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Semiprecious stones and metals have shown up in skin-care
products on and off over the years, with silver and gold
appearing on the scene periodically. Lately, tourmaline
is the gemstone that is showing up in Aveda and Creme
de la Mer products (both are owned by the Estee Lauder
company), and many women want to know if it has special
properties for skin.
Tourmaline is an inert, though complex, mineral. One
of its unique properties is that it is piezoelectric,
meaning that it generates an electrical charge when under
pressure. That's why tourmaline is typically used in pressure
gauges. Tourmaline is also pyroelectric, which means that
it generates an electrical charge during a temperature
change (either increase or decrease). Neither of these
actions can take place in a cosmetic, though—and why would
you want them to? For example, one of the results of generating
an electric charge is that dust particles will become
attached to one end of the tourmaline crystal. Who wants
that on their skin?
There is a patent for using tourmaline to decrease the
need for surfactants, but this patent is for a complicated
device and the effect is not generated by the tourmaline
itself. Here is a quote from U.S. Patent number 6,308,356,
Frederick, et al. October 30, 2001, entitled Substantially
environmental-pollution-free cleaning method and device
employing electric energy and surface physical properties:
"The treatment of water by the electrically polar
crystalline substance tourmaline requires much longer
time to fill up one washing machine tub than the effect
lasts. This yields this process of batch treatment before
use as impractical as a laundry solution. In the current
inventive method the treatment is done simultaneously
with the work of cleaning and in the same location as
the work of cleaning is being done." In other words,
it is a process that uses tourmaline in some way, but
the cleaning is not a result of the tourmaline itself
(the language is not clear). It doesn't translate to electrifying
or illuminating your cosmetics, and especially not in
the trace amounts this mineral is found in cosmetics.
After an extensive search, I found no research showing
tourmaline has any proven effect on skin whatsoever.
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