List of ingredients to avoid in your cosmetics

Ingredients to avoid in cosmetics

In today’s article we are going to tell you about the ingredients to avoid in your cosmetics, because… Have you counted the cosmetic products you use every day, from the moment you wake up until you leave the house?

I’m sure you’ve never stopped to think about it, I’m going to help you out, you get in the shower and wear a gel (1) for the body and a shampoo (2) and a softener (3) for the hair, after the shower you use a body cream (4), a facial cream (5), perhaps a facial tonic (6), and a serum (7), you also use toothpaste (8), and you put on deodorant (9), and before leaving home, cologne or perfume. (10).

We have counted 10 cosmetic products in a basic daily care routine, realize that we have left out the sunscreen cream (11), the base makeup (12), the blush (13), the eye shadow (14), mascara (15), compact powder (16), hand cream (17), a lipstick or lip balm, a lipstick or lip balm (18), etc.

In general, we use between 5 and 15 cosmetic products every day, if we count that each product carries an average of 15 ingredients, then we are using about 150 cosmetic ingredients daily . Yes, every day.

Now you understand why it is very important to be aware of ingredients that can be harmful to your health.

Toxic ingredients in cosmetics

But why are there toxic ingredients in my cosmetics? That’s the million-dollar question.

Most of the ingredients used in cosmetic products are derived from petroleum, or are produced by synthetic chemistry . In the previous studies carried out to check the safety of the ingredients for human use, in many cases undesirable effects are observed in high doses, so studies are carried out in different percentages, until the dose that is “safe” for use in humans is reached, until then everything is perfect.

But what the chemical and cosmetic industry have NOT taken into account, are 2 determining factors for me:

1. The bioaccumulative effect of many of these chemicals in the body (permanent organic compounds).
2. A person does not use only one cosmetic product per day, but, as we have just demonstrated,uses anaverage of 10 cosmetic products per day.

Now we have the perfect storm, let’s see it with a practical example.: it is safe to use a product with parabens at 0.4%, the maximum authorized dose, then we could only use one product a day with parabens, and it turns out that parabens are preservatives that carry virtually all cosmetic products (now less and less), so if we use a gel, a shampoo, a softener, a deodorant, a toothpaste and a face cream, each of which contains 0.4% parabens, then we only have to add them up to see that we are applying 2.4% parabens, i.e. 5 times more than what is allowed.

And we could do the same with the rest of the ingredients in the cosmetic products we use every day.

10 Cosmetic ingredients to avoid

Before we start with the ingredients to avoid, you should know that lngredients are listed (INCI) from highest to lowestaccording to its concentration in the formula, that is to say, if the first ingredient that appears is Aqua, we already know that the main ingredient in this product is water.

We are going to analyze 10 INGREDIENTS to avoid in CREAMS, bath GELS and shampoos, and toothpaste.

1. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES): Ionic surfactants . Skin irritants, destroys its lipid mantle, causing dermatitis and sensitization. Shampoos and Bath Gels.
2. Polyethileneglycol (PEG) and Propyleneglycol (PPG): Emulsifiers and surfactants. Derived from ethylene chemistry, they may contain residues of 1,4-dioxane, a carcinogen. Contact dermatitis and urticaria at low concentrations. Shampoos and Bath Gels.
3. Triclosan: Preservative and antibacterial. It induces bacterial resistance and may be an endocrine disruptor. Shampoos and Bath Gels.
4. Diethanolamine (DEA): a surfactant which can react with other compounds to form carcinogenic nitrosamines. In addition, it is irritating. Shampoos and Bath Gels.
5. Parabens (Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben): group of preservatives, they are endocrine disruptors. Creams and Serums. Shampoos and Bath Gels.
6. Dimethicone and Cyclomethicone:: synthetic silicone that exerts an occlusive effect on the skin. False hydration effect on the skin Creams and Serums.
7. Kerosene: mineral oil derived from the petrochemical industry. Occlusive and comedogenic effect. Associated with allergies and carcinogenic potential in aerosol products. It accumulates in lymph nodes and liver. In the INCI we can find it as: Mineral Oil, Paraffinum liquidum, Light mineral oil, Liquid paraffin, Liquid petrolatum, Paraffin liquid, Paraffinum subliquidum, Liquid petroleum jelly. Creams, Serums, Oils for children, Lip balms, etc.
8. BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene): possible carcinogens. Creams and Makeup
9. Triclosan: Preservative and antibacterial. It induces bacterial resistance and may be an endocrine disruptor. Deodorants, Toothpaste.
10. Phthalates: they are hidden inside synthetic “parfum”. They are very dangerous due to their capacity to penetrate the organism, causing respiratory problems and allergies, as well as prostate and breast cancer.

In addition to the 10 ingredients we have just seen, we must highlight two groups of products, such as deodorants and sunscreens.

Toxic Ingredients in Deodorants

• Aluminum: neurotoxic. May appear as: Aluminum Chloride, Aluminum Chlorhydrate, Aluminum Fluorde…As chlorohydrate it is related to cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. How Aluminum starch octenylsuccinate can be contaminated with lead. We found it in Deodorants.

Toxic Ingredients in Sunscreens: Chemical Filters

• Oxybenzone: chemical sunscreen. Associated with allergic reactions, dermatitis and, paradoxically, phototoxicity. Hormone disruptor.
• Ethylhexyl triazone:chemical sunscreen banned by the FDA.
• Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate. It acts as an ultraviolet (UV) filter.
• Benzophenone-1 and Benzophenone-2. Other ultraviolet filters. They are also described as worrisome.

There are many more ingredients that we should avoid in our cosmetics, so we are going to leave you a direct link to the list published by the BioVidaSana Association, through its EcoAesthetic Network project, so that you can expand this information.

Download here the list of ingredients to avoid in your cosmetics in pdf format.