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As scary as it sounds, many skin care companies are not looking out for your health the way they should be. You have to be diligent about checking your labels and looking for any ingredients that may harm your health and avoid them as best as you can. Some may just cause irritation but others have the potential to build up in your cells causing serious health problems.
Here is a list of the top ten most talked about ingredients to avoid. Let me stress that the risk with these ingredients is potential and not absolute, but about 60% of what you put on your skin is absorbed into the blood stream so you want to make sure you are using healthy ingredients that are both good for your skin and safe for your health.
| Ingredient | Potential Health Threat |
| PEG, polysorbates, laureth, ethoxylated alcohol | Potential carcinogens |
| Propylene glycol | Dermatitis, kidney and liver abnormalities, irritation, can cause eye irritation |
| Sodium laurel, lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate | Potential carcinogens |
| Parabens | Possible endocrine disruptors- mimic estrogen, disrupt hormonal balance, and are being researched as to whether they can cause reproductive cancers in men and women-no conclusive evidence |
| PABA | Releases free radicals that damage DNA and can potentially cause genetic mutation when exposed to sunlight |
| Toluene (benzoic, benzyl, butylataed hydroxtoluene) | My be related to anemia, low blood cell count, liver and kidney damage, and birth defects, skin and lung irritant. Accumulates in fat tissue. |
| Phenol carbolic acid | May cause respiratory complications – Banned in Canada and restricted in Japan |
| Acrylic Acid | Respiratory toxin, may cause asthma, skin irritant, kidney damage in animals |
| Octyl-methoxycinnamate (OMC) | Kills skin cells |
| Mineral oil, paraffin, petrolatum | Coats the skin like plastic locking in toxins. Clogs pores, slows skin cell growth, potential carcinogen, lung irritant |
very scary! should be very careful now