Preservatives...Are they really bad for your skin?

Let's talk about the “P” word. Not that one but another “P” word, I’m talking preservatives. We are pulling back the labels on products and delving into preservatives and all those hard to pronounce ingredients commonly found on the back of your skincare, bath, and cosmetics products.

So what are preservatives and why should I care? Are they safe? What’s all the fuss about?

The idea that anything goes in the beauty industry has created a market that has products laced and formulated with ingredients that have caused a stir in most recent years. Today there are more than 80,000 ingredients used in skin, bath, and beauty products with a very small percentage being tested by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration). Although there have not been new regulations created or passed since 1938 to regulate or protect consumers, there are organizations including the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) that work diligently to help educate and protect consumers by lobbying to help change and create laws that protect the end-user.

Yes, we all want to look our best, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But the idea that anything goes is not an excuse; known carcinogenic and harmful ingredients in cosmetic and bath products is unacceptable.

For years, we’ve experimented, succumbed and endured beauty trends, some fun, some silly, some regrettable and some just harsh and dangerous. You know exactly which ones I’m talking about... crazy hair straighteners, painful chemical peels, and the more recent trends of blood injections and acid face injections.

Its true beauty has no rules when it comes to experimenting, however, big beauty companies are more concerned with their bottom line than consumer safety or the long-term negative effect of their products.

Preservatives do exactly what its name says... it preserves.

Preservatives help prevent spoilage and bacterial growth in cosmetics and food products.

So, what’s the big deal then? The big deal is that certain preservatives and many other ingredients including emulsifiers, thickeners, synthetic fragrances, fillers and other ingredients have long-term and deadly effects that are hormone disrupting, neurotoxic, immunotoxic and even carcinogenic.

"Today there are more than 80,000 ingredients used in skin, bath, and beauty products."

Did you know that women on average use between 250 to 1000 chemicals on any given day. This may include shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, soap, lotion, foundation, and sunscreen just to name a few.

 It’s true beauty has no rules when it comes to experimenting but big beauty companies are more concerned with their bottom line than the safety or long-term effect of their products.

We created a cheat sheet to help you decipher which products to avoid when shopping for skin, bath and body products.

 Get your FREE downloadable cheat sheet to avoid and identify the not-so-friendly preservatives and ingredients.