Beyond Parabens: 7 Other Cosmetic Ingredients You Need to Avoid

[Triana]

Consumer choice is a powerful thing. Say "jump or I'll spend my cash somewhere else" and you'll set executives scrambling to use one another as makeshift human trampolines. It's for this reason and this reason alone—at least for the major corporations—that we're seeing such a proliferation of products cheerily proclaiming that they're BPA-free. Well, parabens are the bisphenol-A of the beauty industry, from the scary headlines to the happy proclamations that beam at you when a product has kicked them to the curb.

But as we mentioned before, parabens aren't the only nasty no-no to avoid. Here are seven other toxic ingredients that regularly hitch a ride on cosmetics and skincare products. Pay heed to these red flags the next time you're out cruising with your shopping cart—who knows, perhaps some well-dressed man will approach you to ask if Bill from Accounting could perform some aerial acrobatics for your pleasure.


http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/beyond-parabens.php

[medeak]

1. sunscreens / nanoparticles

received google alert that UK is studying and highly suspects nanoparticles in sunscreens and cosmetics are causing parkinsons and alzheimers. same ingredients in diesel fuel

[Triana]

2. which sunscreens are SAFE?

that's what I wanna know.

[jmowreader]

3. I don't think any of them are truly safe

A colorless chemical that keeps ultraviolet rays out? There's something basically wrong with this picture. I recommend using tinted moisturizer, a pigmented product, for all ages and genders. Paint protects the underlying surface because it's got pigment in it; tinted moisture does the same thing for your skin. And COVER UP--wear clothing! Walk around with your body uncovered and bad things will happen to it.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. LOL wut?

What's wrong with colorless compounds that absorb UV?

Tinted moisture? FTW?

[jmowreader]

5. They don't actually DO it, for one thing...

I used to work with vehicle wraps, and all vehicle wraps are laminated to keep rocks and shit from scratching the ink. All overlams contain UV absorbers, which should in theory keep the underlying ink from fading. They wrapped a bunch of trucks for a HVAC company about a year before I went to work there. The vehicles went out the door a very bright yellow. Fifteen months later, those same vehicles came back--all grossly faded. We're talking a decrease in density from 100 percent yellow to 65 percent yellow--it took me several hours to get this exact number. Admittedly, yellow fades like fuck; it is photoreactive to an extent no other color is.

I'll give you some relevant data now. The rate of lip cancer in men is three times that of women. http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/oral/riskfactors/ Why would that be? Ultraviolet light is directly related to lip cancer prevalence, and women are much more likely to use products that will keep UV light off their lips--specifically, lipstick. In places where cosmetics are not used or are seldom used, like rural areas in the US and in third-world countries, the prevalence of lip cancer is probably equalized between the genders. I'm a realist; I know that men aren't going to start wearing lipstick just because it prevents cancer. Men still chew tobacco, and that CAUSES cancer, so doing something completely out-of-gender to prevent cancer ain't gonna happen.

Men probably won't start wearing tinted moisture (it's one-third foundation and two-thirds moisturizer) but it wouldn't hurt. It's not like you can see the product on your face.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Your link's broken

among other things.

[medeak]

6. 300 sunscreens have it...from what I've seen on net

husband has parkinsons and is freaking out...would appreciate if anyone knows.

[onestepforward]

9. This a good link:

http://www.ewg.org/whichsunscreensarebest/2009report

It has been a really great resource for me. You can look up anything cosmetic and it can help you decide which products are better than others.

[abumbyanyothername]

7. Why not take the simple approach?

Avoid buying products. Period. Full stop.

Because what can happen is that you get to using a product, like say Tom's of Maine Toothpaste, and you think you are being all happy and green and animal friendly. And then along comes Colgate, which does testing on animals, or at least used to, and they snap up Tom's and don't bother to change the name, or announce in the consumer press much less on the grocer's shelf that Tom's is now a Colgate product, and all of a sudden you are supporting animal cruelty when you never in a million years wanted to do that.

And life is so easy when everything you buy comes right off the farm. Or better yet, right out of your own garden.

[Triana]

8. go back to using plain baking soda maybe. n/t