10 Ingredients to Watch Out For in Moisturizers for Sensitive Skin

According to a study by David Suzuki Foundation in Canada, over 80% of all cosmetic products have been found to be using one or more ingredients designated as “Dirty Dozen” potential irritants or toxicants. These ingredients are said to cause irritations or, worse, do harm to our body.   

If you happen to have sensitive skin, you must be more careful to check the ingredients used to produce skin products. You must already know a few ingredients that can cause trouble on your skin, even if it can be perfectly fine on other people’s skin. 

This is a list of the 10 ingredients you can commonly find in moisturizers, but recommended to avoid if you have sensitive skin, or any form of skin diseases caused by a compromised skin barrier.

•     Fragrances: Many fragrance ingredients are irritants and can trigger allergies, migraines and asthma symptoms.

•     Colorants: Many artificial colors are made using coal tar, petroleum or heavy metals salts like arsenic and lead. When absorbed on our skin, artificial colors can increase the risk of irritation, blocked pores, breakouts and sensitivity.

•     Ethanol: Used as preservatives or solvents. It has a tendency to make your skin dry. Some experts even think that regular exposure to alcohol damages your skin barrier and causes inflammation, though it's a debated opinion.

•     Parabens: Used as preservatives. Parabens easily penetrate the skin and are suspected by some researches of interfering with hormone function (endocrine disruption).

•     Phenoxyethanol: Again, used mostly as preservatives. It is known to be a soft and gentle ingredient. Skin exposure to phenoxyethanol has been linked to allergic reactions ranging from eczema and hives to anaphylaxis.

•     Mineral oil: Used as a moisturizing agent due to its occlusive character (i.e., prevents moisture on the skin from evaporating into air). Petrolatum can be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and studies suggest that exposure to PAHs – including skin contact over extended periods of time – is associated with cancer.

•     PEGs: Mostly used as a solvent (that means it helps to mix oily ingredients with watery ones). Depending on manufacturing processes, PEGs may be contaminated with measurable amounts of 1,4- dioxane. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies 1,4-dioxane as a possible human carcinogen, and it is also persistent.

•     BHT: Again, this is used as a preservative. BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) can induce allergic reactions in the skin.

•     Benzyl alcohol: A preservative. In high amounts, it can be a skin irritant.

•     Triethanolamine: Used to control a product’s PH. When combined with N-nitrogenating agents (e.g.: preservatives like 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol, 5-Bromo-5-Nitro- 1,3-Dioxane or sodium nitrate) it can form some carcinogenic stuff (i.e., having potential to cause cancer).

One thing you might want to take note is, even among researchers, opinions differ widely according to their philosophy and approach. Those discounting the risks say research to prove the toxicity of an ingredient is most commonly done through animal studies where applied amounts far exceed the level used by cosmetic products. They also claim applying an ingredient on the skin is far safer than eating or injecting it into the body (methods most experiments use).

Still, conservatives think the cumulative impact from potentially toxic ingredients can be significant over the long term across multiple modes of applications. We can’t measure how much of a specific toxic ingredient we are exposed to (cosmetic products do not tell you how much of a specific ingredient is used for a formula), and it is possible that we could have been exposed to the same toxic ingredient from multiple different products. 

According to where you stand, you will come to a completely different conclusion on whether or not to hit the "Proceed" button on your online cart screen.