Reviewed and rejected: Dr Hauschka Neem Nail Oil
I can't quite believe I paid $38 for Dr Hauschka's Neem Nail Oil. I've been using it for over a year and it really doesn't do anything. I bought it hoping that it would be a natural way (it contains only plant oils including, obviously, leaf of the Indian Neem tree) to keep my nails from drying out during New York's dry winters. It didn't make a wit of difference. Plus its, well, oily. And that makes it messy to use. It doesn't get absorbed and the excess has to be wiped off with a tissue.
I was curious to see, when I looked at the ingredients before writing this post, that two of them are asterisked: linalool and limonene, which are possibly cytotoxins.
Ingredients: Arachis Hypogaea (Peanut) Oil, Melia Azadirachta (Neem) Leaf Extract, Anthyllis Vulneraria Extract, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria/German Chamomile) Flower Extract, Fragrance (Essential Oil), Linalool*, Limonene*
Loading...
A recent study showed that lavender essential oil is cytotoxic to human fibroblasts in vitro and onion skin cells. Linanool was the theorized culprit as its cyotoxic activity is higher than the oil tiself
Posted on March 30, 2008 at 8:52 am
I came across that too. The study I found was by the University of Westminster in London (my alma mater as it happens). However, I couldn't find anything else that corroborated it. I have stopped using my l'Occitaine lavender hand cream in the meantime.
Posted on March 30, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I read the comments about the concerns about Lavender essential oil and did some sleuthing in the National Institute of Health database of published research. There is really nothing outside that one study that backs this up. In reality, the question is not so much whether linalool in lavender oil can be cytotoxic but whether it is present in typical products containing lavender oil in the amounts that can be cytotoxic or otherwise damaging with topical use. Almost anything can be cytotoxic under certain conditions. Topical retinol, for example, can cause skin damage if use in excessively high concentrations and so can many other potentially beneficial substances, including vitamins and minerals. One needs to look carefully at specific experimental data to make a true scientific determination.
From a common sense standpoint, Lavender essential oil has been used for literally thousands of years and is is even used in foods and teas. It seems a shame to stop using your lovely L'Occitane lavender hand cream when this study only suggests that it can damage certain cells growing in a petri dish aka in vitro. There has been no such documented negative results on a living human.
Onion skin cytoxicity? I am not going to lose sleep over this as to the best of my knowlege our human skin is a tad different from that of an onion - although as we age we tend to look like them.
Posted on May 29, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Janna
Thank you for your - sensible - sleuthing. I tend to agree with you. One study (even from my alma mater) does not a body of work make. I shall continue to use lavender products until - if - more evidence emerges. Its important to try to have all the information possible, but mot lose perspective. If I sound as if I am, do write in and put me right.
Posted on May 30, 2008 at 4:23 am
[...] and recommended October 4, 2011 By Marta Wohrle Leave a Comment I once paid $38 for a bottle of Dr Haushka’s Neem Oil, and after a year of using it on and off, I felt mostly disappointed and somewhat robbed. Fast [...]
Posted on October 4, 2011 at 4:37 am