How does it happen?
How does life just TAKE OVER?
One minute you feel like you are in complete control, and then you seem to blink and when you open your eyes BAM! your “to do” pile is a skyscraper.
I have not written a post since Christmas! How did that happen? I could give you all a run down of my life since then, but it would probably not look any different from any other working Mum’s timetable, I have just somehow fallen that far behind.
Anyway, hopefully this is a return to how I want things to be, because believe me, if I was hiring me my job would be on the line.
I recently got an “Ask Kylie” question regarding nanotechnology, and whether or not Ali Hamylton Cosmetics uses it.(ha, I say recently, but that is only because I am way too embarrassed to say when the question was actually asked, hopefully Olivia will save me the embarrassment of telling everyone… please). Got to admit, I really didn’t know much about this when it came in, but I am more up to speed now.
So, what is nanotechnology? According to Wikipedia it
“is the study of the controlling of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally nanotechnology deals with structures of the size 100 nanometers or smaller in at least one dimension, and involves developing materials or devices within that size.”
YIKES, let’s try and put that into terms that we all understand…
Nanotechnology is about changing any material from its original size and making it much, much smaller. Here is a little graph that shows the dimensions of a nanometer;
A nanoparticle compared to a soccer ball, is the same as the soccer ball compared to the earth… pretty small hey!
Getting to the bottom of whether or not this is a good or bad thing is to say the least, a HUGE challenge, as, 1) the jury is still out on the research, and 2) no one has to tell you whether or not they are using nanotechnology anyway! But getting it right is really important as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, two key minerals in sun damage prevention, are in question, and they are key to the health of your skin.
I am not going to get into the argument of whether or not nanotechnology is a bad thing, as I am nowhere near qualified as an authority, but according to Paula Begoun, the cosmetics guru, there is a bit of a storm in a tea cup going on. In her article titled “Nanotechnology” she says …
“What’s been reported about these benign sunscreen ingredients often sounds scary, with some reports going so far as to state that nanoparticles of these sunscreen actives reach the bloodstream and are potentially dangerous. Some articles about sunscreen nanoparticles have even stated these can interact with sunlight and cause cellular damage to skin. As alarming as this sounds, these assertions are not supported by any published information and they are without support from the medical world or the FDA.”
Now, given that more evidence has come to light since this article was written, evidence that sort of proves that nanoparticles do enter the blood stream. I say ‘sort of’ because Friends of the Earth have leapt onto this band wagon with lots of scary stuff but, according to Professor Brian Gulson of Macquarie University (the man who is at the forefront of this research), “the researchers still don't know whether the skin penetration is by ions or particles, and what health effect the skin penetration has.”
And then I found another article, by cosmeticsdatabase.com that is doing a backflip on all the articles they had written previously opposing nanotechnology, now they say that the benefits of using titanium and zinc in nano-sized proportions far out weigh any negative side effects, of which there were none.
I might sound a little cynical about all of this, but it kind of gets up my nose. I am more careful than most about what food comes into my kitchen, and what goes onto the skin of me and my family, but I know for a fact that the word ‘natural’ is bandied around by the food and cosmetics industries with very little proof. So many things are touted as ‘natural’ but the process of getting them to that stabilised state is anything but. The truth of the matter is you wouldn’t want them in their natural, unstabilised state as the risks involved are far higher. I mean really, get an avocado, mush it up and leave in on the shelf for a couple of days, then see if you want to get those beneficial components from a ‘natural’ source.
Furthermore, there is no regulation over the word natural anyway. It is one of the questions that I get asked the most, ‘is Ali Hamylton natural?’ I could just say YES, 100%, no one would or could get me in trouble, but what we say is “wherever possible, we use natural ingredients”. There are some pigments you wouldn’t want to be natural as they are full of lead!
So, what is the answer to the question… Does Ali Hamylton use nanotechnology? Well, according to the man that stirs the brew in his cauldron, no, there are no nanoparticles in any Ali Hamylton lipstick, foundation, concealer, pencil, shimmer… none. So why have I written this long, long, looooooong, explanation? Well, that would be because I felt like it J.
I will be back on board now, and there is a post on the way that is a “how to” get that perfect Rita Hayworth look.
Take care, Kylie x
Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 12:56PM 
