Nowadays, it is often seen that brands are coming out with “all natural” beauty and skincare lines. Is it because of public worry about chemicals being put in beauty products or are there real scientific studies backing it? Are paraben and SLS, that are often found in beauty and skincare products, harmful or are they a made up marketing gimmick? So I started to do a little research to uncover the following information that will surely answer most of our queries regarding this two ingredients.
Parabens
Parabens are an inexpensive chemical and antimicrobial preservative that are added to not only kill bacteria but also to prevent the growth
of yeast. It also increases the shelf life of products.
Utilized for : Parabens acts as a preservative and work as an anti-bacterial agent by keeping the products fresh for long time.
Why people want to avoid them : Paraben started getting such a bad rep after some studies found six different parabens inside
breast cancer tumors in female patients which was in concentrations that was found to be related to the use of cosmetic products.
At that time, the scientists announced that they didn’t know that parabens can cause cancer, they only said that it was just present.
Although in a new study in 2015 it was found out that parabens resulted in the growth of breast cancer cells swiftly in a laboratory environment. The ties between breast cancer and parabens may be strengthening still scientists are yet to point out that if it should be banned and though most people use very less amounts of parabens in their day to day lives.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
SLS is another inexpensive chemical commonly used as a foaming agent. It easily dissolves and strips the oil from the surface.
Utilized for : SLS acts as preservatives too. It is commonly found in bleaches and hair products. It is often added to various skin products
Why people want to avoid them : SLS is said to causesensitivity for some people.Sensitivity though rare isn’t uncommon at least over one percent of the population has a sensitivity. In most cases you’re far more likely to have it if you suffer from asthma. Scientists have identified number of reactions including dermatitis, flushing, abdominal pain and diarrhea even some life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. In case you suffer from asthma or think you have sensitivity stay far away from sulfate-containing products as much as possible.
Conclusion
Companies mainly decide to use parabens and SLS’s as they are very economical and quite cheaper than the alternatives. Also they increase the shelf life of product often from 12 months to 2 years and this in turn makes the Company lose less money on products that are being pulled off the shelf and often discarded hence they continue use it for the most part irrespective of it’s serious harmful nature. With
the above information it is quite safe to say that the use of Paraben and SLS based products should be avoided at all cost if you want to have a good skin, lustrous hair and overall good health. Always make sure to buy skin and hair care products free from Paraben as well as SLS.
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