Safe ways to use skin products

While certain products are extremely useful for the skin, they can be quite irritating and should be used with care whenever they come into contact with the skin. Some of these products include:

Hair relaxer:

This contains a harsh chemical called sodium hydroxide, or as it is commonly known, lye. Its purpose is to change the hair structure to make it straight.

Prolonged contact with the skin leads to severe irritation due to the high alkaline content in lye. It is advisable to have a bottle of neutralising shampoo in hand whenever you relax your hair. The neutraliser is acidic and will stop the action of the alkali, rendering it inactive.

Ensure that the lye does not come into contact with your eyes. If this happens, clean your eyes thoroughly and see a medical practitioner.

Acetone:

Acetone is widely used as the main ingredient in nail polish remover. Its purpose is to dissolve nail polish resins adhering to the nail plate. Due to its nature, it does come into contact with the skin surrounding the nails. It is extremely drying to the nails and skin. In fact, when you use acetone a couple of times, you will experience nail weakness and peeling.

Do not use pure acetone to remove nail polish. Look out for good quality removers marked “oily nail polish remover”. You may add a drop of glycerin or olive oil to your remover to make it less drying to your nails and cuticles.

The writer is the national director, Safe Skincare Initiative. Any questions? Email [email protected]