Is Your Face cream Toxic? How To Identify And Avoid Toxic Skin Care Products

Is your facial moisturizer gradually killing you? Does your mascara cause cancer?

I know these questions may well sound somewhat unrealistic, but in fact, lots of mainstream commercial beauty products offered on department store shelves these days are toxic skincare products which include chemicals which may be damaging to your well being. Most people aren't even aware of this, but these compounds may cause all sorts of unsafe side effects, from hair loss, to rashes and additional allergic reactions, to mouth or skin sores or other conditions, and in the long-term some could even be linked to cancer!

For example, Pthalates (often listed in personal care contents as dibutylphthalate, DEP, DBP, or butyl esters) are used in cosmetic and skin care products from mascara to nail polish, to skin lotion, and they help these products spread thinly, and soak into the skin.

You know what else phthalates do? They cause birth defects! That's correct - scientific studies have shown that these toxic skin care ingredients cause birth defects in rats, as well as in humans. A few cosmetics companies have recently discontinued using phthalates, however a lot of other companies have not.

Another scary ingredient to stay away from is Sodium Lauryl or Laureth Sulfate (SLS). This one is essentially a detergent, which causes things like shampoo, soap, and even, toothpaste to lather up and get sudsy. SLS is one of the primary causes of skin care product complaints including dandruff and thinning hair, dry skin, and mouth sores, and it can also cause long-term damage to the eyes!

And then this one is especially scary: Remember formaldehyde - that really stinky substance which was used to preserve the frogs for dissection in your biology class? Formaldehyde has now been recognized by the EPA as a possible human carcinogen (you probably might have guessed that from just  how awful it smelled, right?)

Well, how would you like that substance on your face?  Guess what: while you might not actually see the word "formaldehyde" on your skincare product label, you may see one of these ingredients instead:

• quaternium-15
• imidazolidinyl urea
• 3-diol diazolidinyl urea (also known as 3-dioldiazolidinyl urea)
• bronopol (sometimes listed as 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1)
• DMDM hydantoin

Each of these toxic skin care elements break down during usage and form formaldehyde, which is especially a problem if they appear within a product you use while in the shower or on your hair, since high temperature can speed up the conversion to formaldehyde.

And the list goes on....

But just what can we do? That stuff is all over the place, right? So how do we steer clear of these toxic skincare ingredients, and locate more natural products that are less damaging to our well being?

Although you might never have the ability to memorize every toxic skin care substance in existence, you may surely make a list of the most hazardous culprits (maybe write out the list and then put it inside your purse or wallet), and then it is easy to verify the contents of the skin care products against the list, and if they do not measure up, just don't buy them.

Here is a short list of toxic skincare ingredients I suggest you never purchase:

• Phthalates
• Mineral Oil and other petroleum products
• Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate
• Parabens (take note these are sometimes listed with a longer name such as methylparaben)
• Formaldehyde
• Selenium Sulfide
• quaternium-15
• imidazolidinyl urea
• 3-diol diazolidinyl urea (often known as 3-dioldiazolidinyl urea)
• bronopol (sometimes listed as 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1)
• DMDM hydantoin

You should also avoid alcohol, fragrance, mineral oil and additional petroleum products, dioxane, toulene and triclosan.

There are certainly lots of others out there too, but when you're unable to locate truly 100% natural  personal care products in your vicinity, eliminating the elements above should at the very least get you on the right path to a healthier future.