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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Kohl danger !








Kohl has traditionally been used in the Middle East and its use dates back to ancient Egyptian times.Just think Cleopatra’s black rimmed eyes. Later on some women believed that blackening their eyelids and eyebrows would protect them from the glance of the Evil Eye, and also prevent them from transmitting the Evil Eye to another person. 



Most women applied kohl every week, or for any social occasion, except during Ramadan, when kohl and all hennas were set aside.




Women often adjusted their eyebrow and eye paints to compliment their tattoos ( as u see the below .picture - the year 1097 woman with eyes and eyebrow tatoo ).




Homemade Preparation

Preparation of homemade kajal begins with dipping a clean, white, thin muslin cloth, about four by four inches square, in sandalwood paste or the juice of Alstonia scholaris,which is then dried in the shade. This dip and dry process is done all day long. After sunset, a wick is made out of the cloth, which is used to light a mud lamp filled with castor oil. A brass vessel is kept over the lamp, leaving a little gap, just enough for the oxygen to aid the burning of the lamp. This is left burning overnight. In the morning, one or two drops of pure ghee (clarified cow's butter) or castor oil is added to the soot which now lines the brass vessel. It is then stored in a clean dry box.
All the ingredients used in this preparation (sandalwood/alstonia,castor oil, ghee) are believed to have medicinal properties. They are still used in Indian therapies. India and Pakistan are the two largest producers of traditional kohl pencils. . But let’s see next if the claim of being beneficial for health is it true or not.





WARNINGS
Education is needed to inform long time users of traditional lead kohl of the potential hazards which include not only lead poisoning but also eye allergies and infections.
Manufacturers should be encouraged to use alternatives to lead kohl with other black pigments.
Consumers should be aware of the large amount of kohl lead exported worldwide.
Lamp-black was the most common source of pigment, though galena, (lead sulphide), and stibnite (an antimony compound), were also used for black, and copper compounds for blues and greens. These metals were toxic to bacteria carried by flies and contaminated water, so they provided some relief from conjunctivitis and other bacterial eye infections. 
The irritation from having soot in one’s eyes caused tearing, which kept the eyes washed clean of contaminants, grit, and bacteria. 
However, these toxic metals also entered the bloodstream of the wearer and the traditional formulae with these metals should never be used when there is safer cosmetic eye paint available.
Lead-contaminated kohl use has been linked to increased levels of lead in the bloodstream, putting its users at risk of poisoning and lead intoxication.
 Complications of lead poisoning include anemia, growth retardation, low IQ, convulsions,  Among the effects associated with high levels of exposure are kidney problems, and neurological damage that may include seizures, coma and death
Even at relatively low levels, chronic exposure to lead may lead to learning and behavior problems and in severe cases, death. 
Anemia from lead poisoning is of special concern in Middle Eastern and South Asian countries where other forms of anemia are prevalent — including iron deficiency anemia (from malnutrition) and hemoglobinopathy (sickle cell anemia, thalassemia).



IMPORTANT:







Before using a kohl beware in mind that kohl is it illegal in US because of the high level risk. . 
If u use kohl pencils, sticks or loose kohl, check where has been manufactured and the ingredient listing if available. 
If u are not sure, buy a kohl pencil from a well recognized company. 
I will recommend u Rani kohl, MD, saudi and egiptians pure kohl's r safe.
My favorite is it Terracotta Loose Powder Liner Kohl from Guerlain. They have got 3 colors, the turquoise is so gorgeous for the summer time, and the balck which i love it is it sensational.
It contains little glitter on it and it's a long stay. I could not find any difference  between the pure arabic kohl and Guerlain kohl .








This is what i'm talking about. U should also try this if u wanna have a safe product.
Beware of : Hashmi hohl,kajal,surma made in Pakistan and India.







Enjoy the video - how to apply Guerlain Kohl in traditional way










19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post Sister :)
I also love Guerlains kohl, I have to try the turquoise one!

Skye said...

salaamz sis
i love kohl,ive been using it for years now,even my mum uses it. but i have been using hashmi =( insha'allah nothing has happened. i have emailed this company to ask them why they put this in it.
where can i buy this nice turquiose one you say

♥ Arab Mania ♥ said...

3likom salaam hon,
That's good u have taken the initiative to email them al7amdulella.Just let us know their response inshalla and don't worry i also have been used that maybe 1year before to know the bad news.
Here u can find ur turquoise http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P116908

Love ya
xoxo

♥ Arab Mania ♥ said...

Try also to see the kohl eyeliner powder from L'oreal u might find some more colors inshalla

Stacy K. said...

Nice to know that they have some of the kohl powders at sephora. I can't wait to try it! Its worth paying a little more money to make sure you're using a safe product.

Muslimah for Jannah said...

asalam alaikum dear sister, although i never wear kohl now i want to hehe.. but inshallah i will choose one that is not so death concerning ...

love uuuuuu

oxxoxoxoxoxoxox
sis sara

Unknown said...

Hi my friend!
You ask me about clutches:which brand is it? They're, most is Judith Leiber.The others are Prada, Lanvin and Marc jacobs.

Anonymous said...

I love kohl, I use it every day. I used to use the leaded (oops, didn't know) and now I only use unleaded. ;) I have Guerlain and the L'Oreal brands. I like the Guerlain but I have the brown and it's a little too reddish on me. L'Oreal has all the cool colors, too, and it's a good product at a good price. I just don't like the applicators (it has a sponge on the end and halfway through the vial, the sponge begins to twist and warp. I tried cutting one off but it didn't improve anything.)

malizea said...

al hamdoulillah I think I am going to buy it tomorow I will let you know what I think about it ;-)

Tatyana said...

Hi,

I was wondering if you've heard of Jimalaya Kajal and if it's safe to use. I've ordered it and it doesn't seem to have any lead ingredients.

Here is the link: http://www.himalayahealthcare.com/products/kajal.htm

Thanks,
Tatyana

♥ Arab Mania ♥ said...

Dear Tatyana, all the products Himalaya r very good. I used the oil hair and some whitening cream for face and it was excellent.
I bet also the kajal u r talking abt is it safe.
To be sure i recommend u to write them and tell ur concern abt the dangerous ingredients used in kohl.

Jehan said...

i have personally used kohl hashmi for a very long time and went for a blood check but there is no dangerous level of lead in my blood. people have used it since the prophets time. and the kohl ithmid from madina that you showed in your blog is actually 100 percent lead sulphide . please read kohl : retrospect and prospect article available in google to get a more accurate information of kohl.

Jehan said...

this is the link. do take your time to read it to find out the truth www.pjps.pk/CD-PJPS-22-1-09/Paper-20.pdf because its bad fir some countries or scientist to spread fitnah or lies

ArabMania said...

Thank you "world" for the tip.
I personally believe what i have tried already, and i don't listen to rumours.
I say this coz i have used hashmi and personally i have felt bad, my eyes got red and burning everytime i have used hashmi kohl.
Afterwards, i saw the bad news on our local media.
Now i'm using the Rani kihl and seems to be fine .

Yulia Armani said...

thank you!!! i just try to find nice kohl, because i was using hashmi and i have terrible allergy in my eyes after it.

shimbul said...

Nice blog. You're article was spot on. Will you be writing a follow up article up on this? I've bookmarked your page

menoquil

Anonymous said...

Thank you sooooo much for this post!I have just recently bought one of the Hashmi Kajals but will now bin it in favour of one of the safe products you mentioned.

Thank you :)

I just recently discovered your blog and I really love it :)

Salam from Scotland

Jehan said...

lead sulphide or ithmid kohl is proven only in the year 2010 to be beneficial for the eyes. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100114-cleopatra-eye-makeup-ancient-egyptians/
The ancient egyptians proved our scientist are all wrong.

Unknown said...

Wonderful blog & good post.Its really good, awaiting for more new post. Keep it Up

Castors

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