Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulphate (S.L.E.S.) is a foaming water softener/emulsifier produced by treating coconut with a sulphur salt, alcohol and oxygen, all ubiquitous natural constituents of higher life forms. Please see our detailed safety data on S.L.E.S. and other ‘supposedly’ harmful ingredients in our scientific exposé “Personal Care Toxicology: The Facts”. You will be shocked at what is really harmful and what is not. More often than not, the truth is actually counter-intuitive and most so-called completely natural products (are they really?) are far more hazardous for the body and especially the skin than those using natural sourced ingredients specifically enhanced by rigorous innovative science, including the much-maligned petrochemicals, without which the modern world would not exist.

Natural petrochemicals (only the pure distilled oil and gel are used to produce an inert non-oxidising and hence as safe a spreading cream as possible), are sourced from crude oil, the result of the return to source of the constituents of ancient vegetation and algae over millions of years and representing the richest repository of pure organic natural substances laid down before any anthropogenic activity and resultant pollution. As with money, all such raw materials can be used for good or for evil and are not inherently one or the other.

Mineral oil is distilled crude oil, the lipidic equivalent of distilled water. In fact, the highest distillation grade white oil, as used by Gaia Organics, represents the primordial lipid, without the synthesis of which, no life would have been possible on Earth. Aqueous cream is natural mineral oil and jelly semi-naturally emulsified with water and in our application, is a proprietary formula of these highly purified end-stage natural-sourced materials, used to spread the active constituents over the skin and temporarily substitute for protective sebum inevitably washed off during routine washing.

Some local manufacturers/distributors of so-called natural/organic personal care products, eg. Esse Organic Skincare, Enchantrics and Naturebabes, when exposed by us as having sneaky double standards, claim an informed choice to use Cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) rather than Sodium lauryl ether sulphate (S.L.E.S.) as a foaming cleanser (it is less stinging to the eyes). CAPB, like S.L.E.S., is also a semi- natural substance, made by treating coconut oil with petrochemicals.

Cocamidopropyl betaine has however been increasingly identified as a significant cause of allergic contact dermatitis, to the extent of being voted “Contact Allergen Of The Year” in 2004 (Mowad C, Adv Dermatol, 20:237, 2004); (Shaffer K, 15th Ann Meet Am Contact Dermatitis Soc, Wash, 5 Feb, 2004); (Agar N et al, Australasian J Dermatol, 46(1), 2005); (Bloom M, Recognising contact dermatitis, Dermatol Times, June, 2005).

To see the full article in a seperate window, please click here.

It is an ignorant, malicious myth that cosmetic mineral oil clogs pores. The molecules are too large and oxidatively stable to do so. Ironically, it is plant oils, which initially become thinner as they warm up that will migrate into and clog pores as they progressively oxidise, increase in viscosity and harden extra-cellularly. It is generally not understood how undesirable it is to apply any plant oil to the skin in excess of the crucial amount that can be incorporated into living skin cells within 15 minutes. As natural health consumers, we go to great lengths to acquire and refrigerate cold-pressed food oils, yet fail to consider that plant oils applied to the skin due to body heat and ambient temperatures in addition to the 21% oxygen in the air, ubiquitous daytime ultra-violet light and likely air pollutants are consequently certain to oxidise within a mere 20 minutes, let alone continue to do so all day before eventual removal, prior to which trillions of premature skin-aging & tumour-inducing free radicals and other reactive oxygen species increasingly oxidise the oils and assault the skin. Toxic aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and acids are produced that destroy the biological integrity of cellular essential fatty acids, damage cellular membranes and macromolecules and critical microstructures such as DNA, leading to premature aging, inflammatory skin disorders and skin cancers.

See our detailed report: “Mineral vs. Plant Oil As Carrier/Spreading Agents In Cosmetics: A Modern Reappraisal”.

Not listed in the catalogue entries are the constituent ingredients of the Aqueous Cream, which like other complex ingredients, is listed as the complex. However, because the once standard British Pharmacopoeia Ung Emulcificans Aqueosum (UEA) formula is modified to meet our needs as entirely suitable for leave-on applications, Gaia Organics, in the interests of total transparency, shall proportionally list all the individual constituents: 1) water; 2) mineral gel; 3) cetyl stearyl alcohol; 4) mineral oil; 5) sodium lauryl sulphate; 6) methyl paraben and 7) propyl paraben. Items 2&4 are fractionally distilled to purity from crude oil, the richest and purest natural organic repository on Earth; 3&5 are synthesised from coconut oil and 6&7 from gum benzoin and are nature-identical to those found in Oka (an edible tuber) and Mangoes respectively and are used in traces just sufficient to maintain the integrity of the base cream long enough to complete product formulation, when colloidal silver and essential oils assume ultimate duty in the cream products. No parabens are used in non-cream products (those not listed as containing aqueous cream), which non-cream, but rather water-based products, are manufactured individually from start to finish, rather than from a common base.

Regular UEA contains too much Sodium lauryl sulphate, not only as a formulating emulsifier, also more to increase utility as a soap-free cleansing emulsion cream. It is also generally inappropriately preserved for leave-on purposes, traditionally with chlorocresol, but now more frequently with phenoxyethanol, which latter has spoilt a long and impressive widespread-use history of suitability for even troubled skin conditions such as eczema and (radiation) burns. We stand by our UEA as superior to ‘natural’ water & plant oil emulsions in terms of quality, safety and efficacy for our purpose of a stable inert spreading cream for our biological actives in such products. See Why is Gaia Aqueous Cream safe? We again challenge the opposition to provide a full listing of their ingredients and sub-ingredients as we have done. We really are proud of ours, they apparently not of theirs, as witnessed by only partial, and or vague listings of selected hype ingredients.

Contrary to popular misbelief, parabens are not diabolical chemical poisons invented by mad scientists to inflict havoc on human health. Like us, they and their loved ones too are exposed. Parabens have direct correlates in nature. In fact, all plants produce p-hydroxybenzoic acid, albeit in small quantities (Viitanen P et al, Plant Physiol, 136(4), 2004). Well-known plants known to significantly synthesise parabens as defensive chemicals against attack by micro-organisms include carrot, olive, cucumber, honeysuckle and ylang ylang (Bach M et al, Plant Physiol, 103(2), 1993); (Aziz N et al, Microbios 93(374), 1998); Smith-Becker J et al, Plant Physiol, 116(1), 1998); (Dweck A, “Natural Preservatives”, Cosmet Toilet, Aug 2003).

The parabens used in Gaia creams are 100% nature identical, as consumed by millions in natural foods, such as tubers, herbs, fungi and fruit. Plants known to synthesise Methyl paraben include Birthwort (Aristolochia kankauensis) (Wu T et al, Phytochem, 36(4), 1994); Guan pepper (Piper guanacastensis) (Pereda-Miranda R et al, J Nat Prod, 60(3), 1997); Coprophilous fungus (Guanomyces polythrix) (Macias M et al, J Nat Prod, 63(6), 2000); Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) (Walker T et al, J Agric Food Chem, 51, 2548, 2003) and Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) (Pal Bais H et al, Plant Physiol Biochem, 41(4), 2003). Plants known to synthesise Propyl paraben include Verticillium spp, [filamentous fungi that inhabit decaying vegetation and soil (read “organic” produce)] (El Aissama A, Mycopathologia, 144(2), 1999) and Mango (Mangifera indica) (Chirawut B, Sangchote S, 15th Australasian Plant Pathology Society Conference, Deakin University, Geelong, 26-29 September, 2005).

The oestrogenic activity of methl- and propyl- parabens are so ‘weak’ that few scientists have even mentioned it, so much so that as risk factors, these have been off the scientific radar for several years now. It is difficult to understand why they are still a pariah, other than ignorance or deliberate malicious commercial agendas, as attested to by the fact that the following foods have ‘potent’ oestrogenic activity, is never mentioned: alfalfa, almonds, anise, apple, banana, barley, broccoli, cabbage, canola, cauliflower, carrot, cherry, chickpea; clover, coffee, corn, cumin, damiana, fennel, flaxseed, garlic, green bean, hop, lemon, lemon balm, licorice, lima beans, mint, oats, oregano, pea, pinto beans, pomegranate, plum, potato, rice, rice bran, rye, rape, sage, sesame, soybean, split pea, sunflower seed, thyme, turmeric, verbena, wheat, wheat bran, wheat germ, yam & yeast. Included are the oils of olive, corn, safflower, wheat germ, soya, rice bran, peanut and coconut. (Sob M, Naturally Occurring Estrogens, in CRC Handbook of Naturally Occurring Food Toxicants, Miloslav R (Ed), CRC Press, 1983); (Davis D & Bradlow H, Sci Amer, Oct 1995); (Davis D et al, Nature Sci Med, May/June 1997); (Zava D et al, Proc Soc Exp Biol Med, 217(3), 1998); (Piersen C, Integrative Cancer Therapies, 2(2), 2003).

For a more detailed exposition, please see our full report: “Parabens: Friend or Foe?” here.

For an exposé on the claimed superior alternative, namely Grapefruit Seed Extract, see here.

“Most Sunscreens Do Only Half The Job, Blocking Unsafe UV-B Rays, But Not Skin-Damaging UV-A
Can We Get Better Cover?” By Jennifer Huget, Special to the Washington Post, Tuesday June 28, 2005

“With growing certainty and trepidation, dermatologists, cancer doctors and anti-aging gurus over the past decade have come to realize that available sunscreens may fight only half the battle, fending off the sun’s short-wave UV-B radiation. What’s missing is an equally useful weapon against longer-wave UV-A rays, whose deleterious effects have only recently come to light.” (Gaia Research has been saying this in the prior decade!)

“Scientists have come to understand that while UV-A damage isn’t immediately visible. UV-A is now thought to be a prime culprit in premature wrinkling. More unsettling, UV-A now is believed to alter skin cell's DNA, causing mutations that can lead to the big ‘C’ (cancer).” (Gaia Research has been saying this in the prior decade!)

“(Only) Avobenzone (a drug), Titanium dioxide and Zinc oxide (two natural minerals) are known to protect against UV-A (& UV-B). An application for the human drug product Mexoryl (irresponsibly already in use outside the USA and available on eBay, for example) is currently undergoing regulatory review before the FDA for permission to market or use commercially.” (Gaia use safe [non-nano-particle] Zinc oxide & Titanium dioxide)

Below follows how I put the above-summarised ‘revelations’ in considerable scientific detail some 10 years ago. As I have said before. “We Lead; Others Follow”. “In Us You Can Trust. Science Fact, Not Science Fiction”.

Not only are these products bogus science and easy revenue hype for various collaborating industries, but also perpetuation of same by actively contributing to photo-ageing and even more atrociously, increasing the risk of the deeper and far more deadly skin cancers, as well as suppressing other essential factors reliant on natural sun exposure for optimum health and prevention of not only skin cancer, but also eg. menopausal complications, both high blood cholesterol and blood pressure, vitamin D deficiency, osteoporosis and even cancers other than that of the skin, especially prostate cancer and breast cancer, the fastest growing cancer epidemics amongst males and females respectively.

Increasing chemical sunscreen use is scientifically linked not only to greater risk of chemical carcinogenesis (chemically induced cancer - higher SPF’s = more chemical ingredients = increased likelihood of carcinogenicity), but also enables prolonged exposure as a multiple of the Sun Protection Factor (SPF), thereby artificially delaying the natural inflammatory erythematous (reddening) warning signals which would otherwise alert one to the fact that one’s evolutionary and or ethnic tolerance level for the entire spectrum of solar exposure was being exceeded (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Jan. 1994). Sunburn protection does not imply skin cancer protection.

To access (in a separate window) the full one page “Shocking Truth” document, replete with verifying scientific references, click here.

Gaia uses the only two natural UV-A sunscreens approved by the US FDA, namely Zinc Oxide and Titanium dioxide (Gaia do ‘not’ utilise nano-particles). Gaia also use nutritional Para-amino benzoic acid (PABA), a FDA approved natural UV-B sunscreen. Industry-wide use of synthetic PABA esters have created reputations as skin sensitisers, yet nutritional PABA, a natural component of folic acid and a B-complex vitamin constituent of many whole-foods, when stabilised with anti-oxidants such as green tea extracts, remains the safest UV-B screen available besides the refractive minerals, but unlike these, actually bonds to the skin’s surface proteins, affording durable UV-B absorptive protection should the minerals be rubbed off. Gaia also uses minimal anti-oxidant vitamin E, which is synergistic with PABA.

Gaia also uses Sesame oil for its anti-oxidative lignan and phenolic constituents and for its relatively high refractive index. Tannic acid is also used in some (darker) products as an effective UV-absorber, polyphenolic anti-oxidant. Both sesamol and tannic acid have specific skin carcinoma-inhibiting properties, as does also Green tea, to an even greater degree than the former two and over and above the latter’s anti-oxidant properties, so much so that green tea extracts have been the most promising substances in the field of skin-cancer prevention and treatment for the past decade, limited only by it’s non-patentability.

To access (in a separate window) the full one page “Safe and Effective Sun Protection” document, replete with verifying scientific references, click here.