May 262010
 

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Chemical elements like gold are good candidate...
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Since I spend my time writing about the benefits of natural skin care products, you may wonder why I should even mention a skin cream that has as one of its ingredients a metal, even if it is as precious as gold. The reason is that I found this fascinating article by Jennifer Kingson in the New York Times. She starts by describing a golden collagen facial mask which she describes as “a visual and tactile delight: gelatinous, face-shaped and thoroughly golden, it arrives in a sheer plastic enclosure that invites you to squish it the way that bubble wrap begs you to pop it”. Unfortunately after using this “delight” her face developed a severe rash.

After this unpromising start you might think that this would be the end of the matter, but no, it seems that the gold was not the cause of the rash rather another ingredient of the mask. The article goes on to consider the whole question of using gold in skin care products. The gold is incorporated in many ways, as flakes which are visible or in nano form known as as colloid. Creams with visible gold flecks are claimed to warm the skin, whereas those which include microscopic particles suggest that this is essential to enable the gold to penetrate the outer layers of the skin.

This question is does gold have any therapeutic qualities? The answer you get depends on who you ask. Sellers of gold skin cream say yes, but dermatologists reply that gold cannot help you and can be harmful. On the other hand gold was named “allergen of the year” in 2001 by the American Cotact Dermatitis Society. You can read the full article here.

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