When it comes to beauty products, its important to be informed about the ingredients and materials they contain. Here are some details on how to evaluate beauty products, including positive and negative aspects, and information on ingredients and materials:
-
EWG Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database: This database rates products based on nearly 60 integrated toxicity, regulatory, and study availability databases. It evaluates ingredients and information is culled from ingredient labels and from the scientific and industry literature on personal care products.
-
7 Apps That Check the Ingredients in Your Beauty Products: These apps can help you check the ingredients in your beauty products and eliminate the guesswork when reading beauty product labels.
-
Healthy Cosmetics: Safety, Ingredients, and More: Labels that claim products are “green,” “natural,” or “organic” are unreliable. There is no government agency responsible for defining or regulating the manufacture of cosmetics. It’s important that you, the consumer, are informed and purchase products that are healthy and safe for you and the environment. Be aware that some chemicals in certain cosmetic products may be toxic. To help you make informed decisions, here are four key categories of harmful ingredients used in cosmetics and personal care products: surfactants, vinyl chloride, zirconium-containing complexes, and prohibited cattle materials. The FDA also lists these ingredients, which may be used but are legally restricted: hexachlorophene, mercury compounds, and sunscreens used in cosmetics. The EWG also suggests more ingredients to avoid, including benzalkonium chloride, BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), coal tar hair dyes and other coal tar ingredients, such as aminophenol, diaminobenzene, and phenylenediamine, DMDM hydantoin and bronopol, formaldehyde, ingredients listed as “fragrance,” hydroquinone, methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone, oxybenzone, and parabens, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, and isobutylparabens, PEG/ceteareth/polyethylene compounds, and petroleum.
-
Popular Skin Care Ingredients Explained: Dermatologist Wilma Bergfeld, MD, explains some of the most popular skin care ingredients, what they do, and how they work. These include alpha-hydroxy acids (AHA), beta hydroxy acids, and hydroquinone.
-
20 Ingredients a Clean Cosmetic Chemist Would Avoid: Cosmetic chemists explain the 20 toxic ingredients to avoid in your beauty products. These include ingredients like parabens, phthalates, and synthetic fragrances.
-
An introduction to cosmetic technology: Functional ingredients provide the primary benefit to consumers who use the product. These are the ingredients that clean the skin, condition hair, and provide moisturization or even color. They are also the so-called active ingredients that make over-the-counter (OTC) drugs work. Aesthetic ingredients are technologies that make formulas look and feel better; they improve the overall experience of using cosmetics. Marketing ingredients are not the focus of this review, but it is important to know how they are used. The cosmetic ingredients that have the most impact on the way cosmetics work are the functional ingredients. These include surfactants, conditioners/moisturizers, colorants, polymers, and active ingredients.
In summary, evaluating beauty products involves looking at the ingredients and materials they con...
