Looking out for some of the harsher ingredients in beauty and bath products before we purchase them can help us make more informed decisions when it comes to what we put on our skin, writes Elfreda McGowan.
Our skin really is a wonder of nature. It’s our body’s largest organ and accounts for around 15% of our body weight. It renews itself every 28 days and is constantly shedding, in fact, dead skin comprises about one billion tonnes of dust in the earth’s atmosphere. Eww! As amazing as these facts are, most of us take our skin for granted. We expose it to the elements, neglect moisturising, forget to wear SPF, and believe it or not, some of our worst skin enemies are lurking inside our very own makeup bags and bathroom cabinets.
Beauty and bath products can be packed full of chemicals and our skin absorbs around sixty percent of the chemical ingredients in anything we apply to it. Imagine, the average woman absorbs around 515 chemicals a day, just from products we apply ourselves. It only takes about twenty six seconds for chemicals in many of these common products in the typical home to enter your bloodstream, so it’s definitely something to be more aware and take charge of.
I have been trying to do a chemical detox in my house and am slowly weeding out some of the worst culprits. The following is a list of common beauty products and some of the more worrying ingredients contained in them, to help you make more informed choices the next time you find yourself faced with lists of confusing ingredients. It’s not to be frightened of everything around us, but even if we cut back on what we currently use, that has to be a good thing!
Shampoo contains on average 15 chemicals. Worst chemicals: quaternium 15, tetrasodium, propylene glycol, sodium laureth sulphate. These can cause irritation to skin, eyes or lungs and have high concerns around non-reproductive organ system toxicity and contamination. Quaternium-15 and tetrasodium have concerns about cancer/carcinogenicity.
Eyeshadows contain on average 25 chemicals. Worst chemical: polyethylene terephthalate. This ingredient has moderate concerns around non-reproductive organ system toxicity. Phthalates are also being studied for links to breast cancer.
Perfume contains around 250 chemicals. Worst chemical: benzaldehyde. This ingredient has moderate concerns around non-reproductive organ system toxicity.
Nail varnish contains around 31 chemicals. Worst chemical: polyethylene terephthalate. This ingredient has moderate concerns around non-reproductive organ system toxicity. Phthalates are also being studied for links to breast cancer.
Lipstick contains around 33 chemicals. Worst chemical: polymethyl methacrylate. This ingredient has moderate concerns around non-reproductive organ system toxicity.
Hairspray contains around 11 chemicals. Worst chemical: octinoxate. This ingredient has high concerns around biochemical or cellular level changes and endocrine disruption.
Deodorant contains around 16 chemicals. Worst chemicals: isopropyl myristate, parfum. These can cause irritation to skin, eyes or lungs, dizziness, breathing problems and headaches. The word “fragrance” or “parfum” on the product label represents an undisclosed mixture of various scent chemicals and ingredients used as fragrance dispersants such as diethyl phthalate. Fragrance mixes have been associated with allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential effects on the reproductive system.
Foundation contains around 25 chemicals. Worst chemical: polymethyl methacrylate. This ingredient has moderate concerns around non-reproductive organ system toxicity.
Blusher contains around 16 chemicals. Worst chemicals: ethylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben (parabens). These ingredients have high concerns around biochemical or cellular level changes and endocrine disruption. Parabens are also being studied for links to breast cancer.
Body Lotion contains around 32 chemicals. Worst chemicals: methylparaben, propylparaben, polyethylene glycol. These ingredients have high concerns around biochemical or cellular level changes, endocrine disruption and contamination concerns and moderate concerns around non-reproductive organ system toxicity. Parabens are also being studied for links to breast cancer.
Knowledge is power and little by little we can cut down on the chemicals around us that we can actually do something about.
Did you know you can check out any beauty or bath product ingredient on the EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database for an easy and accurate hazard score? We have linked each chemical above on the database to show you how this works – click on any linked ingredient above for more information on that chemical.
By Elfreda McGowan, Beauty Contributor
