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Beauty and the environment, a chemical issue

altThe quality of raw materials and personal care products is vital for their marketing and use; however, this is complemented by the responsibility that manufacturers and other institutions must have towards the environment.

Beauty doesn't just involve physical appearance, clothing, colors, fashion and style. It goes beyond that: health, skin care, teeth, hair, nails and good nutrition are part of this image management.

In ancient times the canon of beauty began to be governed by a harmonious and proportionate body, women wore dressings and jewelry to highlight their beauty. Some women also waxed and took care of their nails, teeth and ears. The Egyptians, for example, anointed their body with oils and different products that removed wrinkles, used deodorants to prevent the bad smell and created, so to speak, makeup.

The feminine ideal of this time led to the use of raw materials such as saffron, seedlings, aloe, among others for the creation of ointments and products that women used to highlight and take care of themselves. They used khol to paint their eyes, henna-based powders to color their cheeks and soap was composed of alkali or potash. There was also the use of perfumes, walks, and false and painted polka dots.

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In Japan, geisha painted their lips, eyebrows, and corners of their eyes using products made from crushed safflower petals. They used bintsuke wax as a makeup base, and to color the face and back, they used white paste and powders; the eyes outlined them with rouge.

In the XXI century the thinness of the bodies attracts attention, the makeup changes between the subtle for the day and the strong for the night. Earth and dark colors, as well as pastel tones are mixed to give harmony and highlight the features of the faces. The use of wrinkle creams, skin moisturizers and sunscreens play an important role in body care.

The security of what is good

With the passage of time, skin and hair care has led to the development of thousands of products for men and women to take care of their appearance, and although the former do not recognize the need they have, suffice it to say that they must shave daily.

It should be noted that these products that contribute to beauty and care are developed and tested after a series of investigations that provide the necessary information for the product to go on sale.

The ingredients in cosmetic products can act for or against humans and nature. The Egyptians and Romans used cosmetics that contained mercury, and some lipsticks get their shine from substances from fish scales, also, to get a pearly glow in shadows, lipsticks and blushes, a natural mineral called mica is used, which is coated with a thin layer of titanium dioxide.

There are many raw materials and factors that make up the process of creating a lipstick, a blush, anti-sun, a hand cream, a tooth cream or a shade, but the most important thing is that its ingredients are reliable.

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At the request of the Personal Care Products Council of the United States, the expert panel of the Cosmetic Ingredient Review in this country conducted an investigation in March 2012 on the safety of parabens (preservative chemicals used for cosmetic and personal care products). These compounds and their salts are used for their bactericidal and fungicidal properties in shampoos, moisturizers, commercial shaving gels, personal lubricants, topical pharmaceuticals, makeup remover wipes, makeup, toothpaste, among others.

All this research is based on an alert launched a few months ago about the possibility that these chemicals were related to breast cancer, however the analysis of experts shows another panorama.

To find out a little more about the care staff and their innovations and studies, INPRA LATINA spoke with Yesid Vélez, a research professor at the Center for Studies and Research in Biotechnology (CIBIOT) of the Pontifical Bolivarian University of Colombia.

"Innovation in personal care at the moment is happening through new materials, for example in products such as sanitary napkins, diapers and others; the materials that are being used are concerned with the areas that have contact with the skin, so textures impregnated with natural moisturizers such as aloe vera have been developed, which would generate special sensory at the time of use, "he said.

As for the raw material, studies allowed to find that some materials that have been used for the development of cosmetic products have generated adverse effects with their chronic use, but having detected these situations generated developments that considerably reduce this type of situation.

Pollution vs. beauty

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The current paradigm is to take care of the environment in all industries and pollution in the cosmetic industry also occurs in this aspect.

A polluting product is one that produces multiple alterations and serious diseases, influences the body and causes malformations and premature births, among others.

These substances can also be released over time as a result of use, although they are perfectly integrated into the products, they can also be released into the environment in the production process or when they become waste, so companies and researchers are looking for ways to be more friendly to the environment and take care of man using natural products.

"The trend today is towards natural resources, we have been evaluating substrates from these resources, especially residual from agro-industrial processes. We are looking for those wastes that can generate added value to the cosmetics industry," said Vélez.

It should be noted that in recent years this industry has gone from using synthetic raw materials, to using 100% natural products for health and to contribute to ecology. And at this point, Yesid explains that this also occurs in the materials to contain the products, looking for them to be friendlier. "It has migrated from the use of animal bladders to the technology of glass that was widely used over time and we continue to depend on that material until we reach polymers, plastics that provide us with alternatives that allow us to play with dispensing systems, also because it is sought that this new material impacts the environment in a not so negative way obtaining products with a biodegradability, and that they can be used in another type of industry through recycling."

The cosmetic industry in Latin America has grown in recent years. In Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, among other countries there are associations and chambers of industrialists who work for the sector and the benefit of consumers and ecology.

Mexico and Brazil are today the best exponents in the region in terms of research and development of natural cosmetic products.

Author: Vanesa Restrepo

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