Early in 2006, I had all the children (6 at the time) in the bathtub. While they were playing around, I picked up the bottle of baby wash I had always used. For the first time ever, I looked at the ingredient list and I was horrified when I realized that it was full of chemicals and petroleum based chemicals.
I immediately decided that I was never going to buy another bottle and that I would learn how to make my own soap. Thus began my soapmaking journey that would eventually lead to the launch of Goat Milk Stuff.
A lot of people ask me why I was so upset about the fact that there were petroleum based chemicals in the baby wash. After all, most people have been told that petroleum jelly is good for your skin.
Personally, I disagree. I have no desire to put anything made from crude oil (no matter how refined) on my children’s skin or on my skin. That doesn’t seem natural or healthy to me. And if you’re concerned about saving our environment, because it comes from crude oil, petroleum jelly is not a renewable resource.
Here are 6 more specific reasons why I don’t use petroleum jelly as any type of skin care.
1. Petroleum jelly may potentially prevent the elimination of toxins. Your skin releases a lot of toxins and because petroleum jelly creates a barrier that seals off your skin, it can prevent your body from realeasing toxins. So these toxins then remain in your body, potentially doing harm.
2. Petroleum jelly may potentially cause yeast infections. Petroleum jelly is promoted because it can seal off your skin from water and air, thereby preventing windburn and helping your skin stay moisturized. Unfortunately, the flip side is that because petroleum jelly doesn’t allow your skin to fully breathe, it can create a warm, moist place which is perfect for yeast and fungal infections. This is especially true if you’re using it as diaper rash prevention.
3. Petroleum jelly may potentially clog pores. Cosmetic grade petroleum jelly is classified as “non-comedogenic” which means it is not supposed to clog pores and worsen acne. However, because it provides a moisture barrier, there is the potential for it to trap dirt and oil which can clog pores. There also seems to be a lot of people who have found that petroleum jelly worsens their acne. More studies appear to be needed to clarify this issue.
4. Petroleum jelly is difficult to remove from your skin. Petroleum jelly is not water-soluble, so it is difficult to wash off your skin. This can lead to build up and irritation.
5. Petroleum jelly doesn’t actually add any moisture to your skin. Petroleum jelly does not add any moisture to your skin, it just seals everything off and gives a false sense that your skin is hydrated.
6. Petroleum jelly needs to be highly refined to remove all contaminants. Petroleum jelly often contains a variety of contaminants including carcinogenic ones that need to be removed. Vaseline brand is reputed to do a great job at this, but some of their competitors may not be so diligent.
When it comes to taking care of my family’s skin, I want to use products that are natural and that I feel are healthy. It doesn’t make sense to me that even though petroleum jelly can eat away at latex, it is touted as being good for your skin.
I believe that we live in a world that is full of toxins. It is important to me that I eliminate as many of these toxins as I have control over. That’s why we eat healthy foods and use our goat milk soap on our skin. But there are still contaminants in the air and in the items that we come in contact with. One major way that our body eliminates these toxins is through our skin, and so to me, anything that creates a barrier over our skin is best avoided.
Do you use petroleum jelly as part of your skin care routine for you or your family?
Note: After writing this, several people shared with me that they were told to put petroleum jelly on their feet before bed. I would suggest that our foot care pack is a better for taking care of your feet!
I don’t now – and I’m going to check a few products we have after this post – but I did try it for diaper rash once on the advice of day care. It seemed to not help at best, maybe make things worse, so I switched within a few days. Poor kiddo. 🙁
Interesting – let me know what you find! PJ
LOL… I was just thinking this morning about how dry my feet were. A few weeks ago someone told me to put petroleum jelly on them and wear socks to bed. I wasn’t too thrilled with this idea because I thought there might be lots of toxins in it and your feet absorb a lot! I was just thinking about how I needed to look into more about petroleum jelly and Bam! Here’s your post!
Thanks!
Love it!! PJ
dammit. I would die without vaseline for my lips. what is the next best thing???
Our lip balm, of course! LOL http://www.goatmilkstuff.com/Lip-Balms
Thanks for all the enlightened advice and information. Never thought of this bein a bad item until I read this blog. Thanks again. God bless
I’m glad I could help, Ronda! PJ
I prefer to use coconut oil– virgin oil and cold pressed. It has o many uses. It’s amazing!!
Agreed! 🙂 PJ
I use to use baby oil on my face until I found out what it’s made from.
Exactly! Yuck! PJ
Interesting post. Scary what people believe is so good for them.
Yes, it is. There have been lots of times false information has been fostered on people. PJ
wow… that is truly scary! I am adding that to the list of things I am going to avoid
I’m glad the information helped.
PJ
I knew about the clogging pores but not the others!! Good thing I’m stocked with GMS!!! 🙂 And my pups are stocked too!
Definite good thing! PJ
Thank you for this article! I had petroleum jelly by the bed but now it is in the trash! Going to check out the foot care pack 🙂
Love it! That made me laugh. 🙂 PJ
Interesting information! I’ve never liked petroleum jelly much myself (it’s a texture thing for me…it just makes me feel sticky), but my mom uses it…I will have to share this information with her!
Sounds like a good plan! PJ
I did not know that about petroleum jelly. Thanks for the info!
Glad to help! PJ
This is kind of dumb because it seems like your doing this to promote your GMS because your saying it is better so how do I (or we for those that agree) know that you are being 100% honest and not just doing it to increase said
Not to be argumentative in the least, but, PJ states in her post “may potentially” more times than once. The only thing I have used petroleum jelly for is on an incision from surgery due to doctor’s orders. It did heal the incision. I was told by a friend to use it as eye cream. BIG mistake! My eyes were red and irritated the next morning. In my “opinion” petroleum jelly is way too thick for use as skin care. Your skin can’t breathe. I personally have NEVER been able to use any skin care that had fragrance in it, but, I can use Goat Milk Stuff soaps on my face. They do not irritate my skin at all. So far, my favorite is Fiji Island. I love it!
Thanks for your reply, Carolyn! PJ
Well, Stephanie. That brings up a very big point. You can’t trust everything you read on the internet. You have to do your due diligence to find out if the person you are reading is trustworthy or not. I have never claimed to be perfect and if I ever discover that anything I’ve ever posted is inaccurate I always correct it. So the question becomes, do you believe that I have any integrity or do you believe that I’d purposely post inaccurate information just to make a buck? You don’t know me, so I don’t mind you questioning me. But I can tell you that everything I do is watched very closely by my children. So for me, integrity is very important. I would tell you what I tell my children all the time. Don’t take anybody’s word for it – try it and/or test it and make a decision for yourself. PJ
I agree. If it’s not safe to eat don’t put it on your skin.
This articles is based & biased on a lot of “potentially / maybe”. I request people reading this article not to throw your vaseline jar just yet.
Please see this link: http://www.vaseline.us/skin-health-care/does-vaseline-clog-pores.html
Vaseline has even given links to scientific study to back up their claims. So, decide for yourself, folks.
Just to mention, crude oil is not man made as commented on this article. It is as natural as it can get. Petroleum jelly is a byproduct of crude oil filtration for fuel use.
Hi Samuel – I agree that people need to do their own research. I did my research and came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t put petroleum jelly on my skin or my childen’s skin. Not everyone needs to come to the same conclusion. But I get asked this question and so I answered it from my perspective. PJ