What’s Hiding in Your Skincare? The Dangers of Skincare Chemicals

When it comes to our beauty cabinet, most of us just trust that the brands producing our skincare products are putting our health and safety first. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case. 

In fact, around 595 beauty brands have admitted to using88 known chemicals in their products that are directly linked to cancer, birth defects, and reproductive problems. While this in itself is shocking, the scary part is that there are still a number of unknown harmful skincare chemicals being used that have not yet been studied enough to know the impact on our bodies. 

Fortunately, there’s a simple way to avoid any and all of these toxins. Keep reading to discover the hidden dangers in commercial skincare and what you can use instead. 

The Problem with Skincare Chemicals

If you’re new to the toxin-free scene, you may be wondering why skincare chemicals are so dangerous. While the chemicals in your skincare are probably not quite as fast-acting as the ones in your commercial cleaning products, there is one distinct difference that elevates their threat. 

There are three main ways that chemicals and toxins can enter your system. 

• Inhalation 
• Ingestion
• Absorption

While we are willing to bet you aren’t spending much time eating your cosmetics, they do have prime access to the third method - absorption. 

Your skin is a highway for these chemicals to enter your bloodstream. In fact, it takesas little as 26 seconds for those chemicals you unknowingly slather onto your skin to absorb into your body. Yikes!

So what do you need to watch for? Let’s break down the three most common skincare chemicals and why we need to avoid them. 

1. Parabens

When products are mass-produced by big companies they need a certain amount of ‘help’ to ensure they last while waiting on the shelves. This is called shelf-life and it’s parabens that are trusted to do this task. 

Parabens are basically a fancy word for preservatives. Unfortunately, they are pretty dangerous for our systems. This is because parabens actuallymimic estrogen in the body, causing major problems with normal hormone production and function. 

As you can imagine, this leads to issues with the reproductive system in both men and women and can increase the occurrence of cancerous cells. 

While there are only a tiny bit of parabens in each product, the constant exposure day after day with product after product leads to no less than92% of tested individuals having traces of parabens in their system. 

Fortunately, studies show that the levels of these parabens drop at impressive rates with one simple solution - avoidance. 

2. Sulfates

Next, we have sulfates, the ingredient responsible for that soapy, sudsy lather we’ve come to associate with ‘clean’. 

This ingredient is most commonly used in shampoos and cleansers to make them ‘feel’ like they are doing a better job of washing away grime. Unfortunately, Sodium Lauryl Sulfates (SLS) actually do wash away a lot of grime, but they also wash away very important, natural oils that protect and hydrate your skin. 

To avoid this problem, companies have taken to converting this known drying agent into a gentler alternative called Sodium Laureth Sulfate. The danger of this ingredient is that in the conversion process, a byproduct called 1,4-dioxane is produced. 

This byproduct is a known carcinogen that has been linked to serious problemssuch as organ toxicity. 

The scary part about this is that manufacturers don’t have to label their product with this carcinogen because it may or may not have formed during the conversion process. For this reason, your safest bet for avoiding it is to cut out all traces of sulfates from your beauty routine. 

3. Phthalates

Finally, we have phthalates. This is a huge group of chemicals that are pretty hard to pinpoint due to their many names and purposes such as prolonging the scent of a fragrance. 

They can be present in plastics, food products, and cosmetics in multiple ways. Again, cosmetic companies don’t have to label them on their ingredients list, and even when they do, they are oftenconcealed by other names such as ‘fragrance’. 

The primary problem with this group of chemicals is that they contribute tomajor hormone disruption. Beyond the obvious fertility threats, the hormones at risk play a large part in your thyroid function. 

This is the system responsible for functions such as brain development and metabolism and can be especially dangerous for children and pregnant women. 

Clean up Your Cosmetics

So if these chemicals are so dangerous, why are they allowed? At the end of the day, these three chemicals are cheap and easy to access making them essential for the beauty industry. 

Because the amounts are kept low, regulations allow for companies to use them in order to keep the cost and production of skincare ‘reasonable’. 

At the end of the day, this means the only real way to eliminate these chemicals from your cosmetic routine is to ditch the mass-produced products that contain them in favor of natural, small-batch alternatives. 

Luckily, as the demand for these products grows, a few select Australian-owned businesses have taken the initiative to produce honest, clean, and reliable skincare. 

Beautiful cosmetics fromWondery Skin Food are crafted with just the level of care that we believe in here at Go For Zero. Not only do they offer beautiful anti-aging skincare, but they also have a variety of beautiful makeup products derived from nature’s purest ingredients.  

Among other brands available on our site, you can trust that we’ve done all thehard work and research for you to ensure that these products are 100% free of these toxic cosmetic ingredients. 

This means you can keep you and your family healthy and beautiful without compromise. 

Safe Beauty with Toxin-Free Skincare

Now that you know the dangers behind these commonly used skincare chemicals, you have the knowledge you need to make educated decisions about the products you put on your skin. From avoiding these chemicals on your skincare labels to opting for natural, trustworthy alternatives, we hope this article helps you feel more confident in your cosmetic routine. 

Ready to ditch skincare chemicals for good? Start making small swaps for a big change by launching yourtoxin-free living journey today!