Socioestheticians in pharmacy

Having gone through this rotation, I appreciate the socioesthetician information that I learned throughout. As a pharmacist, we always offer advice for our patients about the safest and most effective products to use. Having a socioesthetician background is definitely helpful to make good recommendations. For instance, we learned about the ingredients in the products we use everyday. Chemicals like DEA, formaldehyde, and parabens can be harmful to the body in more ways than one. They can cause hormonal imbalances, skin irritations, dermatitis, and may even be carcinogenic. Other chemicals like Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) act as antioxidants, preservatives, and stabilizers and can be mostly found in cosmetics like lipsticks and eyeshadows. Diethanolamine (DEA) is an undesirable chemical that acts as a foaming agent and pH adjuster most commonly found in cosmetics like foundation. Another group of chemicals found in nail polish, hair sprays, perfumes, lotions, soaps, and shampoos are Phthalates dibutyl phthalate (DBP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), and diethyl phthalate (DEP). Being aware of such ingredients, pharmacists can have a well rounded knowledge not just about skin care but also about products used on a daily basis. We also discussed complementary and alternative medicine; which can be used for a variety of reasons including prevention of illness, maintaining general wellness, reduction of pain, treatment of certain health conditions, as well as supplementation to conventional medicine. Furthermore, we looked into the use of fermented food as a prevention mean for breast cancer. As pharmacists, we always advice patients to have healthy well balanced diets, which include fermented food and probiotics, not only to prevent cancers but also to increase their energy and maintain a healthy weight.