How safe is petroleum jelly?
May 10, 2005
Many people know that a beautiful and healthy skin does not just happen. So they reach out for a can of petroleum jelly to pamper, protect and preserve their skins through a daily regime of skin care. <br>But, watchout. Petroleum jelly products may not be good for your health.
By Mary Karugaba
Many people know that a beautiful and healthy skin does not just happen. So they reach out for a can of petroleum jelly to pamper, protect and preserve their skins through a daily regime of skin care.
But, watchout. Petroleum jelly products may not be good for your health.
Ori Kahana from AvoA health and Beauty Centre says petroleum jelly was originally not made for beauty purposes. It was made for industrial machines to prevent corrosion and rusting.
Petroleum jelly was created by Robert Augustus Chesebrough, a 22-year-old chemist from Brooklyn, New York who registered Vaseline as its trademark. Oilrig workers discovered that rod wax, a petroleum by-product from oilrig pumps, healed their cuts and burns. So, Chesebrough extracted petroleum jelly from the rod wax and gave it to Brooklyn construction workers to treat their minor scratches and abrasions.
He then rented a small plant and spent years refining and testing the otherwise would be rust-preventing oil for machines. By 1870, he had received several patents on Vaseline, his petroleum jelly formula for skin care. Today, Vaseline Petroleum Jelly is a staple in medicine cabinets across the world.
“Therefore, being of synthetic origin, it is not good for the face. It can only be used by professionals in beauty therapy as a pre-cleanser with other ingredients to extract pimples,†Kahana said.
Unfortunately, when smeared on the face without mixing with other ingredients, petroleum jelly closes the skin pores making the skin vulnerable to pimples.
“I am totally against the use of petroleum jelly on the face because it has different structural molecules. The skin needs natural oils extracted from vegetables with the same molecules,†she says.
Kahana also says petroleum jellies do not contain sunscreen protection and therefore act as a stimulator to melanin increase. “It actually makes the skin darker.â€
But Navin Popat the Managing Director, Unilever Uganda Limited, who market Vaseline in Uganda, argues that the Petroleum Jelly was declared by the Foods and Drug Act to be safe for the skin. It is safe and has no additives.
“It has been the most widely used product for skin protection and burn curing for centuries and nobody has ever complained about darkening and pimples.
But People are entitled to their views,†he said.
However, Kahana agrees that petroleum jelly is soft and smooth to a babies’ skin (under one year) and can be used to help relieve nappy rash.
For people who must use it, keep your face damp until the jelly has been evenly spread. It should not appear greasy.
Otherwise, a good jelly is extracted from vegetables and/or is mixed with other ingredients.
Read the ingredients before you buy or get advice from beauticians or skin specialists before you conclude on which one is best for you.
Ends
Many people know that a beautiful and healthy skin does not just happen. So they reach out for a can of petroleum jelly to pamper, protect and preserve their skins through a daily regime of skin care.
But, watchout. Petroleum jelly products may not be good for your health.
Ori Kahana from AvoA health and Beauty Centre says petroleum jelly was originally not made for beauty purposes. It was made for industrial machines to prevent corrosion and rusting.
Petroleum jelly was created by Robert Augustus Chesebrough, a 22-year-old chemist from Brooklyn, New York who registered Vaseline as its trademark. Oilrig workers discovered that rod wax, a petroleum by-product from oilrig pumps, healed their cuts and burns. So, Chesebrough extracted petroleum jelly from the rod wax and gave it to Brooklyn construction workers to treat their minor scratches and abrasions.
He then rented a small plant and spent years refining and testing the otherwise would be rust-preventing oil for machines. By 1870, he had received several patents on Vaseline, his petroleum jelly formula for skin care. Today, Vaseline Petroleum Jelly is a staple in medicine cabinets across the world.
“Therefore, being of synthetic origin, it is not good for the face. It can only be used by professionals in beauty therapy as a pre-cleanser with other ingredients to extract pimples,†Kahana said.
Unfortunately, when smeared on the face without mixing with other ingredients, petroleum jelly closes the skin pores making the skin vulnerable to pimples.
“I am totally against the use of petroleum jelly on the face because it has different structural molecules. The skin needs natural oils extracted from vegetables with the same molecules,†she says.
Kahana also says petroleum jellies do not contain sunscreen protection and therefore act as a stimulator to melanin increase. “It actually makes the skin darker.â€
But Navin Popat the Managing Director, Unilever Uganda Limited, who market Vaseline in Uganda, argues that the Petroleum Jelly was declared by the Foods and Drug Act to be safe for the skin. It is safe and has no additives.
“It has been the most widely used product for skin protection and burn curing for centuries and nobody has ever complained about darkening and pimples.
But People are entitled to their views,†he said.
However, Kahana agrees that petroleum jelly is soft and smooth to a babies’ skin (under one year) and can be used to help relieve nappy rash.
For people who must use it, keep your face damp until the jelly has been evenly spread. It should not appear greasy.
Otherwise, a good jelly is extracted from vegetables and/or is mixed with other ingredients.
Read the ingredients before you buy or get advice from beauticians or skin specialists before you conclude on which one is best for you.
Ends