Hey Everyone!
As you know we both attend FIDM in LA for the Beauty Industry Merchandise Marketing program and one of our favorite classes is all about what is healthy and not healthy for our bodies.
We know its super hard to get your beauty routine free of all these ingredients, but we try and eliminate as much as we can.
Photo Source: Google Images
ALUMINUM:
This is an ingredient that is typically found in antiperspirant products. The main purpose of this ingredient is to plug sweat ducts. Studies show that this ingredient is absorbed into the skin and can behave like estrogen, which could foster cancer-cell growth.
COAL TAR COLORS & DYES:
There are various forms of these ingredients, and many of them are prohibited.
DIETHANOLAMINE:
You know that super cool foaming effect you find in your cosmetics? Diethanolamine is the ingredient responsible. The FDA states that this ingredient is safe in low doses, but isnt everything? Try to pass on cosmetics with ingredients that contain DEA or DEA relatives like Cocamide DEA, Cocamide MEA, DEA-Cetyl, Phosphate, DEA-Oleth-3, Lauramide DEA, Linoleamide MEA, Myristamide DEA, Oleamide DEA, Straramide MEA, TEA-Lauryl Sulfate, and Triethanolamine.
FORMALDEHYDE:
You read that right, Formaldehyde is an ingredient that is found in a lot of beauty products because its considered an antibacterial and a preservative. You want to avoid this ingredient as much as possible because formaldehyde is also considered a carcinogen.
FRAGRANCE:
We have noticed it is almost impossible to find an product out there without a fragrance ingredient. Although not all fragrances are bad for you, the ones you want to try to avoid is synthetic fragrances.
PARABENS:
Parabens are used as preservatives. Their main function is to make a products last longer. Studies show that parabens can interfere with hormones and can be absorbed. Parabens are the number 1 product to avoid, so its super easy to find products out there containing no parabens. Make sure to avoid these; methylparaben, ethylparaben, butylparaben, and propylparaben.
We hope we didn’t scare you like we were in class, but we hope we made you more aware of some harmful ingredients out there.
If you have any AMAZING non-harmful brands that you love using please share below!
Check in your beauty cabinets, do any of your products contain these ingredients? Let us know!
SidekickBeauty 
Great article on the cosmetic ingredients to avoid. I usually find it hard to decipher the chemical compound names on the ingredient list of most skincare products, so now at least I know what products to stay away from.
A question on your comment about fragrance: why do you think we should avoid synthetic fragrances? As far as I know, it is the natural fragrances that cause a large number of allergic reactions. Most of the fragrance in cosmetics is really low in concentration. Does this still have impact?
Thank you
Vic