Ingredients to Avoid in Personal Care Products

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There are many ingredients in beauty and personal care products that have well publicised potential health risks. The suspected effects range from skin irritation to encouraging growth of cancer cells.

As yet, insufficient research has been carried out so much of the information is inconclusive but we believe in the concept of ‘better safe than sorry’ and consequently only stock products that do not contain any of these questionable ingredients.

All our products are free from:
Parabens
SLS or SLES (Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulphate)
Mineral Oil
Formaldehyde
DEA, TEA, MEA
Contaminated Talc
Phthalates
And of course, none of them are tested on animals.

For more information about the various ingredients we avoid, see our handy guide below.

Very commonly used preservatives in beauty products, parabens can be found under the names methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben or butylparaben. They can be skin irritants and are may be linked to the growth of cancerous tumours due to their oestrogen-mimicking effects. For further information, see our article on parabens.

SLS is a surfactant (short for surface active agent) which means that it breaks the surface tension of liquids allowing them to distribute more evenly. It causes the foaming and frothiness you'll find in shampoos. It is widely known as a skin irritant, even being used as a measure for testing other chemicals for irritancy. It can also cause corneal damage and is particularly likely to cause long term eye damage in children under six.

Also known as petrolatum, mineral oil is a derivative of petroleum and is used in personal care products to moisturise the skin. Whilst it does leave a soft, silky layer on the skin, this film actually blocks pores preventing the skin from functioning normally and thereby inhibiting its natural moisturising abilities.

A colourless, flammable gas, formaldehyde is probably best known as a preservative for embalming but is also used as an ingredient in many beauty products including nail varnish. It can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and skin and whilst there are still some disagreement amongst scientists, it has been declared a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)(1).

It should also be noted that ingredients such as Quaternium-15, imidazolidinyl urea, and diazolidinyl urea are formaldehyde-releasing preservatives that are also found in toiletries.

Talc has a variety of uses including as a filler in pharmaceutical tablets and as a drying ingredient in body powders, including baby powders. Long known to be a health risk, a report published in the International Journal of Cancer in August 2007 showed there was evidence that the use of talc in the pelvic area increased the risk of ovarian cancer. In its widely used powder form (talcum powder) it is also linked to lung cancer.

By law, manufacturers do not have to disclose the components of ‘parfum’ in their products as it is considered to be a trade secret essential for their brand. Unless otherwise specified, it may be composed of hundreds of synthetic chemicals, usually many of which are petrochemical derivatives and often cause sensitivity reactions.

Anyone sensitive to artificial fragrance should look for ‘fragrance free’ products, as ‘unscented’ may mean that fragrances have been added to neutralize the natural scent of the product.

(1) http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Press_Releases/archives/pr153a.html

* The only products we stock at How on Earth that contain ‘parfum’ are some of the Burt’s Bees range. Most of their scents are made with 100% essential oils but occasionally a synthetic scent is used. However, these are checked for safety and you can always use the ‘natural toolbar’ to verify the ‘naturalness’ of any of their products.

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