The ingredients of what we apply
to our face and skin is extremely important. You don't really want to be
applying dozens of chemicals to your face because although it may give you a
short-term amazing result, it can be damaging in the long-term. Natural
skincare products are the best to use but let's face it, we can't all afford
£50 miracle-curing all-natural skincare products, so we need to turn to the
next best thing. Over the past six months I've been experimenting and researching
what products are most harmful to our skin. Here are the results:
Phthalates
These
ingredients are plasticizers, typically found in some skincare, nail, hair and
makeup products and their job is to make things less brittle (nail polish,
hair, etc). This is part of the reason why pregnant women are advised not to
wear nail polish as although they're not harmful in small doses, they're
constantly on the US' FDA Watch List. On the label of cosmetics you should look
for DBP, DMP, DEP or Phthalates itself. They can damage the hormones and sex
organ complications (read more about that here).
Formaldehyde
This
chemical is used in makeup, hair and beauty products because of it's antibacterial
properties. These can cause irritation to the skin and has even been linked to
cancer in some cases. This product is mainly found in glue, nail polish, body
wash and hair products. You can read the in-depth article about Formaldehyde here.
Coal Tar
These have
been proven to be a carcinogen (by the National Toxicology Program) and many
are banned. They can be found in hair dyes, soaps and lotions and is taken as a
product from burning coal. Having too much of this can be dangerous to your
emotional hormones and sleep cycle. General guidelines include not applying
anything labelled "Ext D&C" near your eyes or lips. Read more
about the effects of Coal Tar here.
Many more
include parabens, aluminium and Dietathanolamine but that's enough for today's
Chemistry lesson! The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
Organisation is
definitely a page to bookmark if you're unsure on how safe your beauty items
are to use.