ELS • 19
ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO COSMETICS
In a recent survey, it was found that 25 percent of the women interviewed
reported drying and burning of the skin after using certain soaps, ten percent had
eye and nasal irritations after using certain perfumes, and eight percent had cracked
lips after using certain lipsticks. The most common symptoms of allergic dermatitis
are extremely dry skin, scaling, and redness with swelling and itching. The products
most likely to cause this condition are lipstick, nail polish, soap, hair preparations,
deodorants, and perfumes. Various drugs are being developed for the relief of
allergy sufferers. However, your best help is to convert to a cosmetic product to
which you have no harmful reaction. Remember that the product is not at fault or in
any way injurious; it is your particular sensitivity to it that creates the problem. A line
of hypo-allergenic cosmetics that are relatively free from substances that have been
found to create allergic reactions is on the market.
E X E R C I S E 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
COLUMN A COLUMN B
a) investigation or study of people's behaviour,
opinions, etc.
b) of the nose
c) feeling of discomfort or pain
d) having lines or splits on its surface because it
is damaged
e) sign of illness, indicated by changes in the
body's condition
f) a skin condition or disease
g) becoming covered in hard, dry patches; coming
off in small, dry patches
h) becoming greater in size or rounder than
normal
i) unpleasant feeling on the skin which makes the
person want to scratch it
j) to be expected; probably the case
k) lessening or removal of pain, discomfort, etc.
I) change from one thing to another
m) harmful; damaging
n) relating to or belonging to only one; being
separate or different from others of the same
kind
o) not causing an allergic reaction; containing
fewer substances known to cause allergic
reactions
p) compared with others; comparatively
20 • ELS
|