Whether you use expensive moisturizers, or discount store brands, most women apply a moisturizer to their faces at least once per day. So why is your face still dry and wrinkled? The culprit could be Propylene Glycol, a cheap filler added to many cosmetics and lotions as an emulsifier and a smoothing agent.
Why It’s in There
Propylene Glycol is the ingredient that keeps you from having to shake or stir your products before you use them. It also keeps products from freezing during shipping or storage. Propylene Glycol can perform this amazing feat because it is actually anti-freeze. Even though Dow Chemical Company reports that Propylene Glycol will not cause cancer or gene-damage, other reports show that long-term use can result in dry, wrinkled skin with reduced lipids (naturally occurring skin fats) and dulled tone and texture.
Glycol Means Glycerin plus Alcohol
Glycerin is the part of Propylene Glycol that draws moisture into the skin and holds it there. The problem is that since Glycerin can’t find any moisture on the surface, it has to mine that moisture up from the lower layers of the skin. This keeps the upper layers moist while the moisture contained in the subcutaneous and dermis layers of skin becomes depleted. The long-term result? New skin is dryer, and you end up needing more moisturizer.
Propylene Glycol is a Non-Ionic Surfactant
Surfactants act upon the surface of whatever they touch. Non-ionic Surfactants like Propylene Glycol are called wetting agents because they react with water, breaking down the surface tension that causes water to cling to itself.
Try This Experiment
Put a teaspoon of water on a piece of cardboard. The water will bead up in a mound on the top. Now get a cotton swab or a toothpick and dip it into your facial cleanser. Touch the surface of the water and watch what happens. The water will suddenly relax. It will seem to become thinner and will start to soak into the cardboard. That is because the surfactant(s) in your cleanser has broken the surface tension (cling ability) of the water. Now the water is free to move into the pores of the cardboard, taking your cleanser (and the Propylene Glycol) down in there with it.
What Happens to My Skin?
Once the Propylene Glycol gets into your pores, it starts cleaning. Chemical companies say they have made sure that the molecules of the Propylene Glycol are too large to harm skin, but that isn’t really the problem. The trouble with Propylene Glycol is that it leaves a residue behind. This means that the Propylene Glycol continues to sit on your skin after you rinse it, dissolving fats and oils that your skin needs to remain nourished, young and smooth.
What can I Do?
Always read the label before you buy. There are some great products available without Propylene Glycol, but you will have to dig around on the internet to find them. Two all natural cosmetic sites that do not use Propylene Glycol include one product, developed by Dr. Susan Taylor, formulated for women of color. The other skin care line is called Mastey of Paris, located in California. There are many others on the internet as well as in your local natural food store.
Don’t Worry
The body is incredibly resilient and any bad habit can be reversed in a relatively short time, so don’t worry so much about the damage you may have already done. The skin tends to replenish itself every three weeks or so. That means that when you start using your new Propylene Glycol-free products, you should start seeing glowing results in about a month.
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