The Dangers Of Using Beauty Products Without Proper Research

Studies have now revealed to what extent people use potentially seriously harmful cosmetics on their bodies. They show that the typical woman utilizes, on average, about 12 different personal care products per day. These 12 products can contain up to 170 individual chemicals. More troubling still is another recently performed study that showed how the human skin could easily absorb as much as 60 percent of all chemicals with which it comes into contact.

In yet a further study performed by Evanston, Illinois’ own Northwestern University and its School of Medicine, it has emerged that an increasing number of complaints have been filed against the makers of beauty and skincare products. The study showed that these went up by more than double from 2015 to 2016. Surprisingly, hair care products were the most complained about in the sector.

The study revealed an excess of 5,000 individual events that women reported to the Food and Drug Administration between 2004 and 2016. In just 2016 alone, over 1,591 events got reported to the regulator.

Despite rules, regulations, and precautions around make-up and personal care products, the incidents of complaints about the ill effects of beauty care products are massively on the rise these days.

Effects of Bad Beauty Products for Men

Some of the adverse effects of these beauty treatment products are even affecting men in significantly negative ways. Consider that the chemical most commonly used in beauty products is paraben. This is a base in deodorants, shampoos, body wash, moisturizers, and makeup. The chemical structure of this paraben is much like estrogen, and it has the potential to be highly carcinogenic, even in minute quantities. Men utilizing products with these parabens suffer from decreased sperm counts and a lower amount of testosterone. It can even lead to disruption of the endocrine system. In women, paraben boosts the odds of contracting breast cancer.

Other Chemicals Contained In Beauty Products Cause Cancers and Worse

Formaldehyde and the release agent for this chemical are also found in numerous beauty products. These include hair dye, nail products, hair straighteners, cosmetic glues, shampoos, and false eyelash adhesives. Formaldehyde has now been connected with cancers and significant damage to the immune system.

Ethanolamine is also prevalent in beauty care products. It is full of impurities such as nitrosamines. Products generally do not list it on their ingredient labels either. This toxin can cause skin, respiratory, and organ cancers. Unfortunately, it abounds in shampoos, soaps, hair dyes and conditioners, eyeliners, shaving creams, mascara, sunscreen, and even fragrances.

Phthalates are also abundant in both lotions and hair sprays. They can create congenital reproductive disabilities in both females and males likes and cause lung, kidney, and liver damage and even cancers.

Meanwhile, Triclosan, which is heavily utilized in most deodorants and antibacterial soaps, leads to irritations and infections of the skin. When it serves as an antimicrobial agent for such personal care products, this substance disrupts the endocrine system and thyroid, estrogen, and testosterone regulations. This causes low sperm and poor sperm quality, early puberty, obesity, infertility, and even cancer. Children who suffer from such exposure at a young age obtain a higher chance of developing eczema, asthma, and allergies.

Hydroquinone is another troubling product. It commonly appears in products for lightening skin, moisturizers, and some cleansers. This harmful chemical leads to ochronosis. It can leave black and blue lesions on exposed parts of the skin. This is often disfiguring, and it is not reversible either.

Steroids are another hallmark of many beauty creams. This leads to skin thinning, damage, redness, acne and colour alteration. Mercury is also contained in such products alongside the steroids, and this is well known for causing cancers of various kinds.

Baby washes often contain coal tar. Lipsticks and hair dyes commonly contain lead, though none lists it as an ingredient (as it is universally acknowledged as a contaminant rather than an ingredient). Other heavy metals found in cosmetics include mercury which impairs the development of the brain, and mineral oils that stop the skin from expelling toxins. It is important to consider the effects of heavy metals on human health. Although there are some heavy metals that are beneficial to human health, one should be educated on which ones to look out for to avoid possible health problems. Your health will benefit from exposure to some of them (as with iron, zinc, copper, or manganese), though there are a few others that you should limit your exposure to (like mercury and lead).

The sad truth is that products generally considered safe are often not so beneficial when you know their ingredients. The majority of baby wipes on the market today are comprised of a chemical that creates skin rashes, allergies, and irritations. Hand sanitizers can even create more damage than users would believe. They kill germs and harmful bacteria, but they also destroy the good bacteria, which exposes your skin to elements that cause allergies.

Toothpaste and deodorants are supposed to be good for you too, but this is often not the case. Deodorants are generally full of parabens and aluminum chloride hexahydrate, leading to Alzheimer’s Disease and cancer. Toothpaste can even lead to dental fluorosis if it is utilized too heavily.

Is there any hope to avoid all of this negative chemical exposure in commonly used products? Doctors recommend a way around it, but it will be distasteful to many readers. They suggest utilizing baking soda as toothpaste and coconut oil or lemon for deodorants. Henna can replace hair dye to provide a naturally occurring shine.

As far as beauty products go, the less you utilize them, sometimes, the better off you are in the end. The use of all of these harmful products has a great chance of damaging your skin, at the least. Instead, try organic products such as pomegranate seeds for lip gloss, aloe vera gel instead of moisturizers, and coconut oil rather than damaging body lotions.

At the end of the day, it’s about knowing what’s in the products you use and put on your body.