5 Known Or Suspected Toxic Ingredients To Avoid In Your Personal Care And Beauty Products

By Author: Harly Kamron
Total Articles: 3
Comment this article

If you are concerned about what you put in your mouth, you should also be considered about what you put on your skin. As the largest organ of the body, our skin forms the barrier between the outside environment and our inside, forming a shield that protects us against bacteria and pollution, regulates our body temperature, making us waterproof, and giving us our passive and active senses of touch, heat, and cold.

Most of us count our calories, read labels on our food items, and are careful about what we eat, but do we all take that same approach when it comes to beauty and skincare products we use? Here is a list of 5 “hydrogenated fats” (read suspected toxins) found in some personal care and beauty products that you might want to avoid:

How do you normally choose your skincare products? Ask a friend? Pick up a magazine to read what's trending in beauty, or browse all the popular stores and just purchase what catches your eyes?

Some are truly loyal to a brand of products and use what works best for them. They will not read the labels or don’t care to read the labels. Let us call them the brand loyalist.

If ...
... you are amongst that group, do not worry, you are not alone. However. if you would like to take a more careful approach when choosing these products, you should know what is really in them.

Navigating the labels of personal care, cosmetics, and beauty products can seem impossible. It is hard to understand what exactly is in each product. That said, you should not let marketers fool you. Some brands will mislead you into thinking you're buying an “all-natural” or “organic” product and that's not always the case. This is because the industry is not regulated like it should be.

Some of the ingredients used in these products can potentially be harmful to your skin and/or your overall health.

We have singled out some of the harmful ingredients found in everyday bath and beauty products so you can be aware the next time you are shopping.

The no-go list:

Parabens

Parabens are used as preservatives in cosmetics, beauty as well as some pharmaceutical products. The primary role of a preservative is to prevent mold or bacterial growth in a water-based product. Typical store-bought items that are water-based need to be shelf-stable and parabens are an abundant and inexpensive form of preservatives that are often the preferred choice. They are in commonly used products such as makeups, shampoos, and body cleansers. However, these chemicals can have harmful side effects.

There has been growing concern that Paraben can be linked to increased risk of breast cancer (although nothing has been confirmed).

While you are browsing the shelves in the beauty aisle, it may be tough to spot out paraben-containing products. If you look at the labels, you will want to stay away from those that list ingredients such as methylparaben, propylparaben, isoparaben, or butylparaben. These ingredients are all banned in the European Union to be used in personal care and beauty products.

Lead

When buying a home, lead paint is one thing that comes up during every inspection. Depending on the state you live in, some homes require lead testing if the home was built before a specific year. Why you ask? Because it can be harmful to your health!

Then why would anyone want to use products containing lead? Probably no one would, right?

Well lead is tricky. It is commonly used in products like lipstick and hair dyes. However, it is usually not found on the labels as a listed ingredient.

Since they are not listed on many labels, you should do your research to find out what products and what brands use lead in their formulation and avoid purchasing those products. There are also some tests that you can perform at home to see if any of your products contain lead. Look it up on Google.

Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is a known toxin. It is a colorless gas that has many different uses. However, one would not typically suspect the use of formaldehyde in personal care and cosmetic products.

Formaldehyde is used in beauty and personal care products such as nail polish, shampoos, eye makeup and body washes. We put all these products on our skin, which find a way into our bloodstream and other organs.

This chemical is known to cause allergic reactions and harming our immune system. It is highly advisable to eliminate products that contain this toxic ingredient.

Many products use other compounds and "cocktail" ingredients as a Formaldehyde donor. Some of these are Quaternium-15, DMDM Hydantoin and Ureas. You might want to look for these ingredients when choosing items such as nail polishes, skin moisturizers, and perfumes.

Sunscreen Products

We all know the purpose of using sunscreens. However, it's recommended that you do some research and find the purest sunscreen to be on the safe side. Ingredients such as benzophenone, PABA, avobenzone, homosalate, and methoxycinnamate are thought to damage your skin cells and possibly cause cancer.

Petrolatum

The use of Petrolatum or other mineral oil-based products can also cause harm to your body. These ingredients are commonly found in lip balms, moisturizers, even baby products such as diaper creams. It forms a layer on the skin, blocking it from releasing internal toxins.

How to avoid these harmful ingredients?

Just like most of us eat junk food from time to time and drink sugary sodas or other unhealthy beverages, it is difficult to eliminate every known or suspect toxin in our everyday bath and skincare products. We probably use items with one or more of these ingredients in our shower or makeup cabinet. If you want to be more mindful about what you put on your skin, you will need to start by being conscious about ingredients that are potentially not healthy for your skin.

However, start out small. Go through products in your beauty cabinet or your shower shelf and see where you can make small changes. Try out some organic and natural products that are healthier for your body. Over time you can slowly swap out harmful ingredients from your home to products that are better for you. Nature’s Baby is committed to producing products using plant-based, organic, and minimally processed ingredients, that are mild and gentle for everyday use. We formulate our products to specifically address problems or sensitive skin.

Referral link?

https://naturesbabyorganic.wordpress.com/2021/04/01/5-known-or-suspected-toxic-ingredients-to-avoid-in-your-personal-care-and-beauty-products/