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Are PUFAs harmful to skin?
Hi, I’m Kixie from Cambridge, MA and I’ve been studying cosmetic chemistry (autodidactically) and making my own products for about 10 years. Long time follower of Perry and Chemists Corner, first time posting.
I recently came across this blog post: https://beautyeditor.ca/2017/02/22/squalane
The author, a beauty “expert,” claims that polyunsaturated plant oils age/harm the skin because they’re unstable and “oxidizing like crazy on your skin,” and warns that the use of skin care oils should be restricted to saturated fats like coconut and squalane.
It all sounded like baloney to me so I Googled and came up with similar blog posts as well as sources claiming the exact opposite. I’m hoping someone here can shed some light or point me in the direction of reliable resources on the topic.
Thanks!
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4 Replies
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Polyunsaturated fatty acids such as squalene, present in sebum are highly comedogenic as are fatty acids with conjugated double bonds such as linolenic acid.Peroxidation of the latter in the presence of light and oxygen is rapid.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4756869/ -
It’s known that oleic acid, a monounsaturated oil, encourages the growth of malesezzia fungus on the scalp. I would not use it in skin products.
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I would do better and more credible research before accepting conclusions. You are citing an article with no Journal articles in support or footnotes, written by a Journalist.
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I have not (and do not) accept conclusions from articles/blog posts with no credible references. That was the point of my question and I was in the process of researching the topic when I decided to see if experts here had any information or resources they could share.
DRBOB, thank you for sharing that study. It has led me to others.
Since posting, I came across this episode of the Beauty Brains where Perry discusses EFAs and skin: http://thebeautybrains.com/2014/07/are-omega-3-essential-fatty-acids-bad-for-skin-the-beauty-brains-show-episode-41/
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