I get letters. This time, the letter was from a young Mom:
Is 4 years old too young to use oil free acne stress control night cleansing pads made by neutrogena? As the mother I use them every night. Some nights my 4 year old son will come in and want to clean his face as well.
I didn’t think it would harm him till a friend of mine said it would mess up his skin. Should he not be cleaning his face with this yet, am I harming his face by letting him use the cleansing pads?
Here’s how I responded to her, after thinking about it for a while:
Personally, I wouldn’t allow my 4yo to use this sort of thing if I was in your situation.
But here’s what you can do instead: save a half-dozen of the pads after you use them, along with their can/container. Rinse them in a bowl of water until they’re completely free of the Neutrogena chemicals and paint or otherwise decorate the container to make it something special.
Now fill up the container 1/2-way with water. Put a few drops of lavender and it’ll even smell nice, then add the clean pads in the specially labeled container.
Problem solved and now your 4yo has a special face cleaner all their own, just like mommy!
What do you think, dear reader? Good solution? What would you do in this situation or if sent this particular question?
That seems like a great suggestion to me! Also, a good resource is the Environmental Working Group that breaks down a lot of the concerns. You can look up almost any product. Some things are shocking! My aveeno (which I feel like seems natural) is totally poison 🙂
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/408190/Neutrogena_Oil-Free_Acne_Stress_Control_Night_Cleaning_Pads/
I think your response was perfect and far healthier for her child!
Below is the list of ingredients for the product in question: It says “keep out of reach of children!”
(I went to the manufacturer’s website but Mama Gigi’s link is far more informative on the specifics of why each chemical is bad. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/408190/Neutrogena_Oil-Free_Acne_Stress_Control_Night_Cleaning_Pads/)
Active Ingredients:
Salicylic Acid 2%
Inactive Ingredients:
Water, Alcohol Denatured (40%), Butylene Glycol, PPG 5 Ceteth 20, C12 15 Alkyl Lactate, Cetyl Lactate, Cocamidopropyl PG Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, PEG/PPG 20/6 Dimethicone, Benzalkonium Chloride, Sodium Citrate, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance
Warning: For external use only. When using this product skin irritation and dryness is more likely to occur if you use another topical medication at the same time. If irritation occurs, only use one topical medication at a time. Avoid contact with eyes. If contact occurs, rinse thoroughly with water. Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, get medical help or contact a poison control center right away.
It’s also important to keep in mind that everything we apply to our skin affects not only the topical tissue but must get processed through our internal organs (liver, kidneys etc.) and the list of chemicals above can be very toxic to anyone, but most especially a child. The mother would be better served finding a natural alternative such as essential oils or herbs from a health food store. In addition skin issues are typically a result of poor diet; change the diet and skin issue is permanently resolved, no need for topical treatment at all.
What a great response – and so much better than just telling your child “no” (which goes over oh so well). Love it!
These are by far my favorite thing to put on my son. They wash beautifully and look brand new after many months and are so incredibly soft! I wish that long sleeve ones were available! They do run a little small, so it’s best to order a size up.
Um, what? What are you talking about, Leisa? 🙂
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