Wikipedia Definition: Mineral oil or liquid petroleum is a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum based products from crude oil.

Mineral oil acts as a thin layer on the skin. It is difficult to absorb and clogs the pores, which slows the skin’s ability to eliminate toxins. In addition, it decreases the skin’s ability to absorb any of the “good” ingredients from your skincare product. Imagine putting siran wrap over your skin, and then cover it with lotion…… it will be difficult for anything to be absorbed into the skin, therefore your skin is not going to benefit from your product.

The skin is the largest organ and is important for your overall health. When mineral oil is absorbed, it is broken down by the liver and into the intestinal tract, absorbing all the fat-soluble vitamins that are there. This can lead to nutritional deficiencies, as these vitamins will not be absorbed into your body.

Why NO Dyes or Fragrances?

Skincare, especially facial skincare lines, often has a signature fragrance. Fragrance or scent in skincare, even if it’s from natural sources like essential oils, can be a big problem. Fragrance in skincare is also used to cover up the scent of the active and carrier ingredients. Clinique uses a menthol fragrance (a common fragrance additive in skincare to give a cooling sensation) but menthol can be a skin irritant.

Several lines do have hypoallergenic, fragrance free focused products, and if perfume is a problem, I’d definitely stick close to these brands, including Almay, Neutrogena and Arbonne.

Often, the chemicals used in perfumes and fragrances are synthetic compounds and many are known skin sensitizers and irritants. On the majority of cosmetic and skincare product labels the ingredients are not specified separately. Common irritants often labeled simply as “Fragrance” or “Perfume” include: Wood tars, Sandalwood oil, Benzyl alcohol, Benzyl salicylate, Cinnamic alcohol, Oak moss, Musk ambrette, Eugenol, Geraniol.Check the label of any of your existing products to see if they contain a perfume, parfum or fragrance.

Perfumes and fragrances are not a necessary additive to a cleanser or moisturizer. By avoiding fragrance we can avoid a potential skin sensitizer or irritant. Often fragrances are added to “cover up” scents of other, not so pleasant ingredients (such as animal products?).

Why NO Testing on Animals?

The cosmetic industry uses four basic tests on animals.

The first test is for eye irritations, or Draize test, in which shampoos and cosmetics are put into rabbit’s eyes, which are fastened, open. The chemical causes blistering, swelling and blindness. The pain often becomes so intense that the rabbit breaks its back trying to get away from it.

The second test is the skin irritation test in which the test animal has an area of its back stripped of fur and the test product repeatedly rubbed into the bare skin causing rash, pain and swelling.

The third test is the LD/50 test (Lethal dose – 50% die). In this test cosmetics are force fed to test animals to determine the amount necessary to cause 50% of them to die in severe agony from such things as organ blockage, toxic reaction, and convulsions.

Fourth is the inhalation test. In this test, animals are sprayed repeatedly in the face for a 2-1/2 hour period, and then killed and their tissues examined. Eye Primer