Back on October 29th, I wrote a post about why we need a nickel free razor which features no moisturizing strip. You can read that here.
I emailed the letter I wrote to Bic, Schick, and Target (since I know Target has a generic line). I also tweeted Gilette since I wasn’t able to send an email to them, but they never got back to me. Actually, Schick was the only company who kindly answered me, yet they didn’t have a solution.
I’m practically the poster child for nickel allergy since my skin reacts so violently (just like you react to poison ivy), so I figured… who better to take this on than me?
SO many people visit my blog because of their nickel and chemical allergies. In fact, my third most popular post is “Did you know disposable razors are nickel laden?”
It’s time for a change, my friends. And that’s why I’ve turned to change.org and all of you fine people.
I believe that if we all band together, we can make the razor companies pay attention!
Strength in numbers, right? We ARE the consumers, after all.
Here’s my message on the petition:
Ever since my nickel and chemical allergies exploded in 2009, I haven’t been able to use disposable razors. I react to nickel just like we all react to poison ivy. Skin allergies are also known as allergic contact dermatitis (a form of eczema).
This has made my world not quite as pretty, to say the least! While I’ve found electric razors which are nickel free and also free of the chemical filled moisturizing strips, they don’t do a very good job and are nowhere near as convenient as disposable razors.
Nickel allergy is one of the most common contact allergens and was named “Allergen of the Year” in 2008 by The American Contact Dermatitis Society. In an article written by Dr. Kathryn A. Zug and Rachel Kornik, when nickel won the Allergen of the Year title, it states that:
“With the rising incidence of nickel allergy in the United States and elsewhere, high nickel sensitization rates documented in children, and a resurgent issue of biomedical device complications (specifically, nickel allergy) due to metal, to dismiss nickel’s importance and relevance to public health and skin disease would be a mistake.”
It also states, “Not only is nickel allergy prevalent in the young population, NACDG data show that as in adult females, nickel sensitization in girls is on the rise.”
And this is only regarding the nickel side of things! So many people are allergic to chemicals and the types contained in those moisturizing strips on your razors aren’t even listed on the package. Personally, I’d like for them to be gone all together – at least on ONE product… the same product which would be nickel free. Many titanium metals are actually an alloy containing nickel, so that’s not necessarily an option either. I understand that nickel inhibits rust, but there must be another solution.
Thousands of people who read my blog are allergic to chemicals and nickel. If you are one of them, please sign this petition! If you can empathsize, please sign it! I’ve written the razor companies and have only had one write me back – Schick. They have no nickel-free solutions.
*You can sign the petition without your information being posted on the website. Please don’t hesitate!
Sign! Share it on your social media! Allergic contact dermatitis (a form of eczema) is terribly painful and people are literally losing sleep over it every single day.
The Allergista 