Everyone loves to try all the new products in the block, especially, if it has been promoted with great packaging and awesome advertisements. But, many of these products are not suitable for our skin and many of the ingredients used in products are responsible for damage to our skin. So, it is always a good habit to read the product labels on the back to make sure what are the ingredients used and whether the product is good enough to be shelled money for.
Quantity of ingredients in the product: The quantity of the labels used in the product decreases in order of its listing. The list is divided on the quantity used. The first 33% of the ingredients make up the maximum of the product, the next 33% are significant in quantity and the last 33% are minimal in quantity. Thus, you can read the labels and judge for yourself which product is good enough and find out if any of the product would be allergic to you.
There are more than 5000 chemicals which are allowed to be used for skin care and hair care beauty products. Most of them are deemed harmful for the body. So, always make it a habit to choose your products after reading the ingredients.
Following is a list of ingredients you should avoid:
- Sodium Lauryl (or Laureth) Sulfate (SLS / SLES): extremely harsh on the skin, causes skin immune to disrupt and age quickly. Animals exposed to SLS or SLES experience eye damage, labored breathing, diarrhea, depression and sever skin irritation.
- Parabens (Methyl, Propyl, Butyl, Ethyl): used as preservatives, allergic to the skin, hormone disruptors, found in breast cancer tumors and contribute to male sterility.
- Petrolatum / Petroleum Jelly / Mineral Oil: clogs up the pores and is non-biodegradable.
- Propylene Gycol, Butylene Glycol, Poly Ethylene Glycol(PEG) or any Alcohols (except Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetostearyl Glycol): dries up and irritates the skin, high levels of Dioxins present, extremely toxic, may cause abnormalities in brain, liver and kidney.
- Diethanolamine (DEA) / Monoethanolamine (MEA) / Triethanolamine (TEA): may be toxin for other organisms and its residues may react with other ingredients in products to form nitrosamines, which are potential carcinogens (substance that causes cancer), enters through skin and gets accumulated in the body.
- Benzophenone-2 / Avobenzone / Oxybenzone / Ethoxycinnamate / PABA: used in chemical sun screen formulations, they enter the blood stream through the skin and interfere with hormone regulation, are free radical generators and may damage DNA and lead to cancer.
- Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) or any Phthalates: toxic to respiratory and immune systems, damage liver/kidneys, induce birth defects, reduce sperm count.
- Benzoyl Peroxide: may promote cancer and irritant to eye, skin and respiratory system.
- Tricolsan: is a pesticide and has grave risks for both human health and environment.
- Dioxin: does not appear on the ingredient list. Contained in antibacterial ingredients like triclosan, emulsifiers, PEGs and cleansers like Sodium Laureth Sulfate. Causes cancer, reduced immunity, nervous system disorders, miscarriages and birth deformity. Highly toxic to the body.
- DMDM Hydantoin & Urea (Imidazolidinyl): preservatives which release formaldehyde which may cause joint pain, cancer, skin reactions, allergies.
- FD&C Color & Pigments: colors which are derived from heavy metal salts and deposit toxins in the body, cancerous to animals.
Following Fragrances should be avoided as they have grave health effects:
- Acetic acid / Benzyl ester
- Benzyl Alcohol
- Diethyl Phthalate
- Musk ketone / Musk Xylene
- 6-Octen-1-ol, 3,7-dimethyl
- Toluene
- 4-Vinylphenol
- 2,6-Xylenol
- Acetone
- Benzaldehyde
- Benzyl Acetate
- Camphor
- Ethanol
- Ethyl Acetate
- Limolene
- Linalool:
- Methylene Chloride
- a-Pinene
- g-Terpinene
- a-Terpineol
All the above ingredients cause irritation to skin, eyes, throat, mucous membranes, respiratory system; cause severe damage to the brain, liver, kidneys, bladders; are highly toxic for the body; may cause harm to the fetus; get deposited in the blood stream and brain; causes disorder in the nervous system, may cause cancer and harmful for the environment.
Now, that you have read about the possible problems with the ingredients present in all our skin care and hair care products, hope you would choose your products more wisely.
Trina says
May 11, 2011 at 3:37 PMso scary :(,thnks fr ur advc
swati says
May 12, 2011 at 2:25 PMthanks Trina 🙂
twila says
July 23, 2013 at 6:02 AMare gases like butane and propane bad when used in spray bottles?
and is there anyway we would know if we had used them and they had akready harmed us ( like long temr or something)? maybe not even a question…sorry
just very curious and very interested
Swati Murti says
August 9, 2013 at 10:57 AMno i don’t think there is any way to know how much they have affected the body but going natural is one way to avoid any permanent or temporary problems!