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Are Your Skincare Products Really Safe?

by Abby Radcliffe, Alvernia University

Oct 07, 2019

Sunscreen, skin cream, aloe, and face washes. How do you know what is being applied to your face is good for you? When people go to the store or go online to buy any skin product, many of them do not look at the ingredients and what is in the product. It is so important to understand what each chemical can cause before its too late. Whether it is in baby products or simply a daily face wash or sunscreen application, look at the ingredients.

Baby Products

Baby products are designed to look like they are being advertised for the better, when in reality these can be full of toxins and bad ingredients terrible for the skin. According to treehugger.com, doctors try to make it seem like applying all of these lotions and creams are good, but keeping the babies as far away as possible from stuff like that is much better for them. The best way to go by is that if you cannot put it in your mouth, there cannot be a way it can be good for your baby.

There are many chemicals and products that are and in some baby products, one being talc. This is a powdered mineral that is used in baby powder as a drying agent but it is known for irritating the lungs. Fragrance seems to be super important when creating a product but is not good, simply because it is used to mask the terrible odor that comes from the other chemicals used in the product.

Mineral oil is another major ingredient and is often mixed with a fragrance. Having a fragrance and a mineral oil combined is bad because mineral oil is a byproduct of petroleum which acts as a plastic wrap around the skin. Any product that is labeled as a “antibacterial” product is most likely filled with triclosan which is bad for the environment. If that is the case, how can that be good for your baby’s skin?

Sunscreen

Sunscreen is another important application that is used all the time. It’s is what helps protect skin for the sun’s UV rays, but is that the only good thing it can do? There are two different types of UV rays, according to USA Today. UVB rays are what cause sunburn and lead to skin cancer. Then, there are UVA rays which are the rays of sun that go deep under the skin’s surface, leaving the skin to darken and result in aging spots and later skin cancer.

When deciding if a brand of sunscreen is safe, the Environmental Working Group can help narrow down the safer sunscreen products on their website. The organization will rate the sunscreen and will grade each product based on the health hazards, how long the sunscreen lasts so you know how often to reapply, the ratio of the UVA absorbance, and the UVA and UVB protection.

In conclusion, paying attention to what is in what you buy and what you are applying can be very important. It matters, and in all honestly, you could save a life.

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