Can skincare products cause organ failure?

Nanophobia has officially hit the skincare market. This week's NY Times "Skin Deep" covers nanoparticles, the tiny skincare components that are engineered on a nanoscale, which means really, really small--like a million times smaller than Honey I Shrunk the Kids small--and whether or not their ability to penetrate the skin could cause liver failure. It's fun, light reading...

Apparently, nanotechnology in skincare doesn't necessarily effect all of us. Chantecaille's unfortunately priced $420 nanogold cream is prohibitively expensive for most, as is the $125 Cor soap sold by Bliss, and the $1,000 La Prairie Cellular Cream Platinum Rare is just a joke at this point. (So, so curious to know how many they've sold at this point!)

Still, the number of products that incorporate increasingly less expensive nanotechnology is growing, and due to blood stream permeability, some researchers (rightfully) have their respective panties in a bunch. "Skin Deep" writer Natasha Singer was quick to state: "But cosmetics industry representatives said there was no evidence that personal care products that contain nano-size components constitute a health hazard."

Well yeah. Because there are no long-term studies.

Should we be more serious when faced with "questionable" ingredients in our skincare products?

It's not like they'll necessarily kill your unborn children: "Ken Marenus, the senior vice president of regulatory affairs worldwide at the Estée Lauder companies, said nanomaterials had to undergo the same kind of assessment for exposure, risk and dosage levels as any other cosmetic component. 'The same toxicological standards for every chemical will apply to nano,' he said." Huh.

Sadly, the article doesn't come to any kind of conclusion about whether this is a dish best served outside of the 'spread it all over your skin' realm. It seems only time will tell. But at least you can gloat about not being foolish enough to rush to pay hundreds of dollars for your nano eye salve. Um, unless you did.

We'll be investigating this issue down the road. Stay tuned folks!

Beauty news junkie? Get the latest in skincare, health and more over at allure.com.

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