Are you a beauty junkie who wants to be careful about what is used to make the products they put on their skin? It’s wise to look out for skincare ingredients to avoid, and we’re here to help.
The skin is one of the most important parts of the body and also a very fragile part in terms of skincare products used on it, taking care of the skin is nature for every human regardless of how smooth and less sensitive your skin is but it can be really difficult knowing what ingredients are safe enough for your skin.
There are thousands of chemicals in your products and each one has its uses but not all are safe for your skin.
It is vital for all skin types to watch out for the ingredients used in their skincare products, identifying harmful ingredients in your product will help you avoid them and choose a safer one.
Ingredients In Skincare Products to Avoid
Navigating which ingredient to avoid can be really tough as most skin care products contain them and some are even hard to pronounce or remember however we did curate a list of 10 ingredients that are mostly found in skincare products.
Checking out for these harmful ingredients and avoiding them is vital as most of these ingredients are draining your skin of its nutrients.
1. Parabens
Parabens are called effective preservatives used in many formulas to preserve a product, it has a high chemical infusion which can be hazardous to skin and health, paraben is being formulated with a lot’s of preserving chemicals like (methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and ethylparaben), which are meant to provide longer shelf life of a product (1).
Parabens are found in nearly every cosmetics, you should look out for them mostly in your shampoos, shaving gels, moisturizer, toothpaste or personal lubricants.
2. Phthalates
Phthalates is another easy to find chemicals in your skincare products, they are mainly used as a plasticizer that is a substance used to increase flexibility transparency, durability, and longevity of a product, it is a common ingredient in products and research has documented a ranging health impact associated with phthalates (2).
Loads of daily use product contains phthalates and avoiding them can be a bit tough.
Phthalates can be found in products like detergents, lubricants, aftershave lotion, shampoos, nail polish, hair spray, and other easy to find at-home products.
3. Lead
Excessive lead intake is a cause for a serious health concern, it’s not usually found in foods though, it’s mostly skincare products and makeups, lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb, a heavy metal that is denser than most common material.
Lead is can be found in your lipstick, skin lightening cream, bacteria cream, anti-aging cream, and other skin products
4. Mineral Oil
Mineral Oil is also another popular skincare ingredient that can be found in lot’s of skincare products, mineral oil can actually damage the skin barrier and increase water loss, it is a distillation product of petroleum, especially one used as a lubricant, moisturizer, or laxative.
Mineral oil is common in skincare products like lotion and creams, mineral oil is comedogenic which means it can clog pores and cause acne but this can be prevented if the mineral oil is purified and that is hard to detect as most skin care company might lie about that.
5. Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is a simple chemical compound made of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, formaldehyde is a respiratory irritant that causes chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and nose and throat irritation. it is known to be really hazardous to your health, it can cause cancer and has also been linked to an increase of asthma in kids (5).
These can be found in cosmetics, soap, shampoos, lotions, and sunscreen, it is also used in some food preservatives.
6. Siloxanes
Siloxanes come from a group of Cyclomethicone to form liquid siloxanes added mostly to cleaning solvent, it can be very irritating to the skin especially if you do have sensitive skin so it’s important to watch out for this ingredient.
Reasearch has been proven that siloxanes can cause uterine tumors, immune system compromise, and nervous system issues (6). Siloxanes can be found in your hair products, deodorants, facial treatment, and moisturizer.
7. Aluminum
Aluminum is another common skin ingredients, it is a known neurotoxin that accumulates fat in cells, research also has it linked to breast cancer and some skin diseases, usually found in antiperspirants with chemical names like Aluminum chloride, aluminum chlorohydrate, aluminum hydrobromide, and aluminum zirconium (7).
8. Triclosan
Triclosan is a skin ingredient added to many consumer products for the purpose of preventing bacteria contamination, often added to antibacterial soaps, acne treatment, antiperspirants, lipstick, toothpaste, and body wash but it tends to be irritating and harmful to the skin, it is believed to contribute to liver toxicity.
9. Mercury
Mercury is a well-known irritant to the skin especially to sensitive skins, it accumulates over time and can lead to serious skin conditions and can eventually impact the brain and nervous system, it can be found in skin care products like skin lightening cream and mascara, the name you should probably look for is thimerosal (8).
10. Phenoxyethanol
You can easily find phenoxyethanol in your face cleanser and lotions, it is used as a preservative ingredient and it’s a pretty popular ingredient but it can be hazardous to your skin, it has been known to cause both reproductive and developmental toxicity (9).
It can be a little overwhelming to discover most of the ingredients that are part of your skin care ingredients are harmful to you, some of this ingredients have to accumulate before causing any damages but it’s best to steer clear of them, you can easily substitute some of these products for natural skin care products.
