Italiano
Faq
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Nickel and Allergies
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Parabens
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Allergic Contact Dermatitis
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PaO
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Tests on animals
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Allergenes
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The capsules
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Diet and nutrients
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Dry Extracts
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Sun protection
Nickel and Allergies
Do BeC products contain Nickel?
Nickel is considered the main factor for cutaneous allergies (allergic contact dermatitis). For this reason, BeC products are regularly tested to exclude its presence and to guarantee the maximum safety to all its consumers, particularly those that manifest allergies to this metal, which could be present as impurity or residue. BeC chemical analysis is done using sophisticated equipment (Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy) which guarantees that in all BeC products the concentration of Nickel is so low to be undetectable and in any case, below 1 mg/Kg (0,001 grams of Nickel per Kg of product) which represents a totally safe value even for those people who have previously manifested allergic reactions to this metal.Do BeC products contain Nickel?
In conclusion BeC products can be safely used by all consumers, including people allergic to Nickel!
Parabens
What are parabens and what do they do in a product?
Parabens are natural vegetable substances generally present in barley, strawberries, blackcurrants, peaches, carrots, onions, cocoa….. Parabens are preservatives with an antiseptic action that guarantees the preservation of the product in time. They can be found almost in every cosmetic available on the market (creams, make-up, toothpaste, shaving creams, soaps, sun-lotions and hair removal creams, etc.) and they are indicated in the labels of cosmetic products by the name of Methylparaben, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben. The same substances are also present in food (indicated as E 214, E 216, E 217, E 218, E 219) and in pharmaceutical products indicated in the label with their chemical name. Parabens are considered the safest preservatives and have been used for more than 50 years because of the absence of toxicity, carcinogenic or mutagenic effect. Paradoxically the large use and daily contact with parabens developed among people an increasing allergy or hypersensitivity to the substance.What are parabens and what do they do in a product?
This represents the only ‘mole’ to their safety. For this reason, for the last 4 years BeC has been concentrating a considerable amount of research for the elimination of ALL preservatives from its formulations, even those as harmless and safe as parabens. At the present moment, BeC took parabens out of the formulation on IntE', Shampoo&Doccia, Bagno Doccia, doucessE', Lozione Ortodermica and Balsamo BeC. BeC products "without preservative" are constantly increasing in number (check product specifications for up-to-date information on preservatives).
Allergic Contact Dermatitis
Are cosmetics responsible for allergies?
According to the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a study published by the North American Contact Dermatitis Group (NACDG), cosmetics are responsible for contact dermatitis only in 5.4% of the cases.Are cosmetics responsible for allergies?
Despite the low percentage, it’s absolutely incorrect to say that cosmetics aren’t blameless in the provocation of allergies: there are no substances that can be considered absolutely non-allergenic (allergenic = substance that provokes allergies) to all subjects. As a matter of fact, allergic reactions are individual and hardly predictable: it’s necessary to singularly test each cosmetic product on each customer to come to a full guarantee! Obviously this is not possible. However, it’s possible to safeguard the consumer and give a safe product by testing skin compatibility of each product on a significant sample of healthy human beings to avoid a dangerous or irritant product for the majority of consumers under normal condition of use.
Moreover, to guarantee greater safety, tests can be performed in a drastic way, resorting to much higher conditions of exposure to the product than the ones consumer could ever reach. BeC uses the “Patch Test” to do so: the product is applied (along the back or on the forearm) and sealed by an aluminium capsule and glued on the skin with water-resistant patch. With this procedure the product is kept under forced contact with the skin for a long period of time – usually 48 hours – after that the patch is removed and both visual and instrumental evaluations are done to guarantee complete skin compatibility of the product.
To BeC however, the Patch Test represents the last action performed in the production of a safe product; as a matter of fact safety starts during formulation and during selection of raw materials!
PaO
What is PaO (Period after Opening) ?
The VII amendment to the EU Directive 76/768/CEE introduced the obligation to indicate the so called PaO (Period after Opening) on the label of the product to improve the information customer need to receive.What is PaO (Period after Opening) ?
The following symbol is printed on both primary and secondary packaging especially on cosmetic products:
Tests on animals
Does BeC test on Animals?
We don’t conduct animal testing on our products and don’t require suppliers to conduct animal testing on our behalf either! Safety and efficacy of all BeC products are guaranteed through tests exclusively done on voluntary healthy human beings. Each volunteer has been previously informed on characteristics and type of test to be done. BeC performs also chemical controls on raw materials before their use in formulations and secondly chemical and microbiological controls on the finished product before its sale on the market.Does BeC test on Animals?
However the testing of raw materials performed by producers (our suppliers) should also be taken into consideration.
The existing legislation forbids animal testing for cosmetic products or their ingredients, whereas alternative methods exist, and have been recognized by specific Committees as able to offer an equal safety and protection to the consumer. Such alternative methods must guarantee an evaluation of potential risk or toxicity parameters for the consumer. Before such methods were available, nevertheless, several kinds of raw materials had been animal tested by the producer to guarantee safety of use. Unfortunately still nowadays alternative methods haven’t replaced all animal testing. Therefore despite our will, some ingredients such as preservatives or dyes are still animal tested by producers in order to exclude their acute toxicity, toxicity due to constant use or a potential risk of carcinogenesis.
Allergenes
How did the cosmetic labelling change?
Since 1997, cosmetics on the European Union market must express on the label the list of ingredients in conformity with the INCI system (International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient): consumers receive standard information on ingredients contained in cosmetics. From 11th March 2005, the VII amendment to the cosmetic Directive (Directive 2003/15/CE) has introduced the obligation to indicate in the label (where the list of ingredients is) the presence of one or more of the 26 substances recognized by the SCCP (Scientific Committee for cosmetic products of the EU). These synthetic or natural substances are present especially in perfumes but also in essential oils used for cosmetic products.
Generally all substances used for cosmetic and perfume formulations (including the 26 substances) are considered to be safe according to tests which exclude the possibility of undesired reactions on the majority of consumers. However, since allergic reaction is an individual event, these new labelling dispositions intend to be a further help for allergic consumers towards a conscious choice.How did the cosmetic labelling change?
The Capsules
What are BeC dietary supplements capsules made of?
Capsules used in dietary, pharmaceutical or herbal products are typically made of gelatin, a substance that comes in various types, the most common and economic is of animal origin. Animal skins and bones are rich in collagen, a water-soluble protein from which gelatin is obtained through particular extraction processes. Gelatin is odourless and tasteless and it’s widely used in food products such as puddings, desserts, bakery or dairy preparations for its ability to gel, thicken, aerate or stabilize. Gelatin also finds its way into pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations. However, BeC supplements capsules are made of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC), a vegetable-based substance derived by soft wood pine tree and cotton fibre that contain no components of animal origin.
In comparison to gelatin capsules, vegetable ones are a bit duller but still transparent, they are more delicate and expensive and more expensive, but they guarantee a lower reactivity with the inside mixture and a better stability of water-sensitive active principles. Furthermore, studies have shown that the release of active principles from the capsule into the stomach is equal comparing vegetable gelatine (HPMC) to traditional animal gelatin. These vegetable capsules are approved by the Vegetarian Society and come with a kosher certificate, in other words they are suitable also for vegetarians and accepted by people that cannot eat food of animal origin for religious reasons.What are BeC dietary supplements capsules made of?
Diet and nutrients
Is it a balanced diet enough?
Diet is fundamental to keep a good state of health. A balanced diet has to contain principal nutrients (also called macro-nutrients) such as proteins, carbohydrates and fats (or lipids) as well as micro-nutrients such as vitamins and minerals required in smaller quantities although essential to the health of our organism. Nevertheless even a varied and well balanced diet may contain an inadequate quantity of micro-nutrients due to food preservation, exposure to external factors such as sunlight or air, overcooking, etc…that reduce their quantity in food. Average requirements of vitamins and minerals are set by official nutrition organizations of each country as well as international organizations, but generally the particular lifestyle of every single individual may require nutritional requirements different from the average: for instance stress, smoke or excessive use of alcohol may lead to a greater need of micro-nutrients from our organism. For this reason it may be essential to supplement the diet with vitamin and mineral-based products able to supplement possible nutritional deficiencies.Is it a balanced diet enough?
Dry Extracts
What are dry extracts?
Dry extracts are raw materials extracted from parts of the plant (called drugs) in which the active principles are present. Dry extracts represent the most effective and safe form that takes advantage of the properties of active principles. Drugs taken in this very way or as infusions do not represent a sufficient warranty of quality and safety for the consumer, since there’s no qualitative and quantitative mention of the real contents of active principles. For this reason BeC uses only standardized dry extracts for its formulas, a reported and guaranteed quantity of active principle (or a group of active principles with similar structure and actions); such extracts are indicated on the label of dietary supplements together with the reported standardization. In case there’s no market availability for standardized dry extracts, BeC uses extracts which indicate the proportion “extract/drug” (E/D). The proportion represents the quantity of plant (or part of plant) in kg used to obtain 1 kg of dry extract: for instance, an E/D proportion of 1/4 indicates that 4 kg of plant (DRUG) has been used to obtain 1 kg of Extract. Either ways (standardized extracts or E/D proportion) there’s the certainty of a raw material obtained with the same and reproducible method, in other words standardized; moreover the use of extracts is surely a warranty of: micro-biological and analytical controls on raw materials, lower variation of the formula and a way to get a much higher content of active ingredient than that of the plant. What are dry extracts?
Sun protection
Sun protection
Sun Protection Factor (SPF) represents a numerical value, which expresses how much a sun product protects in terms of exposure to the sun. The exact value depends on the scale of values taken into consideration. Worldwide several independent scales are used to measure SPF. A source of confusion for consumers is definitely the presence on the market of products with SPF measured according to different scales. As a matter of fact, a SPF 15 in the DIN scale (German) refers to a product with maximum protection but in the American scale (CTFA) for instance, the same value indicates a medium protection. All the products of BeC SunLine indicate SPF according to the DIN scale, which ranges from 1 = no protection, to 15 = maximum protection. Once the scale has been determined, SPF has to be chosen taking into consideration three characteristics: 1) the type of skin or phenotype, in other words the level of skin pigmentation and its sensitivity to the sun, 2) the climate zone or latitude 3) other concomitant environmental conditions: snow or other reflecting surfaces, altitude, etc... Normograms are graphics that may help with the identification of the first two characteristics. Here under an example of a normogram developed in BeC laboratories and based on DIN scale.Sun protection
It is advisable to make clear that SPF, no matter what scale has been chosen, is always an approximate value since it represents an average value referred to a certain number of people of a specific phenotype, consequently the effective protection might be different to every single individual according to skin type. Such value is therefore indicative; to respond to individual needs, it’s enough to use the SPF value superior (especially in the first days of exposure) or inferior (when skin is already tanned) to the calculated SPF value. In other words SPF value has to be customized accordingly to individual experiences and needs.
CHOOSE YOUR SUN PROTECTION
FACTOR
For example, if your skin is extremely
sensitive to uv radiation (your skin
burns easily) and the sun intensity is
extremely high (equatorial areas), you
could use a SPF 50+, while in
Mediterranean areas with moderate
sun intensity, SPF 15 would be
adequate (see example on chart). As
you can see, the line also crosses SPF
30, indicating that you can choose
which SPF is more appropriate to your
needs: SPF 30 for a higher protection
or SPF 15 for a faster tan. In general,
when the line crosses more than one
box, you can choose your SPF
according to the results you want or
the tan you already have. A higher
SPF is always recommended for first
exposures.