When I was asked a couple of years ago how many personal care products I used on any given day, I had no idea.  How many do you use?  Yesterday I counted.  I am amazed.  From start of day to finish on any given day I use between 28-33 products!  WOW!  Keep in mind, that I consider myself a product MINIMALIST.  I am amazingly lazy when it comes to styling hair and applying makeup.   These daily-use personal products range from shower products, body care, face care, cosmetics, deodorants, hair care, sun protection, hand soap and lotion and foot cream.  If we want to include the non-daily products (such as facial scrubs or masks or detoxification products applied once or twice a week) we could add a couple to the tally.

With all these products we apply daily it is important to know what is in them.  Everything we apply to our skin is absorbed into our blood stream (this is how insulin, pain and nicotine patches work).  A couple of weeks ago I gave a product ingredient talk for a moms “Green Group”.   What I realized is that there can be a lot of confusion over which products are harmful and which are benign or beneficial.  This can be even more difficult because the FDA does not require complete ingredient lists on many products, or the ingredient lists are on the box  and once you throw away the box you can’t verify ingredients.    Add to that the marketing strategies of manufacturers based on current trends and it is hard to figure out what to buy and what to banish.   Additionally, there is debate about a number of ingredients and whether or not animal research is related to human response of the same ingredients.  For most of these ingredients, you will have to make the call yourself.

The purpose of this post is not to focus exclusively on lipstick, but rather all personal care products used by you and your family.  We will explore one ingredient each post for the next few posts.  The information is sometimes overwhelming and controversial.  My goal is to help provide you with enough information including background information on the ingredient of focus that you can either formulate your own opinion, or continue your own further research..

First topic:  PARABENS (methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl)

Parabens are widely used as a preservative in cosmetics and skin care including sun care.  It is a common ingredient in both the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.  Debate is currently on-going as to whether parabens’ estrogen mimicking properties are enough to disrupt the bodies own estrogen production, and increase incidences of breast cancer.  Animal studies show increased breast tumors when injected with high levels of parabens.  Not all forms of parabens have the same chemical structure, and some have been deemed “safe” by the FDA.

Some forms of parabens are naturally occurring in food sources, such as blueberries which contain methylparaben serving as an antimicrobial.  Studies show that when methylparaben is consumed (as when eating blueberries) the digestion process minimizes the estrogen mimicking effect.  It does not go through this same process when applied to the skin.  High levels of parabens have been detected in breast tumors which fuels further research on the potential link between parabens and breast cancer.

Studies have shown that methylparaben applied to the skin react with UVB rays and increase DNA damage and skin aging.   (Wikipedia)  This can’t be a good thing!  DNA damage and increased aging is not beautiful, not to mention that DNA damage leads to increased risk for skin cancer.

Common products containing parabens:

  • Cosmetics:  foundation, makeup primer, eye shadow, blush, lipstick, eye liner, lip liner, mascara, powder, etc.
  • Sunscreen: often containing higher percentages of parabens than other products.
  • Facial and Body care:  moisturizer, eye cream, serum, foot cream, facial wash, body wash, hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, the list goes on…

Bottom line – check your product ingredients!  Do your research.   I am very happy to use products that are free of parabens.  You will have to make the call yourself.

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