Skin is the largest organ in our body which is able to readily absorb anything we put on it. 

 

People usually put at least 3 cosmetics or personal care products on their skin on a daily basis. A woman may put more than 12 products in a single day. I personally, put average of 10 products in a day. 

 

These personal care products include body wash, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, body lotion, skincare products, makeup...the list can go on forever! 

 

Some researches showed that the skin absorbs up to 60 to 70% of the chemicals from the products that you use. The ugly truth is that there is a long list of harmful ingredients present in the products. Depending on the size of particles, the chemicals can be penetrated into the bloodstream. 

 

Even if it is a small amount of bad chemicals that your skin is exposed to, continuous exposure of those bad chemicals can have mild to severe consequences on your health. 

 

This is the reason why it is really important to read the labels on the back of your products.

 

Ingredients label example:

List of ingredients is usually in descending order of concentration. So the furthest towards the end, the less concentration it has of that substance. I would say that the first 5 to 10 ingredients would be the main ingredients of cosmetics from the label. Most of the ingredients at the far end would have the concentration of less than 2-5%.

 

Glass skin. Is very proud that we only curate products that have no harsh ingredients! Check our skin care products - click here

 

Who is interested to know what ingredients to avoid when buying cosmetics? 

 

We will be back with more information on that!

 

Stay tuned! 

 

 

 

 

 

References.

Brown, H. S., Bishop, D. R., & Rowan, C. A. (1984). The role of skin absorption as a route of exposure for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in drinking water. American journal of public health, 74(5), 479–484. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.74.5.479

 

De Groot, A. C., White, I. R., Flyvholm, M. A., Lensen, G., & Coenraads, P. J. (2010). Formaldehyde-releasers in cosmetics: relationship to formaldehyde contact allergy. Part 1. Characterization, frequency and relevance of sensitization, and frequency of use in cosmetics. Contact dermatitis, 62(1), 2–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0536.2009.01615.x

 

EWG Skin Deep® Cosmetics Database. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

 

Orton, F., Ermler, S., Kugathas, S., Rosivatz, E., Scholze, M., & Kortenkamp, A. (2014). Mixture effects at very low doses with combinations of anti-androgenic pesticides, antioxidants, industrial pollutant and chemicals used in personal care products. Toxicology and applied pharmacology, 278(3), 201–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2013.09.008

 

Panico, A., Serio, F., Bagordo, F., Grassi, T., Idolo, A., DE Giorgi, M., Guido, M., Congedo, M., & DE Donno, A. (2019). Skin safety and health prevention: an overview of chemicals in cosmetic products. Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene, 60(1), E50–E57. https://doi.org/10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2019.60.1.1080

Robinson, M. K., Gerberick, G. F., Ryan, C. A., McNamee, P., White, I. R., & Basketter, D. A. (2000). The importance of exposure estimation in the assessment of skin sensitization risk. Contact dermatitis, 42(5), 251–259. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0536.2000.042005251.x