How to Read Beauty Product Labels

How to Read Beauty Product Labels

The skin is your largest organ and the first barrier your body has to prevent harmful invaders like bacteria, viruses, and environmental polluters to enter your precious organism. Your skin also keeps you warm and keeps all of your organs and muscles contained inside. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Virtually anything you put on your skin gets absorbed through its pores, so you need to be smart and wary on what you put on it. With hundreds of beauty products sitting on the shelf, all screaming at you BUY ME, it is important to understand what you are putting on your skin. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Here are some tips on how to read beauty product labels and what to look for while at it:
  1. Learn to read the ingredients list: a.Ingredients are listed from highest to lowest concentration. b.Look for harmful ingredients in the top 3 listed ingredients. c.A few known harmful ingredients are: parabens, SLS/SLES, phthalates, toluene, artificial fragrances/perfume, triclosam, aluminum (found in antiperspirants), and synthetic colors.
  2. Unpronounceable words: a.Don’t be afraid if you see any ingredient that sounds too “chemical” or cannot be pronounced. For example: tocopherol is vitamin E and tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate is vitamin C. b.Vegetable ingredients are usually listed with their Latin names and they have two words. For example: “Lavendula gastufolia” is the scientific name of lavender. c.If you are not sure of an ingredient, you can look for it in the directory of the International Nomenclature of Cosmetics Ingredients (INCI).
  3. Natural vs. artificial ingredients a.Favor non-toxic, plant-based ingredients. Nature offers a myriad of nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants that have been known for hundreds of thousands of years to improve and heal your skin.
  4. Preservatives used: a.In order to prevent bacteria growing in beauty and skin care products, companies have to use a preservation method. Studies have found that “parabens” are carcinogenic (they can transform healthy cells into cancer cells). That’s why it is important to look for products that are “parabens-free”.
  5. Expiration date: a.If the product does not show clearly an expiration date, look for the numbers 6M, 12M, 24M, and so on. The M stands for months and it represents how long the product is good once it’s opened, and don’t forget to keep track of that expiration date!
  6. Certifications: a.In the United States, beauty products are not regulated, but fortunately there are private and non-governmental organizations that certify the quality of these products. Some of the most common certifications for beauty products are USDA Organic, non-GMO, PETA, ECOCERT, and Leaping Bunny.
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