The Science of Dosage: Everything in Moderation

By James Kennedy

A healthy life requires balance, and everything useful for humans works best when taken at an optimal dose – including the ingredients that go into skincare products.

Take sunshine, for example. Sunshine helps our bodies accumulate vitamin D, which is good for our bones. Too much sunshine, however, causes sunburn, accelerated ageing and skin cancer. The same goes for food: too little leads to starvation, too much can lead to obesity, hypertension and diabetes. Anything useful to humans works best when taken in the right dose.

The same goes for the ingredients that go into skincare products. Body wash, for instance, contains small amounts of preservatives that eliminate bacteria, yeast and fungi that would damage your skin. Too much of those preservatives would also be harmful to our skin – it’s a delicate balance. All of which is why skincare companies strive to design products to resist contamination without harming our bodies.

James Kennedy is an Australian science teacher and a chemical safety expert with over five years of experience advocating for a rational approach to public chemical safety. James Kennedy has provided permission for the use of this content for HEALTHY ESSENTIALS^®.

©Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. 2019