Skincare products can’t stop time, and they can’t dramatically turn the clock back. Skincare can provide impressive improvements, but they have limitations. Even any brilliantly formulated or any remarkable products, all have limitations. It is important to remember that there are no miraculous ingredients when it comes to skincare.
However, it is important to seek out chemically safe and natural products.
Clean beauty products should not contain any ingredients, of natural or synthetic origin, that can poison the environment and cause harm to human health. Natural ingredients can be toxic (both poison ivy and arsenic are both natural, but they are toxic!) and man-made ingredients are not necessarily harmful, what matters is the ingredients are harmless and non-toxic. It is tough to know which ingredients to avoid, so learn to read the ingredients label is a good start to be able to choose healthier and safer skincare products. Ultimately, it is good to exclude some of these chemical ingredients:
– Petrochemicals, including mineral oil and various silicones
– Sodium laureth/lauryl Sulfate and other sulfate-based detergents
– Propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, and various ingredients formulated with PEGs and PGs.
– Formaldehyde and paraben preservatives
– Synthetic (FD&C and other) dyes and colorants
– Artificial fragrances of any sort
Skin Care Ingredients To Avoid
As a thumb of rule, it is best to avoid ingredients with long names that are difficult to pronounce. If you suffer from some allergies or sensitivities, it is even more critical to avoid some chemicals to avoid further complications or irritations.
If you have sunscreen sensitivity
- Avobenzone
- Benzophenones (such as oxybenzone)
- Butyl methoxydibenzoyl methane
- Isopropyldibenzoylmethane
- Methylbenzylidene camphor
- Octyl Methoxycinnamate (often found in waterproof sunscreens, can cause a reaction
- Para-aminobenzoic acid (PARA)
- Phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid
If acne-prone
- Butyl searate
- Decyl stearate
- Isocetyl searate
- Isocetyl isostearate
- Isocetyl myristate
- Isocetyl palmitate
- Isostearyl isostearate
- Isostearyl neopentanoate
- Myristyl myristate
- Myristyl propionate
- Octyl palmitate
- Octyl stearate
- Sodium laurel sulfate
- Lanolin
- Propylene glycol-2 (PPG-2)
If you have skin allergies or rashes
- Benzoyl peroxide
- Fragrances
- Lanolin
- Parabens
- Propylene glycol-2 (PPG-2)
If skin burns, itches, or turns red in response to sunscreen, avoid
- Avobenzone (Parsol)
- Benzophenone
- Methoxycinnamate
- Para-aminobenzoic acid (PARA)
- Padimate
Skincare Ingredients To Use
So what ingredients are best for the skin? Shopping for products that contain a range of great ingredients is the only useful approach to improving your skin’s appearance, and your skin will love it! Take for instance, for a good moisturizer, and one should contain any of the following: –
- Emollients: beeswax, squalene from olive oil, jojoba, and other plant oils, shea butter, cocoa butter, plant-derived silicones. Beware: thinking agents like triglycerides, palmitate, myristates, and stearates may be pore-clogging
- Humectants: hyaluronic acid, glycerin, or sorbitol
- Emulsifiers: beeswax, non-GMO soya Wan wax, vegetable waxes identified by “caprilate,” “caprate,” or “cetearyl” in the name, lecithin, cholesterol, or algae
- Penetration enhancers: vegetable squalene, linoleic acid (rosehip oil), oleic acid, peppermint extract (if your skin tolerates it well), or chamomile extract (if you don’t experience a skin reaction to it). Avoid propylene glycol and tetrasodium EDTA in your moisturizers
- Active ingredients: physical sunscreens (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide); soothing extracts (bisabolol, allantoin, aloe juice/extract, licorice root, green tea, and chamomile extracts); antibacterial tea tree oil, and anti-aging components such as peptides, hyaluronic acid, Boswellia serrata, CoQ10 and/or idebenone. Universally appealing antioxidants include green tea, Acai and pomegranate extracts, grape polyphenols, beta-carotene, vitamin C esters, and vitamin E. For nighttime use you may choose a moisturizer or a serum with alpha- and beta-hydroxy acids, but keep in mind, wearing them during the day is not recommended since even mild acids may increase facial pigmentation and result in uneven skin tone and brown spots
Read on for a comprehensive list of active ingredients to solve your skin concerns.
To moisturize and hydrate (improve skin’s barrier):
- Ajuga turkestanica
- Aloe vera
- Apricot kernel oil
- Borage seed oil
- Canola oil
- Ceramide
- Cholesterol
- Cocoa butter (not if you have acne)
- Colloidal oatmeal
- Dexpanthenol (provitamin B5)
- Dimethicone
- Evening primrose oil
- Glycerin
- Jojoba oil
- Macadamia nut oil
- Olive oil
- Safflower oil
- Shea butter
- Castor oil
- Pumpkin seed oil
- Sunflower oil
- Stearic acid and other fatty acids
- Glycolic acid
- Lactic acid
- Linoleic acid
- Niacinamide
- Rose hip seed oil
To Improve Acne:
- Azelaic acid
- Benzoyl peroxide (unless you experience facial redness)
- Resorcinol
- Retinol
- Salicylic acid (beta hydroxy acid, BHA)
- Tea tree oil (can cause allergy in some people)
To Prevent/Improve/Lighten Dark Spots (Pigment):
- Arbutin
- Azelaic acid
- Bearberry extract
- Cucumber extract
- Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice extract)
- Hydroquinone
- Mulberry extract
- Niacinamide
- Kojic acid
- Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate
- Tyrostat
- Cocos nucifera (coconut extract) unless you have acne
- Pycnogenol (a pine bark extract)
- Saxifraga sarmentosa extract (strawberry begonia)
- Epilobium angustifolium (willow herb)
- Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice extract)
- Mulberry extract
- Resorcinol
- Salicylic acid (beta hydroxy acid, BHA)
- Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
- Epilobium angustifolium (willow herb)
- Gallic acid
- Hydroquinone
- Retinol
To Prevent Wrinkles:
- ALA
- Alpha lipoic acid
- Basil
- Caffeine
- Carrot extract
- Coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone)
- Copper peptide
- Cucumber
- Curcumin (tetrahydracurcumin or tumeric)
- Ferulic acid
- Ginger
- Idebenone
- Ginseng
- Grape seed extract
- Camilla sinensis (Green tea, white tea)
- Idebenone
- Lutein
- Lycopene
- Phytol
- Punica granatum (Pomegranate)
- Pycnogenol (a pine bark extract)
- Rosemary
- Resveratrol
- Silymarin
- Trifolium pretense, fabaceae (red clover)
- Yucca
- Humulus lupulus (hops)
- Moringa
- Pinus pinaster (pine bark)
- Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
- Rosemary
- Vitamin E
- Moringa
- Feverfew
- Ginkgo biloba
- Genistein (soy)
- Ginkgo biloba
To Reduce Skin Inflammation (Anti-inflammation):
- Aloe Vera
- Arctium lappa (burdock root)
- Boswellia serrata
- Basil
- Chamomile
- Cucumber
- Dexpanthenol (pro-vitamin B5)
- Epilobium angustifolium (willow herb)
- Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice extract)
- Licochalone
- Mallow
- Niacinamide
- Red algae
- Rose water
- Salicylic acid (beta hydroxy acid, or BHA)
- Silymarin
- Sulfacetamide
- Sulfur
- Tea tree oil
- Zinc
- Ginger
- Feverfew
- Arnica
- Calendula
- Colloidal oatmeal
- Evening primrose oil
- Green tea
- Perilla leaf extract
- Pycnogenol (a pink bark extract)
- Thyme
- Trifolium pretense (red clover)
- Mirabilis
- Perilla leaf extract
To improve the appearance of wrinkles:
- Alpha lipoic acids (glycolic acid, lactic acid)
- Copper peptide
- DMAE
- Glycolic acid (alpha hydroxy acid or AHA)
- Lactic acid (AHA)
- Phytic acid (AHA)
- Retinol
- Salicylic acid (beta hydroxy acid, BHA)
- TGF-Beta
- Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
- Citric acid
- Gluconolactone
- Polyhydroxy acids
Use Online Tools to Find Safer Products
Thanks to comprehensive websites like Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetics database, and Good Guide, it is only a click away to help to rate personal care products for safety and toxicity. EWG’s Skin Deep catalogs nearly 70,000 products — ranging from moisturizers, makeup, deodorant, toothpaste, and baby shampoo — into three hazard ratings (low, moderate, or high concern) based on each product’s ingredient information. You may find a list of EWG verified skincare here
As much as possible, you should minimize your exposure to some of those harmful chemicals. With more conscious cosmetic consumers, Sephora is also finding ways to minimize their environmental footprint. Sephora developed a way to clarify terminology like green and natural by clearly establishing what it, known as “Clean at Sephora.” All products with the “Clean at Sephora” seal will not contain the sulfates SLS and SLES, parabens, formaldehydes, and formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, mineral oil, retinylpalmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, triclosan, and triclocarban. For fragrance brands, PTFE/PFOA, styrene, polyacrylamide/acrylamide, acetaldehyde, acetonitrile, methylene chloride, benzalkonium chloride, toluene, resorcinol, acetone, butoxyethanol, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, methyl cellosolve, methylisothiazolinone/methylchloroisothiazolinone, mercury and mercury compounds (thimerosal), bisphenol A (BPA), and animal fats, oils, and musks are also excluded. Furthermore, skin care, hair, and makeup brands with the “Clean at Sephora” seal have less than one percent of synthetic fragrances and no undisclosed fragrances.
Source:
The Skin Type Solution by Leslie Baumann, M.D.
Sephora Is Launching a Clean Beauty Category That’s Free of Certain Unwanted Ingredients
Related Posts:
How To Read Cosmetic Ingredient Label
How To Adopt A Green Beauty Routine
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