How Skin Care Creams are Made

Have you ever wondered what companies add to the skin care creams you might slather on your face and body? How does this affect you? And are the chemicals they use really that bad for your skin?

The products you buy off the shelf need a long shelf life as well as deliver the intended effect as quickly as possible. The addition of many chemicals are used to achieve this effect.

Let’s see what they are and how they can affect us.

Better Shelf Life

Parabens are added as preservatives to prevent the growth of bacteria and yeast in many common skin & makeup products. As a known carcinogenic, parabens increase your chances of contracting breast cancer; this is due to their estrogen mimicking properties.

Parabens do in fact, occur naturally in food such as strawberries. They are easily broken down by our digestive system but when applied directly to the skin in the form of creams or oils it bypasses the digestive system (which breaks it down) increasing the carcinogenic effects.

Whitening Effects

“Whiter skin in 2 weeks!”

You might of heard this statement in many a cosmetic advertisement. It may sound too good to be true but it is easily achievable. This is effect is achieved by the addition of mercury and/or its derivatives.

As many of you may know however, mercury is highly toxic and can cause heavy metal poisoning. Symptoms include memory loss, tremors and impaired vision & hearing.

Always, check the ingredients for words like mercuric and calomel as these are mercury derivatives.

Synthetic Fragrance

Sweet and pleasant scents are the first aspect customers look for in a product. Many people prefer scented products over unscented ones. Fragrance is a word that describes a formula with a lot of unknown chemicals that are hazardous to formulate the fragrance. Many of the chemicals are irritants which may trigger allergies and asthma, and may linked to cancer.

Sunscreen Properties

In order to absorb UV rays, many sunscreen products include chemicals such as PABA, benzophenone, avobenzone and homosalate in their ingredients list. These chemicals may however cause cellular damage with carcinogenic effects.

Chemicals such as retinyl palmitate and oxybenzone found in these products may cause adverse reactions such as allergic reactions, inflammation, dermalogical effects and DNA altering effects.

So now you know. Don’t forget to read labels the next time you’re out buying your next skin care regimen.