It’s something that we don’t always think about when we’re using different types of beauty products that solve ailments, cover up blemishes or even protect our skin from the sun. But everyone should be more aware of the actual ingredients that are used in their favorite beauty products. What you might find could surprise you and we want to help you on that path to discovery.

While history can take us back to some kooky products that offered women and men alike things like arsenic complexion wafters, we’re at least not dishing out direct poison to consumes to increase their beauty! There still can be alarming things showing up in products like heavy metals in all kinds of makeup products. There are many times when these heavy metals are actually added on purpose to the product but are added due to manufacturing impurities.

Each product you use has a brand new list of ingredients in it, obviously, but as you get more used to evaluating what’s in products you’ll get used to looking for some of the most important offenders in regards to specific types of chemicals or ingredients in your cosmetics. The easiest approach to start with is using what is commonly known as “The Dirty Dozen.” This is a short list of ingredients that are some of the more common or biggest offenders found in all types of products we use every day.

There is a larger Toxic Cosmetics Guidebook that dives into the Dirty Dozen but also covers nearly 200 other chemicals that you should keep an eye out for in your beauty products and breaks down by category like nail polish, mascara, shampoo and more. The way this guidebook did their research for the Dirty Dozen was by using a crowdsourcing technique that allowed them to pull in information from 19 experts, beauty experts and scientists. In today’s post we’re going to cover those key 12 ingredients that are referred to as the Dirty Dozen and if you want to expand your research, jump on over and check out the more comprehensive list and other research done in this area.

Dirty Dozen List for Cosmetics:

1. Coal Tar Dyes (Phenylenediamine or CI #####)
2. Petrolatum
3. Triclosan
4. BHA & BHT
5. DEA (Diethanolamine)
6. DBP (Dibutyl Phthalate)
7. Formaldehyde-Releasing Preservatives
8. PEG Compounds
9. Siloxanes
10. SLS (Sodium Laureth Sulfate)
11. Parabens
12. Parfum (Or Fragrance)

That covers the big 12 that you should start your adventure in understanding toxic cosmetic ingredients. There has been recent rulings on one listed in the list which is called Triclosan. The FDA has recently passed a ban on Triclosan and other associated ingredients used as antispetics. So while you’ll find there have been people saying certain ingredients should or shouldn’t be on lists, you have to wonder what they were thinking when you ultimately see an agency like the FDA ban the ingredient across the board!

We hope this helps get you started into understanding what you should looking for in your cosmetics, beauty products, nail polish, shampoo and more. Let us know what you think about this or if you have any question.