October 2002
Dear Paula,
I am an Ex-Registered Nurse and now a part-time "beauty guide" for Origins. I started with Clarins, but I eventually chose to work for Origins because although I have used and continue to use products from other lines (including yours), I found that the products I most enjoy using and the ones that gave me the best results, tended to be from Origins.

I know how you feel about the indiscriminate use of natural ingredients in cosmetics, the potential irritation these ingredients can cause, and the hype related to this practice in the industry, and I do understand your point. However, Origins maintains that each plant-derived ingredient in their products serves a specific purpose—they even publish a guide for employees explaining the purpose of each natural and synthetic ingredient in the products. You may feel the "purpose" of some of these ingredients is misinformed, based on the latest research you have seen, but it is my understanding that Origins, as a branch of Estee Lauder, conducts its own efficacy research as well. You have reversed your position about certain ingredients and skin-care practices over the years based on your understanding (and interpretation of) the latest research. Interpretation of research is key, and I sometimes wish consumers and advocates would be a bit more savvy about that.

Paula, your work has enlightened all of us about potential irritants. And yet, many of the effective ingredients that really work on skin (Retin-A, salicylic acid, AHAs, even baking soda) do their work by a form of controlled irritation. And many times, that irritation is not well-supervised or "controlled." So when someone says "it's OK to use an acid product on your skin, but it's not OK to use a product with lemon or grapefruit in it" what they are saying is "It's OK to irritate your skin if you are after a smoother, less aged appearance because the risk is worth it, but it's not OK to potentially irritate skin if you want to enjoy a fresh-smelling cleanser free of synthetic perfumes." That's a value judgment—it's a convenient interpretation of the research, based on the particular value of a youth-obsessed society.

I use AHA products and those with citrus in them because I want younger-looking skin and lovely smelling products. I discern irritation by how my skin feels after using something. If it feels irritated, I don’t use it! I just don’t believe we should be overly concerned with "silent irritation" that our skin might not let us know about and how it might be “preventing healing." To be so concerned about something so subtle while we acid, laser, and Botox our faces and expose ourselves to industrial pollution, wind, and the environment, it seems silly to me to worry about the potential irritation of a little spearmint or lemon¾especially if those ingredients please the senses or offer other benefits. I think [in order to] have zero irritation we would need to live in a plastic bubble. Therefore, I choose products based on how they feel and work, and not so much by the "bad" and "good" ingredients, which experts disagree on anyway.

Paula, I continue to be a fan of yours. Even though I don’t always agree with your perspectives, I always look forward to your reviews because I do respect your in-depth knowledge about the skin-care industry.

Maya from Las Vegas

Dear Maya,
I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me, and your points are well taken. You're right when you say that we disagree on a few points. Yes, I absolutely interpret research I've uncovered and apply that to formulations to evaluate their efficacy and claim assertions. In my reviews, as often as I can, I cite the source of the information very clearly. You mentioned that it is your understanding that Origins (i.e., the Estee Lauder corporation) must have research of their own regarding the efficacy of the ingredients they use. Whether or not that is true is nothing more than a guess because Lauder hasn't published that research and they definitely aren't sharing it with the public or their sales staff. I've seen the training manuals for many cosmetics lines, including Origins, and the source of the information regarding their ingredients isn't indicated.

For example, Origins is quite fond of using peppermint, menthol, and camphor in many of their products. These are considered counter-irritants (source: Archives of Dermatologic Research, May 1996, pages 245–248; Code of Federal Regulations Title 21—Food and Drugs Revised as of April 1, 2001, CITE: 21CFR310.545, www.fda.gov). Counter-irritants induce local inflammation to relieve inflammation in deeper or adjacent tissues. In other words, they substitute one kind of inflammation for another. The major function of these types of ingredients is to cause irritation, period. That is never good for skin. Irritation or inflammation, no matter what causes it or how it happens, impairs the skin's immune and healing response (source: Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, November-December 2000, pages 358–371). And, although your skin may not show it, or doesn't react in an irritated fashion, if you apply irritants to your skin the damage is still taking place and the damage is ongoing and adds up over time (source: Skin Research and Technology, November 2001, pages 227–237). (By the way, I can point to more sources on this matter but this should suffice.)

If Lauder or any company using these ingredients has different information of any kind regarding their use and efficacy I'm open to altering my reviews, but I have yet to see any data or research to the contrary.

Your hope that it's not significant when skin is “subtly” irritated below the surface is not based on fact but rather on emotion, regrettably an emotion shared by many people. Skin damage caused by the sun's UVA radiation or by free radicals produces considerable critical harm to skin (in the form of wrinkles, skin discoloration, or even skin cancer), yet you cannot feel any of that taking place on skin while it is happening. Waiting for the skin to react before you start doing something about it is a serious mistake for the health of your skin.

In regard to interpreting research, lemon and grapefruit are actually quite acidic and not that far afield from AHAs. The difference is that AHAs have a great deal of research demonstrating their effect on skin cells and building collagen, and improving skin texture (sources: Cutis, August 2001, pages 135–142; Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, July 2000, pages 280–284; American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, March-April 2000, pages 81–88; Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, May-June 1999, pages 111–119). It isn't about controlled irritation, it is about the benefits of these ingredients, which outweigh their potential for irritation. If the positive benefit doesn't exist, there is no reason to apply that ingredient to skin. I completely agree that smelling something nice is psychologically important and there are lots of studies showing that to be true, but that is about fragrance and your sense of smell, not skin care. Light scented candles, wear perfume or cologne, use potpourri, or burn incense, but do not let your nose dictate your skin-care routine, any more than the loving warmth of the sun should dictate your acceptance of sun damage.

You also seem to be under the impression that synthetic fragrance is somehow more problematic for skin than fragrant plant extracts, but that is not the case. In fact, research shows just the opposite to be the case (Sources: Dermatology, 2002, volume 205, number 1, pages 98–102; Contact Dermatitis, December 2001, pages 333–340; Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, May 2001, pages 172–178).

Yes, lasers or Botox are potentially extreme treatments for wrinkles (though when you consider the price of many skin-care routines they start looking like bargains), but if they are effective (and they are effective) it is my job to scour the research and present a balanced picture of their risks and benefits. It is all about gathering information that is unrelated to advertising claims and then making a decision about how you want to take care of your own skin.

You're right, it is very difficult to avoid irritation, but there are ways to do it, just like there are ways to avoid some amount of free-radical damage (antioxidant supplements and skin-care products that contain antioxidants); sun damage (effective sunscreens that contain UVA-protecting ingredients); and preventing skin injury by avoiding unnecessary skin irritants.