Mineral oil is an odorless and colorless substance that is made from petroleum jelly. It is found in many different products such as, baby lotion, ointments, hydraulic fluid, wood preservative, pesticides, facial creams and even electrical transformers. Before synthetic oils were invented, mineral oil was used primarily as a lubricant for mechanical parts and machines that require a gliding motion.
The Environmental Working Group cites mineral oil as possibly containing cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). When used on the skin, mineral oil only keeps the area that it is applied moist while forming an impenetrable seal that prevents your skin from breathing.
Full article:
http://www.thealternativedaily.com/coconut-oil-vs-mineral-oil/
Comments
Drys my skin out completely
Thank you for you post on using natural oils rather than harmful petroleum oils. I have been trying for over a year to change all the products i use on my body to pure, organic, living ones. I am still looking for the perfect oil for my skin, but they all seem to dry my skin out. Coconut oil especially. Dry winter and humid summer. Pure organic olive oil also drys me out. I read that these oils fats pull your own natural oils out because they are higher in fat than my bodies. Thank you again for your passion about using natures gifts, but I am still looking for the one oil or combo there of that actually works for me :)
Society has been doing rather
Society has been doing rather strange things in regards to the oils on their skin. The best thing for your skin is your own body's natural oils, but for some reason people wash those off with soap, then rub oils on their skin that they bought at the store. Then the natural balance of skin oil is disrupted, and your skin produces either too much, or too little of the natural oils to try and compensate.