Bad Skincare: Toxins & Irritants
As consumers in the US, we have an abundance of options for personal care products. The skincare that you used before starting cancer treatment often becomes unsuitable during treatment due to the changes that happen in the body. Products that you once used may become irritating, overly drying and no longer meet your skin’s needs.
Whether you shop at a big box store or small boutique, how can we determine what personal care products are beneficial or may be harmful during cancer treatment? In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the qualities of skincare products that are not recommended during cancer treatment.
What are Bad Products?
Bad Skincare Products:
Contains skin irritants & damages skin barrier
Contains ingredients that are toxic to body & health
Contains carcinogens (cancer causing ingredients)
To sum it up, bad skincare are products that can disrupt skin and whole body health. You might be thinking, why would anyone use products like this? Unfortunately, the above criteria describes many common skincare and personal care products.
Product Testing and Labeling
Harvard Health states that FDA regulations do not guarantee that ingredients in beauty products are harmless. According to Dr. Kathryn M. Rexrode, chief of the Division of Women's Health, “products are tested to make sure they don't cause short-term problems, such as skin irritation. But they're not tested for long-term safety.
An article from The Guardian says, “in cosmetics alone, the EU has banned or restricted more than 1,300 chemicals while the US has outlawed or curbed just 11.”
Even the FDA states “The law does not require cosmetic labeling to have FDA approval before cosmetic products go on the market, and FDA does not have a list of approved or accepted claims for cosmetics.”
Check out the article on Toxic Beauty from Harvard Health.
Top Toxic Ingredients in Personal Care Products
These are the top toxic ingredients found in personal care products according to Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. These ingredients can be found many common brands:
Fragrance, Parabens, Triclosan
Formaldehyde, Ethanolamines, Benzophenone
BHA, BHT, Chemical UV Filters
Carbon Black, PPD, PTFE (Teflon)
“Products are tested to make sure they don’t cause short-term problems, such as skin irritation. But they’re not tested for long-term safety”
Tips on Choosing Safer Products
Finding safer products that are suitable for sensitive skin during cancer treatment can be challenging. It’s a fine balance to identify products that are without toxic or irritating ingredients and is effective for the skin needs of those going through cancer treatment.
To reduce your exposure to harmful ingredients and find better products, follow these steps:
Use fewer products
This is the easiest and least expensive strategy since using fewer products exposes you to fewer potential toxins.
Seek simple ingredient lists
Another strategy is to look for products with shorter ingredient lists and avoid those with “fragrance” or “parfum” listed.
Use helpful resources
Use well researched tools like EWG Skin Deep, Clearya or Think Dirty to help. Clearya was developed with cancer in mind.
Learn more about ingredients
Learn more about the top toxic ingredients at Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. www.safecosmetics.org.
Recommended Products
After a lot of time analyzing ingredient list and trying different products, I’ve done my best to provide some product suggestions for you that are non-toxic and beneficial. These lists are still growing as I discover and try new products. You can find my product recommendations here:
Recommended Facial Skincare Products
Recommended Body and Haircare Products