAN OTHER COMPARABLE SUNBLOCK INGREDIENTS! Got that, out of all the sunblock ingredients, this oxybenzone/benzophenone-3 is absorbed through the skin to a much greater degree.

What does this mean?
Well, let's just say I don't like it when skin ingredients pretty much leak through the skin and get into my systemic circulation and travel, pretty much, through out my body. Remember, this applies to A LOT of skincare ingredients, so I'm not picking on benzophenone. But for me, I will maybe try and avoid sunblocks with this.

Remember, there is no way that I can say for sure "this is bad for you" but my main concern is that as my readers, I want to at least give you the knowledge of what these skincare products/ingredients are and what effects they may or may not have. I just want to help you make more informed (thus better) decisions for yourself, about skincare products and life in general. When you scrutinize a small field (such as skincare) you can apply the "workings" of it to other things in our lives as well.

I hope this blog post find that you are doing well! Thanks for reading my posts here and you have my gratitude and appreciation!

Weekly Rewind: June 17th to June 22

Better late than never, huh? This week's been a bit brutal for me, doing a certification class for advanced life support! So here's the weekly rewind of last week, and what's coming up this week or so.

TUESDAY: Another post about my European Adventures, this one featuring LUSH skincare and how it is found just about everywhere in Europe. Click the link to find out what products are being pushed over there.

WEDNESDAY: This post was a personal plea to download Firefox 3 internet browser. Click to find out why I am supporting this browser and the philosophy behind it! It's all about Open Source technology baby!

SUNDAY: Yet again, more aesthetic coolness from Europe. This time check out the cool new roll-on packaging I found in (the same products) over there! I still don't get why we don't have this choice here in the states, I find it more convenient. And since I was on the European kick, I had to mention the EURO 2008 soccer championships, as it is overwhelming the European countries right now!

Stay tuned for more European Adventures posts and some more nerdy, typical TRUTH in SKINCARE posts as well! Again, thanks for reading these posts, it certainly makes my job that much easier and worthwhile!!!
love
dr d

While I'm on the European Kick . . .

Are you keeping up with the Euro 2008? It's only the most maddening event in all of Europe, the soccer championships. Its Turkey v. Germany in the next semi-final and Russia v. Spain the other. It's been full of excitement and nerves (of course), but if you want to keep track here's a widget that'll help.

More Aesthetic Coolness from Europe: Roll-On Deodorants

As, promised, a little slow, but here's another mini post about some of the cool aesthetics found in the "European-packaging" version of our products that I found while in Europe. Something as basic as walking down the deodorant aisle took me by surprise. There was a whole new package type of antiperspirant/ deodorants that I hadn't seen before: roll-ons that stood upright.

For some reason, to me, they just look cooler than the bottles we have in the U.S. I actually bought up a few and, although I didn't use roll-on types before, I am using them now! I find the design, especially the ergonomics, is just so much more user-friendly and compact. Hint to personal care products: you all ready make these products on the other side of the Atlantic, why not introduce them here, you may win over new customers! (Like me).

A bunch of brands carried this packaging options, here are two examples in the pics. Myself, I stocked up on the Sure for men. LYNX btw is like the European version of AXE.

Please Download Firefox 3 NOW!!

For a long time now I've been wanting to help get the word out about the beauty behind Firefox browsers and why it is the best browser out there, and since today is the day Mozilla is launching version 3, I thought I should post about it now. I know that the majority of my blogs are dedicated to skincare topics, but today I want to bring up something that I strongly believe in and am asking you to support/try out for yourself. It's supporting programs that make a big difference in peoples lives, whatever they may be. Today I would love for you to download the new Firefox Internet Browser. It's FIREFOX 3. I can promise you if you are using any other browser (and currently Internet Explorer by Microsoft is the most popular) you will not go back to it after trying Firefox by Mozilla.

Why is this so special and so important to me?
It's what's inside and behind the program. First of all, unlike other browsers such as Internet Explorer, there is not a huge corporation behind this program. Most importantly, it is not a "closed" platform of software. "Closed" as for example the programs of Microsoft, which do not release the details of their software, giving only Microsoft complete developmental control over add-on programs, tweaks, etc. So basically, to add increased functionality to Microsoft programs, you have to wait for them to develop them. On the other hand, the people that make Firefox, the Mozilla company, are special and successful for one major reason . . . their programming software is "open sourced". What does this mean? This means that anyone, and I mean anyone that can program, can contribute to the development of add-on programs and tools.

What does this mean again?!?!
So let's say for people, especially those who spend a lot of time on the net, would like to increase their productivity. They want little buttons here and there on their browser to keep check on things like . . . do I have new mail, how many people are browsing my blog now, I want to update my facebook quote, etc . . . ALL WITHOUT HAVING TO OPEN A SINGLE WEBPAGE.

One example that blows me away.
Say you have multiple Google GMAIL accounts. You think you have to log out of each account to check the next? Well, not with Firefox. See, with Firefox, you download an add-on (developed by amazingly wonderful independent programmers from around the world only to make your life better, and they can do this because the Firefox software is OPEN SOURCED!). Get my drift? Anyway, this add-on called "Gmail manager" allows you to list all of your gmail accounts and check them ALL instantly! And better yet, it's just a box in the bottom of your browser so you don't actually have to even go to any webpage!! You get work done without even a click! You save up to hours a day surfing the web with Firefox and the add-ons you can apply! Click here to go to Gmail manager's homepage.

Can't do it without Firefox!
To be honest, I do not believe I could be blogging and keeping up with all the things in my life without it, and I believe that, certainly, (and as most computer geeks believe) open source programming is the way of the future. And this is one of the best things to happen in the field of technology and society in general, because it is successful only and because of a community of people, open to anyone that can program. You can be a self-taught programmer in China, to a top of the line programmer in Europe who wants to build add-ons on their spare time. It doesn't matter. And with this comes so many more options that are possible than one corporation can produce, even if they are as large as Microsoft.

So please, give Firefox a try and download their latest version today! And today they are trying to break a record for the most downloads of all time in a 24 hour period. Please contribute to this program and for the philosophy behind it, that is, opening up the world to be more integrated and interconnected.

BTW, please just ask anyone who uses Firefox, I'm sure they can gush on about it as well, especially if they spent a lot of time on the net. For those of you who already know the wonders of Firefox, I'm sure you've got my back! I urge you all as well to spread the word on Firefox as well!

Please click here to go to the download and information page. Or click here to just start downloading now!

Please note, I am in no way affiliated with Mozilla or its product Firefox. This is a completely unsolicited endorsement and I am asking you to support Firefox solely on my behalf. Firefox has improved my life literally and significantly, I want to be able to say that I did my part in trying to get the word out on a program and programming philosophy that I believe is helpful to everyone.

LUSH all over Europe!

One of the biggest surprises for me was to see LUSH stores all throughout Europe, I mean, everywhere. Yeah, it's an English company, but you should see some of the places they were in. In the heart of Venice, Florence, as well as France and, of course, England. Right next to the highest-end retail stores, there was a LUSH!


So I stopped in one LUSH store in Venice and talked to a most helpful young lady. A total Italian beauty as well as completely helpful and very polite and refined. A nice find since many Venetian merchants are not always the friendliest (hey, Venice is just mobbed with a boggling amount of tourists, so I'm sure they're a bit overwhelmed). However, Miss Lush*, talked to me about the most popular products selling in their Italian LUSH stores. BTW, for how informative and helpful she was, she deserves a huge promotion, pronto!


One top product (especially for the Italian men) was the Nero Per Caso. This product is also known as 'coalface' over here! And one look at it and it's easy to see why, along with the fact that it does contain charcoal.


Another top product and one of the most recommended in the LUSH Venice store was Meravigliosa, a face moisturizer. This product is known as 'gorgeous' here in the states. With a mix of orange blossoms (which I will blog about in later posts).

Needless to say, this post is meant more for writing about some of the things I saw in Europe as far as skincare; finding out what those Europeans are up to! I will be doing a post reviewing LUSH products in the future. . . gulp! I can say for now that they are one of only very few international companies using real amounts of natural ingredients in their products and this certainly deserves a thumbs up, more to come later!

I am not associated, financially or otherwise, with LUSH. This post is meant to be a fun take, not an endorsement or scientific post.

*During my move to Hawaii, I lost some notes! So 'Miss Lush', email me your name and I'll change it here for you! Sorry I forgot!

WEEKLY REWIND: 6/9/08 - 6/13/08

Hope you had a great week all! I myself am just a bit sunburned. I underestimated the Hawaiian sun while playing some afternoon tennis, and, well, my shoulders are paying for it! Let me tell you, when in doubt, apply sunblock! I just stocked up on some more today :-)

Here's the weekly recap!

MONDAY: We did a little demystifying of skincare ingredients. I posted about the "glycols" and what they are doing in skincare products. Do you remember which one is the one in Anti-Freeze?

THURSDAY: I posted about a (finally) new advance in wound healing. Finally a glimmer of hope especially for those suffering from chronic, unresolving wounds/sores.

FRIDAY: I just couldn't resist and had to post about the crazy lip balms I came across. After the post on all the Labellos, I guess the lip balm theme wasn't quite over just yet.

Look forward to blogging with you all this week!!

Couldn't Resist! Fun Friday: Crazy Lip Balms

Here's a much lighter post. After writing about all the Labello lip balms I found in Europe, I guess I have been seeing a lot more random lip balms lately. Thanks for a post I saw at Chaptastic (if you are lip balm crazy, I suggest checking out this blog dedicated to reviewing all kinds of lip balms). Here are a couple of the crazy lip balms I've seen.






I'm pretty partial to trying out the Trix (one of my fav childhood cereals) and the cinnamon rolls. Anything to keep from eating the real stuff, right?!? Anyway hope you enjoy. I found these all on a site called PerpetualKid.com very neat!

New Advances in Wound Healing! Silica Gel Fiber Dressings

Finally, a new advance in wound healing. Working with patients that suffer chronic wounds has always been difficult for us in the healthcare industry. Patients with diabetes, vascular insufficiencies, and plain old bed sores have had a heck of a time dealing with trying to resolve open wounds that simply will not close. These cases just become a chronic condition where you simply continue to keep the area clean and re-bandage. Many people suffer from open wounds for years. Imagine the difficulty of that.

But, finally, a new step it seems. A new dressing made of silica gel was developed in Germany at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC and has the benefits of being totally absorbable by the body, so there is no need to change dressings, and, trust me, this is a good thing! And since only the outer bandage is changed, the risk of introducing infection can be reduced. The big deal is that this fibrous gel provides a great matrix for new skin cells to grow along to help speed up would healing and closure of the wound.

Hospitals should have this in just a couple years, and who knows what the OTC (over the counter) possibilities of something like this are. A new ointment to place on the would and simply cover over with a band-aid. For those who scar easily as well as anyone receiving a serious cut, the future is looking brighter!

Just a side note, wound healing holds a special place for me, it was one of my first research experiences (pre-med school) that lead to some wonderful results and learning experiences. I have to admit (and feel so badly about) but I had to sacrifice many lab rats in the process (painless euthanization, I promise!). And I used to have rats as pets, so it was a sad process.

Demystifying Ingredients; The GLYCOLS / PEG

Pick up some of your skin or hair care products and chances are one of the ingredients will be a "glycol". So let's demystify the "glycols" so you will know just what they are and what they are doing in your favorite products.

Background
So basically let's start with this. "Glycol" is the same thing as "diol" and they both mean that the chemical structure of said ingredient contains two "-OH" groups (better known as a hydroxyl group, the O is oxygen (see red molecule in image), the H is hydrogen). So what does that mean? Well, kinda nothing yet. Because there are oh so many different compounds with this double hydroxyl group. So let's narrow our focus to the ones most likely to pop up in your products. Namely, Propylene Glycol (pictured), Butylene Glycol, and the famous PEG (Polyethylene Glycol). As for the latter, we see many ingredient lists with PEG in them, so now we know that PEG is really just short for another type of glycol polymer.

What are they doing in my products?
Propylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol, and Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) are used as humectants, solubilizers, stabilizers, and to help increase product absorption into the skin. Many products have a ton of ingredients and without solubilizers/stabilizers (as well as emulsifiers, matrix creators, etc) the products would be a clumpy, non-uniform, seperated mess. Now that wouldn't sell, huh? Ok, so it's in there mostly to help the product formula come together basically, and with some added benefit of being a humectant (being able to draw in water i.e. to help moisturize) and to increase absorption.

Anti-freeze?
To prevent it from liquefying at higher temperatures, or from solidifying at lower temperatures, the glycols are added to help. As a side note, antifreeze is pure propylene glycol. Don't totally freak out though, the concentration of it in skincare products is much, much smaller, and not likely to be a major concern. But we'll cover that in a minute . . .

So what's the difference?
Besides the chemical structure, not much. But what I want to cover relating to this blog, is their safety profiles. After reviewing scientific research and the MSDS data on all of these ingredients, it's pretty much safe to say, that out of all 3 listed glycols above, only propylene glycol (yes, the one used to make antifreeze) has safety concerns that are worth noting.

As far as butylene glycol and the PEGs, there really is not much data indicating any toxic or irritant potential to be concerned about. However, for propylene glycol, it's well known (at high levels) to be very toxic and certainly fatal if ingested! And remember, it is absorbed by the skin!

What does this mean?
Well, from previous posts, and ingredients in general, just because an ingredient itself has irritant/toxic potential in its purest, concentrated form, does not necessarily mean that it is not safe to use in personal products. That being said, I think it's wise to use ingredients that we know to be safer instead, hey, it's better to err on the side of caution isn't it?

Don't get all freaked out if your favorite product contains propylene glycol, there still is no reliable research showing it's not safe to use in skincare products (but also remember that this isn't easy to prove either way!). I would, however, stick to products, if given a choice, with one of the other glycols instead.

The other concern is the absorption of these ingredients. Remember, when you see these ingredients in your skincare, it means that they may actually help your skin absorb the other ingredients in the product as well. So if there's a bunch of ingredients in the product you are using that are "yucky" or you wouldn't want to be absorbed into your skin, well, than just note that their absorption can, in fact, be increased with the addition of these glycols.

Hey, remember, I can't tell you for sure whether to use certain products or ingredients all the time, just simply due to the fact that science hasn't gotten around to proving the safety/toxicity or long-term effects of many of these ingredients. But what I hope to do is just to get the thinking process started, so that we can simply be aware of what these ingredients are, their indirect/direct safety profiles, and how they work with other ingredients. After all it's all about being a wiser consumer, especially when it comes to products that you apply (and will be absorbed) by the body! Remember, if there are definitely research outcomes proving the dangers of any skincare ingredients, I will certainly try and cover them here on Truth in Skincare!

WEEKLY REWIND: 6/3/08 - 6/6/08

Here's the Weekly Rewind for last week! It's been a while since I've been blogging regularly due to my European trip and moving to Honolulu. But I'm back with a lot more content, both fun, and, more importantly, educational. So here's some of the latest posts from last week!

TUESDAY: I unveiled where I was moving to and my plans for some future blog posts.

WEDNESDAY: An expose on the Lindi Skin line. Shame on this company for unwarranted marketing of their products for the "most sensitive" of skin, especially targeting cancer treatment patients.

FRIDAY: The first post about the products I've seen in Europe. This one covers the great aesthetics of Labello lip balms that I saw all over the European countries but haven't seen anywhere here. Please note: I'm not recommending these products, in fact, I actually don't like the way they feel necessarily, but I just wanted to give kudos to their simple, yet ingenious design & package work.

What coming up? Future posts will continue on the Parabens saga, ingredients to learn about, using natural products, and, of course, more products from the European Adventure. Overall, watch for a return to more scientific based posts. Again, thanks for all of you for reading my posts here on TiS.
xo

Why can't we have Labello lip balms in the U.S.?

Well, now that I am a bit settled into my new home of Honolulu, I can finally start posting some stuff about my trip to Europe. And why not start with something fun for all . . . lip balms! And feel free to click on the picture to expand it to see the selection in all it's glory.

Well, when I first saw Labello lip balms I was immediately taken back by their aesthetics. The design is something simple, yet beautiful. And these are just "regular old" lip balms found everywhere through out Europe (I picked some of mine up at a high end pharmacy, and some at a rest stop!!). As I had mentioned before, i don't know why, but the packaging of products in Europe just seems to be so much cooler than here in the States. Labello lip balms are one example, don't you agree? I mean, I'm sure there'd be a huge market for them here in the U.S., but I certainly haven't seen them anywhere. Maybe some of you have? All I know is that they are everywhere in Europe (and in almost all countries there as well).

So I wanted to introduce you to labello lip balms if you hadn't seen them before. Cute huh?

Now the nitty gritty . . .
Do they work? Are they good? Well, let's just say they're the same old lip balms pretty much, just in nicer containers.

Seems like labellos are made by the company that makes Nivea. Time to bring it over here to the U.S.A.!

This post is just for entertainment only. I am in no way affiliated (financially or otherwise) with this product or company.

Shame on you! Lindi Skincare

We all know that the cosmetics and skincare industries, more than most, rely on a mountain of deception, promises that never come true, and spinning fantasies in the name of selling products to consumers. Hey, but this is nothing new. Sometimes, however, a product line comes along that really hits a new low.

As you know from my previous posts, I really can't stand manipulating consumers especially by misrepresenting science. And the worst offenders are the physicians who market less than the truth to their customers as well. Please see my posts on Dr. Perricone as well! Lindi (although not founded/formulted by an M.D.) is another one of these "pseudo-medical" seeming skincare lines.

What's this all about?
Now let's get to why LINDI SKIN skincare line is the target of this post now. This line has been targeted towards cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatments. It's always good to have a niche to market a skincare line, but to aim a skincare line towards cancer patients, it better have the goods to back it up! Sadly for the Lindi Skin line, it doesn't. So what we have here is an unsubstantiated product line claiming it can help cancer patients' skin problems. Not only does it have no backing, the products' formulas are seemingly irresponsible and should NOT be recommended to cancer patients especially.

What's the logic?
It doesn't even seem, according to the packaging and formulas, that this line could even possibly be aimed for the most sensitive of skins. I certainly would not recommend this for patients suffering from skin side effects from cancer treatments.

What's inside?
Check out the ingredients.
Body Lotion contains Deionized Water, Astaxanthin Extract, Isopropyl Palmitate, Cyclomethicone, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Stearic Acid, Glycerin, PEG 100 Stearate, Dimethicone, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Leaf Extract (Chamomile), Phenoxyethanol (Plant Derivative), Benzyl Alcohol, Potassium Sorbate, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Butylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide 3, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C), Phytonadione (Vitamin K), Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Arginine, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Triethanolamine, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Parfum (Fragrance).

This ingredient list, like the rest of their products, contains nothing unique that is not found in other products. The only thing that may be unique is the astaxanthin extract. If, then, this is a secret ingredient there's no mention of it at all as being the active ingredient. Besides there is also absolutely no research information on this or other ingredients on their website. You won't find any medical study information here!

And pay special attention to the bold items above. First of all, Fragrance is the most common cause of skin reactions. What a nice additive for those suffering from the negative skin effects from cancer treatment. I would never recommend patients with such skin to use products with fragrances! They would need (like many sensitive skin patients) less possible irritants in their formulas, so it is illogical and counter productive to add artificial, synthetic fragrances to a skincare product for these people.

Take it one step further:
From my previous posts (here and here) you all know about ingredient labels, right? Ingredients have to be labeled in descending order of their amount present in the product until you get below 1%. Well, what the heck? Phenoxyethanol is the preservative in this product. And what??!?! Either there is so much of this preservative (more so than all those other yummy ingredients following it) or there is less than 1% of all of those! Either way it is quite unusual to see this sequence of ingredients. Hmmmm? Is this a mislabeling?

Well I can tell you what is poor labeling, the fact that phenoxyethanol is followed by "(plant derivative)". Not so fast! It's seems to pass over the fact that this ingredient is really a synthesized preservative. (Side note, after fragrance, preservatives are probably the #2 cause of skin reactions). I'm not saying you shouldn't have this preservative, don't try to pass it off as a quasi-natural "yummy" ingredient. It's not. And it's not natural either!

Just by looking at this ingredient list, it seems highly unlikely that a chemist or serious medical professional had much to do with it at all.

What about the website
There's a section for "Medical Professionals" which actually gives no true "medical" knowledge or facts about how this product line could even help. There's a lot about bad skin effects from cancer treatments, but nothing about how this product can help the problem. Then we can find a list of testimonials, not scientific ones, and only one is from a doctor (and who knows what his affiliation is).

Here's where it gets really shady. There is a list of cancer treatments/drugs and the products recommended for those conditions. Now this is pushing ethical boundaries, seemingly as if those products are specifically helpful for specific treatments. Where's the proof? Well, you won't find any of it on the website because there is none.

What you have is a bunch of highly medical jargon thrown in to their wording. For any non-medical professional, this can make everything confusing/convincing enough that there is indeed some medical benefits that they simply just can't make out. Take this line for example "It is our belief that individuals on treatment and/or are neutropenic, and/or are at risk of infection are best served by skin care products with an appropriate preservative system."

And you're aiming this towards cancer patients?!?
What's wrong with the Lindi Skin lip balm? Remember my post about lip balm pots? If anyone is being treated for cancer, especially with chemo, their immune system is seriously debilitated. This means that cancer patients undergoing treatment are at much higher risk for infections (by germs). Why the heck would you market a lip balm pot especially for these patients?!?! Using the finger to apply lip balm only increases the chance of putting possibly infectious germs on your lips!! Not an added risk you'd want to give to cancer patients! How can you have such a serious oversight like this.

I hope you can see why this line really irritates me. Targeting cancer patients undergoing treatment is especially reprehensible unless the product has some serious & sound backing behind it. There is nothing unique or special about the formulas of any of the skincare line's products. Certainly, nothing of note for cancer treatment patients, except THUMBS DOWN!

I please ask, if any company is marketing a product to special groups of people (especially those undergoing extremely serious cancer treatments) ASK FOR THE PROOF! This goes to show you how open and unregulated the skincare/beauty world really is!

**I have no financial or other interest in Lindi Skincare. This post represents my opinion. And I would certainly not recommend this line to cancer patients whatsoever.