Many people over the years have been using lanolin. For the longest time, it has been used as an emollient in lotions and body creams to prevent dehydration. Now, most people do not know what it contains, who should use it and where to apply it.
So, before we go any further, what is lanolin?
A Quick Understanding of Lanolin
Lanolin is yellow-waxy sebum that sheep naturally excrete. It primarily helps sheep to protect the wool and condition it.
Usually, the properties of lanolin are similar to those of the sebum that humans produce via the skin; however, unlike sebum, lanolin has triglycerides.
The conditioning property of sebum is what makes lanolin popular, especially among human skin, hair, and cosmetics products.
It has been promoted as a natural remedy for skin’s water loss and primarily helps moisturize the skin.
In the past, people used lanolin to treat different skin issues; surprisingly, it worked.
Lanolin is available in two forms: lanolin and lanolin alcohol. The latter is mostly used to make skin care products. Since it has high-fat content, it prevents water from evaporating from the skin, keeping it moisturized.
With the good praises that lanolin continues to get, one might wonder why it is bad for the skin. Well, let’s now dig deeper to know this and highlight the side effects of using lanolin!
Why is Lanolin Bad for the Skin?
People used lanolin for a long time – until it was no longer good for the skin. One might ask themselves, what exactly went wrong?
Honestly, everything was good with using lanolin until people started allergic reactions. This is mainly due to the presence of pesticides used to disinfect sheep.
To date, unrefined lanolin is dangerous for the skin since it contains allergens. Before it’s deemed fit for use by humans, it should pass through multiple processes.
Also, it’s important to know that lanolin is an ointment and occlusive product. It is therefore supposed to be used on healing skin, not intact one. Lanolin is a common ingredient in various products that deal with certain skin issues.
However, despite its healing effects, people using lanolin on burns, eczema, or raw nipples are still experiencing allergic reactions.
In addition, its high fat content makes it unsuitable for people who suffer from acne. Of course, it will just trigger more breakouts.
Generally, the fact that lanolin contains pesticide residues is reason enough to give it up. It might not clear your skin issues as you expect and instead cause them to flare up.
Here are the 7 top side effects of using lanolin…
1. Allergic Reactions
As mentioned above, lanolin is known to cause allergic reactions to the skin. This, however, might not affect everyone. If you are allergic to wool, you automatically become allergic to lanolin since it’s extracted from the sheep’s skin.
According to a study, people with lower leg and anogenital dermatitis are allergic to lanolin. Therefore they are likely to experience rashes and burns on the skin after using the wool alcohol.
2. Causes Skin Irritation
Skin irritation is also pretty common in people who use lanolin. Those with sensitive or cracked skin may suffer the most irritation since it contains lanolin.
In most cases, lanolin alcohol is used in making skincare products. These ingredients are primarily used in medicated ointments for eczema, burns, cracked skin, and other conditions.
Now, instead of actually helping in healing these issues, lanolin can lead to severe irritation due to its occlusive nature.
Due to the irritation, the skin of people using lanolin may become red and sore.
3. Leads to Pore Clogging
Normally, lanolin is known to be comedogenic, which means that it is pore-clogging. This product reacts to different skins uniquely, so some may not suffer from clogged pores while others will.
Lanolin is like sebum; it also contains fatty substances that largely lead to pore clogging. Of course, this happens when the environment is right such as when you’ve over-exfoliated.
However, if your skin is well maintained, meaning that you cleanse it regularly without stripping off the natural oils and moisturizing it well, then lanolin won’t clog the pores.
4. Causes Breakouts
In connection to the point above, lanolin will cause skin breakouts. When your pore clogs, it prompts the skin to produce pimples which may flare up if not well handled.
People with oily, acne-prone, sensitive skin are most likely to suffer from breakouts. Also, for people who think that lanolin might fix acne, it may not work in some cases. It makes the situation on the face worse.
Read: 8-Step Skincare Routine for Acne
5. Lanolin Poisoning
Yes, lanolin can poison you. However, this is only possible when you have ingested it through the mouth.
Lanolin is used in making lip balms, and if you are not careful when applying it, you might end up applying excess amounts.
There is always pesticide residue in lanolin which also causes poisoning. The most prevalent symptoms of lanolin poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, skin, and redness.
6. Skin Swelling
Another common side effect of lanolin is swelling of the skin. You might use it and then wake up one day with swollen lips, eyes, and general body.
Most of this swelling is mainly due to excessive scratching. This, of course, shows that lanolin does not work well on your skin.
7. Leads to Oily Skin
Lanolin can also lead to one having oily skin. Now for people with oily skin already, lanolin is of many benefits to them. However, you need to apply only a little amount on the skin to prevent oil overproduction.
Read: 8 Tips How to Get Rid of an Oily Face Naturally
Takeaway
If you are planning to use lanolin, first understand your skin type. Is your skin sensitive, acne prone, or does it suffer from wool alcohol allergies? By knowing this, you save yourself from the harsh side effects emanating from this product.
For most people, lanolin has been useful, especially in retaining skin moisture. If it hasn’t worked for you or your customers, you can try using mineral oil, paraffin, and petroleum jelly. These contain the same properties as lanolin and will most likely not cause allergic reactions in most people.
