Not For The Sensitive: 5 Skincare Ingredients Sensitive People Should Avoid
A lot of us are sensitive. Some of us are the allergic type of sensitive (hello fellow MCAS sufferers). Some of us break out the second it’s time to pull up our masks or when we are forced to use toiletries provided by a hotel. And then there are some of us who don’t realize the harm and sensitivities created by common ingredients we use in our daily routines. If you notice symptoms like watery eyes or itchy dry skin, it’s time to check the ingredient lists.
1.) Fragrance
- Personally, fragrance is my biggest trigger. For years I wondered how my friends were able to wear makeup so seemingly comfortably while I’d be counting down the minutes until I could take it off. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), whose goal is to provide information on toxins relating to health concerns, labels fragrance as a very high health concern. Documented responses include allergy symptoms, hormone disruption, skin irritation, respiratory issues, and cancer development. Fragrance, being a lung and immune toxin as well as an allergy, is all around toxic and should be discarded ASAP.
2.) EssentialOils
- Essential oils come in all flavors, but they are all irritants. Contact dermatitis, itchiness, and allergy symptoms are considered the most common side effects of essential oils in cosmetic products. Citrus oils, and others like cinnamon clove or peppermint, are phototoxins as they directly damage your skin upon the presence of light, leading to unpleasant symptoms like blistering and burning skin. Essential oils are commonly added to beauty products as a natural fragrance, but they should probably stick to being used in a diffuser.
3.) Parabens
- Parabens are basically preservatives in cosmetic products. Just as it is considered “bad” to load ourselves with foods full of preservatives, it is bad to put them on our skin. Parabens seep through our skin into our bodies as hormone disruptors. Decreased fertility, harm to reproductive organs, negative birth effects, and an increased risk of cancer are some of the potential side effects of parabens being researched now.
Parabens have visible side effects too and can cause allergies and irritation as our other ingredients. When skimming the ingredient lists on your beauty products, be on the lookout for the most commonly used parabens such as methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben.
4.) Sulfates
- If you use it to clean and it foams, then it most likely contains sulfates. Dish soap, tooth paste, shampoo, and face wash are just some necessary household products that are made with sulfates. Sulfates are detergents and the primary ingredient responsible for the actual cleaning of surfaces, like dirty dishes or our teeth after a Chipotle bowl. With that, they can be too good at cleaning and strip away natural oils leading to dry skin and irritation. Sulfates are also known to be responsible for acne, eye irritation, canker sores, and bad breath. When reading your labels, keep an eye out for Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), the two most commonly used sulfates.
5.) Alcohol/Ethanol
- Alcohol in cosmetic products is a bit of a controversial subject, but it’s an important one to tackle. Makeup, moisturizers, fragrances, and lotions are common products to find alcohol in and different alcohols are added for different purposes. Oftentimes alcohol is added to enhance the product as a preservative, to make it lighter, or to make it faster absorbing. Alcohol has the ability to completely dissolve oil build up and dirt, but for people with sensitive skin it tends to cause more irritation than relief. Alcohol breaks down the skin’s natural barrier making it easier for products to penetrate directly into the skin, but this also allows the skin to more thoroughly absorb toxins. When checking your products, you don’t have to eliminate all products with alcohol just make sure it is not a top ingredient.
Written By: Madigan Pizzella
PLEASE FOLLOW OUR SOCIALS:
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/skincare-anarchy/id1522162686
Spotify Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/298oIu74qjd3pXaaBMDr19
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skincareanarchy/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skincareanarchhy/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkincareAnarchy
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Skincare_Anarchy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skincareanarchy/
Pinterest: https://cz.pinterest.com/skincareanarchy/_created/
