We are always trying to find new ways of protecting our bodies. We try to lose weight, eat healthy foods, wear the right make-up, and buy the right products to give our hair the shine we love. Probably one of the biggest areas of our body that we try to protect the most is our skin. After all this is the part that ages the most and in the end will determine how old or young we look.
There are dozens of creams and lotions on the market that claim to be the best. We often take them at their word and try them before we 
discover that our skin seemed to get worse instead of better. Beware of these products. When buying any type of moisturizer, creams, or lotions for your skin (especially the face) you need to look on the back and see what the key ingredient is. More often than not the words mineral oil will appear. If you see these words put the bottle down immediately and move on.
Mineral oil is the worst thing that you could use on your face. It is a clear liquid oil that you cannot smell and never spoils. Mineral oil is acctually made as a byproduct of distillation of gasoline from crude oil. It is used so often in personal care products because it is cheap and easy to get a hold of.
When you purchase these special creams and lotions you are using them to wash all of the make-up off at the end of the day. You are trying to cleanse your skin and clear your pores to remove all of the toxins and junk and to keep it looking smooth and clean. Mineral oil works against this plan. When put on the skin the mineral oil will create its own thin layer over the skin – which keeps your body from removing the unwanted toxins.
Once the skin does absorb the oil – which is a long process – it is then broken down by the liver and will pass through the intestinal tract where it will abosrb all of the fat-soluble vitamins.
Mineral oil is more often used in baby products as well as beauty care products for women. Not only is this product keeping your skin from being clean – but it is also removing important vitamins from your system.
I recommend finding prodcuts that are all natural and therefore healthier for both your skin and for your babies’ skin. It is true that these products are more expensive – but in the end they will make you healthier and more beautiful.
what a load of horse puckey.
i still prefer old vaseline from the 99cent store.
not oprah approved but works for me.
I think this is total crap. Lots of “natural” ingredients are bad for the skin, and many synthetics ones are great, including mineral oil, a clear, odorless oil derived from petroleum that is widely used in cosmetics because it rarely causes allergic reactions and it cannot become a solid and clog pores. Despite mineral oil’s association with petroleum and the hype that it is bad for skin, keep in mind that petroleum is a natural ingredient derived from the earth and that once it becomes mineral oil USP (cosmetics- and pharmaceutical-grade mineral oil), it has no resemblance to the original petroleum. Cosmetics-grade mineral oil and petrolatum are considered the safest, most nonirritating moisturizing ingredients ever found (Sources: Cosmetics & Toiletries, January 2001, page 79; and Cosmetic Dermatology, September 2000, pages 44–46). Yes, they can keep air off the skin to some extent, but that’s what a good antioxidant is supposed to do; they don’t suffocate skin! Moreover, mineral oil and petrolatum are known to be efficacious in wound healing, and are also among the most effective moisturizing ingredients available (Source: Cosmetics & Toiletries, February 1998, pages 33–40).
Ihave been using mineral oil as a makeup remover for about 35 years and baby oil as an all over emollient after showering for years. I have NEVER used as a laxative but know it is primarily suggested for that purpose…wouldn’t that be truly harmful if what you’ve written is true?
I used a make-up product with mineral oil to see how it would affect me and it clogged up my face so much that I was constantly breaking out – which is something that I had never really done.
I finally switched to an all natural based make-up and my skin has never been so clear. It is not oil at all and I have stopped breaking out.
There are times that mineral oil in a different form is given to people as a laxative. It can cause serious side effects and does not always work as effectivel as other laxatives. Studies have shown that it can decrease lung function. It is true that in adults this can be a slow process – but in children it is often worse.
This is a case showing the effects of mineral oil in a child http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/103/2/e19
It only affects lung function if it is aspirated, and those who have difficulty swallowing shouldn’t take it for constipation. Not a good idea to give to children either. Like any laxative, it is not for long term use. It is cheap and effective, and painless unlike many other laxatives, but by no means a long term solution.
Because mineral oil is a lipid, it MAY remove a small amount of fat soluble vitamins from the digestive tract if they are present when the mineral oil is ingested. These vitamins are already being stored in fat cells, and you are not affecting these stores, just whatever happens to be present in the digestive system.
Crude oil is pretty natural in my opinion.
Recently, it was suggested that we not use baby oil or vaseline to wash off eye make-up. A trainer learned from her opthalmologist that they are finding a lot of cataracts in women in their early 30’s – those who use baby oil and/or vaseline to wash off their eye make-up. Personally, my skin has never been so moisturized, soft and no cracking since I stopped using products with mineral oil. Must be something to all this.
Actually, not only is mineral oil bad for your skin but it is a toxin. It has been linked to women’s hormone imbalance. Just go to wikipedia and google “mineral oil” – it’s disturbing. Certainly not anything I want on my body or my family’s. And, how about the fact that in Switzerland (yes, the country) it is ILLEGAL to use mineral oil in their skin care products. Just because 98% of the products in the US use mineral oil does not mean it’s a good ingredient – it’s just cheap!
@admin: it broke u out cuz watever ingredient besides the mineral oil that was in there was comedogenic. cuz what mineral oil does is bind any othber ingredient there is on the skin together causing it to stay on the skin thus sinking into the pore and causing breakouts. mineral oil by itself doesn’t clog it just..excaberates whatever pore clogging ingredient there is.
It isn’t ‘crap’. Several of the comments here are laughable:
‘It’s natural because it’s from the earth’
Humans evolved long after the organic material that became crude oil was embedded deep in the earth out of reach of human beings without a high powered drilling platform. If it were meant for humans and a natural part of the ecosystem in which we evolved it would be in little pools in the woods and little birds would take baths in it to protect their feathers from water loss. But it doesn’t and they don’t. I beg you to get a brain.
Tammy, you’re half right. Mineral oil seals in water, but that means it also seals in sweat and the toxins in sweat which your body removes via the skin through the sweat. Because mineral oil doesn’t soak in, it traps the toxins and over time this causes permanent skin damage.
I removed petroleum products from my life when I was 15. I’m 39 now and I look 26 at most.
Perhaps Switzerland is on to something.
i started using vaseline and mineral oil products as a night cream and have not been impressed! i have begun to get blackheads everywhere, weird places like the top of my nose:( yuck! i just bought a new organic product that is mineral oil free so i am really looking forward to it. the only other thing i have used in the past that i liked was vitamin e oil. it left my skin feeling awesome! i had people stop me on the street about how great my skin looked. i would just go back to that but i cant find the product i was using:( oh well… maybe this mineral oil free stuff will do the trick 😉