Cosmetics with allergens

[harverina]

Just wondering how dangerous they can be? And how careful are you to avoid them?

My dd is allergic to milk, eggs and nuts. I was using my st.topez the other night before a wedding and noticed that the moisturiser has hazelnut in it. I had already used it and put my tan on, so just left it, but I so paranoid about touching my DD afterwards.

We are usually pretty careful and check all products...problem is my DD needs to wash he hands when we are out and about and you cant always see whats in the soap. Is this somthing to worry about?

Thanks in advance!

I'm allergic to most soaps - so always avoid them unless I know they're OK. I also find that things I'm allergic to to eat I can't use in cosmetics.

Thanks for replying...if you don't mind me asking, what are you allergic to, and how do you react to the allergens in cosmetics as opposed to ingestion?

The one that I can't eat and am allergic to that appears quite a bit is cocoa butter - violently allergic to it if I eat it - if I use something with it in I come up with a red welt where I've put it on.

Haverina, I'm just marking my place. My did has allergies to lots of foods and alot of cosmetics contain nut oils, wheatgerm oils and other things that she is allergic to.

I don't wear make up but am keen to find a moisturiser for face and body that would be safe for me to use around her. She is contact allergic as well so at the moment I steer clear of my all time favourite as I'd much rather have wrinkles than not be able to kiss and cuddle her.

Sorry haven't been back on, been busy at work...

I have been thinking about this more this week...my dd is 2 and loves to have her toe nails painted but the bottle I always use doesn't have ingredients on the bottle. I checked online and can't find the ingredients...its boots number 7. How much risk am I putting my dd in? I'm going to write to boots to ask whats in their product.

I have used Boots No.7 to paint DS's nails before (bright pink and his grandfather was not impressed ). DS is allergic to milk, eggs and nuts.

Also, I have found Boots very helpful in the past when I rang customer services to ask about why DS had a hives reaction to one of their new t-shirts. They took a lot of trouble to find out and call me back, so I'm sure they will help you if you ask about ingredients.

I do think make-up and creams can be a problem, as it is very difficult to decipher the long sciency-sounding names the manufacturers use in the ingredients lists. Why do they write 'lactis proteinium' when they actually mean milk protein? I have found milk protein in hand cream (DS got a 1.5 cm hive on his face when I touched him) and in deodorant (he was breastfeeding so would probably have got small traces on his face if I had used it). Lots of shampoos advertise 'with almond oil' or whatever on the front of the bottle when the ingredients list does not make this obvious on the back.

However, I comfort myself with the thought that if DS did touch any of this stuff, he would 'only' get hives and a rash etc. It would be unlikely to lead to anaphylaxis.

There's a blogger called Sugarpuffish who blogs about skincare and allergies. You might find her useful. I think there are others like her out there. I only know of her because she is also dairy free.