Harmful Ingredients in Your Beauty Products

Harmful Additives in Beauty Products

We spend small fortunes on health and beauty care products - on average using at least 10 varieties every day. What you are using to cleanse, soften and hydrate may contain harmful additives that cause long term damage to vital organs and your immune system.


Make intelligent decisions about the ingredients that penetrate your blood stream and learn why beauty and health is not merely skin deep.

Anti-bacterial's
Used too often, anti-bacterial ingredients can counteract resistance of disease-causing germs like E. coli and Salmonella. 

Coal Tar
Often found in toothpaste, dandruff shampoos and anti-itch creams, coal tar is a carcinogen and leads to various types of cancers.

Diethanolamine (DEA) drains the body of choline, a mineral vital to fetal brain development.

Formaldehyde
This toxic additive has extremely dangerous health effects including weakened immune-system, decreased respiratory function and cancer.  Look for the following ingredients to avoid: diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea and quaternium compounds.  Surprisingly, formaldehyde can still be found in hair-dyes, baby cleansing products, lash adhesive and other personal care items.

Synthetic Fragrances
If you see the ingredient fragrance, steer clear.  Typically added to mask phthalates, fragrances may cause reproductive difficulties and obesity.   Enjoy fragrant products?  Look for products containing pure essential oils to provide fragrance.  We recommend: Hawaiian Skin soothing all-over body lotion and aloe & shea cleansing wash.

Lead and Mercury
Trace amounts of lead will make its way into your system whether you like it or not.  However, you can do your part to minimize the levels that make it into your bloodstream by reading the ingredients of your daily care products carefully.  Lead exposure is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and infants, stunting development.  Mercury is often used as a preservative – it also damages your brain function.  Labeled as thimerosol, this can still be found in some mascaras.
Nanoparticles
Small nanoparticles, which (according to research) may damage brain cells, is common in many sunscreens. Look for products that provide particles larger than 100 nanometers. (The larger the particle, the more difficulty it will have reaching your blood stream.)

Parabens
This is one of the most commonly used preservatives because it increases shelf life a great deal – this is why parabens are still found in millions of health and beauty products. Studies have shown that parabens decrease sperm count, as well as produce estrogenic activity found in human breast-cancer cell cultures. A controversial subject and one worthy of looking into – or avoiding all together.

Look for the prefix: methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, isobutyl-.

P-Phenylenediamine
Often found in permanent hair color, this chemical damages the nervous system, as well as causing lung irritation and severe allergic reactions. It's may be listed as 1,4-Benzenediamine; p-Phenyldiamine and 4-Phenylenediamine.

Drs. Christiaan Janssens
Akwa Wellness