I’ve been using this moisturiser for a while and only just noticed that it contains Macadamia nuts in the ingredients. This is a lesson for me to always check ingredients, even on skincare products because I have a severe allergy to all nuts (except almonds). The weird thing is though that I appear to have no adverse reaction to using it.
Should you avoid skincare products contain nuts if you have a nut allergy?
Should we be erring on the side of caution and avoiding skincare products that contain nut ingredients?
How is that I can use this without any problems?
I can’t eat any peanuts, cashews, walnuts, pecans, pistachios or hazelnuts. I can’t eat any nuts at all and it I do I will go into anaphylaxis. So what is going on here?
I think this is because they use macadamia nut oil that has been processed so that no protein is left, but how do you know that when buying skincare products?
Barefoot SOS Face & Body Rescue cream also won Silver in this year’s FreeFrom SkinCare Awards.
Barefoot SOS Face and Body rescue cream
An intensively rich and nourishing cream which provides welcome relief for extremely dry, sensitive, irritated or uncomfortable skin. Our advanced natural therapeutic formula is gentle enough for all ages and may also be suitable for those prone to eczema and psoriasis.
Combining the highest quality blend of natural, ethically sourced plant-derived ingredients and the finest pure essential oils, this rich and nourishing unique cream offers the following benefits:
- Stellaria (Chickweed) and Burdock Botanical Extracts instantly comfort and soothe irritation
- Macadamia* and Evening Primrose Oil deeply moisturise and restore parched skin
- Organic Sulphur (MSM) intensively softens and replenishes dry skin
- Pure Essential Oils of Neroli and Chamomile gently nurture the skin with a soft aroma
- Free from synthetic chemicals including paraffin, parabens, SLS, as well as artificial colours, fragrances and animal ingredients.
- Use regularly on your face and body to restore normal skin texture and maintain suppleness.
Use SOS Face & Body Rescue Cream daily to:
- Highly moisturise and soothe all kinds of dry, sensitive, uncomfortable and problem skin
- Support withdrawal of steroid creams
- Help and control patches of eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis
- Provide extra moisture for elbows and knees
- Soothe and hydrate wind-chapped or sun damaged skin
- Deal quickly and effectively with allergic flare-ups
You will love SOS Face & Body Rescue Cream if you have the following skin types:
- Sensitive
- Dry & extremely dry
- Parched
- Irritated
- Uncomfortable
- Eczema
- Psoriasis
- Dermatitis
Ingredients include:
Aqua, Water, Squalane, Macadamia Ternifolia, Simmondsia Chinensis, Cetearyl Alcohol, Borago Officinalis, Glycerin, Cetearyl Glucoside, Helianthus Annus, Glyceryl Stearate, ,Oenothera Biennis, Panthenol, Tocopherol Acetate, Lonicera Caprifolium, Xanthan Gum, Dimethyl Sulfone, Lonicera Japonica, Allantoin, Aloe Barbadensis, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Calendula Officinalis, Alcohol, Tocopherol, Glyceryl Caprylate, Citrus Amara, Berberis Aquifolium, Limonene, Lavandula Angustifolia, Arctium Lappa, Stellaria Media, Anthemis Nobilis, Farnesol, Geraniol, Benzyl Cinnamate, Citral, Citronellol, Benzyl Benzoate
I’ve been using it, so what did I think?
This cream really smells divine. I think it’s the neroli and chamomile that give it such an amazingly fresh and clean smell. I tried a small bit on my leg first before spotting the macadamia in the ingredients, and as mentioned above, I didn’t get any reaction to that. I have also tried it on some nasty eczema patches and it’s really soothing. I’ve also put some on a few bad bits of angry eczema where I’ve picked a scab too many times, so if it was going to react it could easily get into the skin where it’s broken. I’ve had no adverse reactions from that either.
I haven’t tried it on my face yet simply because it’s really sensitive right now and I don’t want to get confused between just my bad skin and this cream, but I’ve tried a tiny bit behind my ear and on my neck, which is sore at the moment from hives and eczema and again, it’s just very soothing, smooth and easy to use.
It goes a long way too. You don’t need much to cover quite a wide area of skin so it should last a while and this nice little sized sample fits nicely into your handbag or makeup bag.
The nut warning…
* Please note this product contains Macademia Ternifolia which comes from the Macadamia nut. Anyone who has an allergy to Macademia or other nuts may wish to exercise caution and either not use it or make sure you skin patch test a small area first.
I asked Barefoot SOS about this as I have a nut allergy myself, though I’ve never eaten Macadamia nuts or been testing to see if I am allergic. This is what they said:
“Yes it’s macadamia nut and I’ve just spoken to our technical advisor about using the products if you have an allergy. She advised that it shouldn’t present a problem, especially if you’ve already tried it on your legs and nothing has come up. Apparently (apologies if you already know this – I didn’t) nut allergies are triggered by fungus that is present in peanuts. Once a person is sensitised the presence of particles of other nuts in food for example can trigger allergic reactions. However, an oil is extracted from the flesh of a nut by pressing and the end result is filtered extensively, so no particles of the original nut should be present.”
I’m not quite sure about that statement that ‘nut allergies are triggered by fungus that is present in peanuts.’ Is this true?
I’ve never heard this before and always thought it was the protein in the nut that caused a reaction.
Anyone know anything about this? So far I seem to fine using it and I have quite a severe allergy to peanuts and some other nuts.
Hi Ruth,
Glad you like the Barefoot SOS cream – it went down really well with both our judges and our Beauty Bible testers – hence why it won a silver in our Body/Haircare category!
On the subject of the fungus/macadamia – it’s feasible that any fungus could trigger an allergy, but the usual nut-allergy problems are linked to nut proteins, not fungus. There could be some confusion here with a problem I’ve read about concerning peanut butter, I think, where a fungus growing on the source peanuts can result in increased levels of a toxin in the resulting butter, which can cause health issues. But please don’t take this as read: it’s just something that rings a bell, so will need to check it.
Good luck to all entrants!
Alex.
Hi Alex. I have heard something before about the fungus on nuts but I think this is something separate to a true allergy. Again, I too could be wrong. I think you can get a life threatening reaction to some prawns and types of fish for the same reason, not the actual fish but some kind of fungus or other. Needs more looking into. If you remember where you read about I’d be interested to hear. My skin is amazing now after a few days at a health spa unwinding and chilling out so am feeling brave enough to use it on my face. It’s certainly a lovely cream. Very luxurious when you’re used to industrial type tubs of paraffin emollients. Definitely deserves the silver award! My mum loved the anti-ageing samples I gave her from Barefoot SOS too. Perfect to spa breaks as the samples are small enough not to weigh down your luggage.