My Thoughts on Personal Care Safety

I’ve been questioning my views on personal care safety. Let's talk about it.

This began as a 3 Things Thursday post, but as I started writing, I realized I had a lot more to say. Go figure. Some of the things I cover are a little controversial, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. Let me know what you think in the comments!

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Background

There was a time when I was seriously afflicted with what I now know to be chemophobia, the irrational fear of chemicals. I’m not sure where it started, exactly. I probably came across a DIY recipe on Pinterest and clicked through to a crunchy blogger’s post about how what we put on our skin is absorbed into our bloodstream. They would usually go on to explain that personal care products are full of “toxic chemicals” that irritate our skin barrier, disrupt our hormones, and potentially cause cancer. After all, if we care about what we put in our body through food and nutrients, it followed that we should also care about topically applied products.

This made sense to me, so I became an obsessive label-reader and ingredient decoder. I learned a lot about ingredients and their purpose, and would look them up individually to determine their safety. I swapped out a lot of personal care products for what I thought to be safer alternatives over the years, and I still use many of these products to this day. Consumer demand for safer products fostered innovation in personal care, so there are tons of options that many consider safer and are also effective and a joy to use.

As time went on, I developed a more nuanced approach. I learned how some claims were overblown to prey on fear, and how they still persist despite being debunked. The more I learned, the looser my stance became. Frankly, I think the stress of excessive worry about ingredients might be more harmful for us than the products themselves.

That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be aware of what’s in the products we use on a daily basis, or that people don’t have legitimate allergies, sensitivities, or skin conditions that merit more scrutiny. For the average person, however, it’s not as scary as fear-mongering marketing tactics make it seem. So I thought I’d share some common misconceptions and how my views have changed. Of course, I’m not a cosmetic chemist, doctor, or scientist. I’m sharing how I’m thoughtfully interrogating my beliefs, and I reserve the right to keep learning and changing my mind.

Misconception #1: Preservatives are harmful.

When I see crunchy brands touting preservative-free products in their marketing, I cringe. It’s not the flex that you think it is. While parabens have gotten a bad rep for past studies that showed a possible link to endocrine (hormone) disruption and breast cancer, that has come into question in recent years. I mostly avoided parabens after seeing those studies years ago (and most of my products still don’t have them), but I’ve been questioning my stance recently after learning this new information. So while I’m not going out of my way to use them, I’m not fearful of them either.

Let’s set the record straight: Broad-spectrum preservatives are necessary in water-based products to keep them shelf-stable and prevent them from growing mold and bacteria, which can be even more harmful than any small amount of preservative. Many oil-based anhydrous (not containing water) products don’t require preservatives because these materials aren’t as susceptible to bacterial growth. However, some anhydrous products still contain preservatives if they’re likely to be exposed to water, such as shower products or anything you might dip your hands in.

So please, for the love of all that is holy, stop demonizing preservatives. /end rant

Misconception #2: “Fragrance” is an automatic no-no. Essential oils are the only safe fragrance because they’re “natural.”

While it’s true that the term “fragrance” is an umbrella term that can cover up questionable ingredients, I don’t automatically dismiss a product if I see it on a label anymore. That said, fragrance can be an allergen and skin irritant, so people who are sensitive to fragrance or have sensitive skin should avoid it.

The biggest concern for people in fragrance is phthalates, which are often used as stabilizers to make a fragrance last longer and adhere to the skin. Studies have linked chronic phthalate exposure to endocrine disruption, and some have already been banned. From what I’ve seen, the biggest sources of phthalates are from plastics, food, water, and soil, not personal care products. That said, if you prefer to minimize your exposure but still want to smell nice, look for phthalate-free scents. Personally, I’m not very sensitive to smells and don’t mind using conventional fragrances on special occasions when I want the smell to last. However, I avoid any artificial fragrance on my face, especially in leave-on products. Because I have acne-prone and selectively sensitive skin, I prefer to keep it simple for my facial skincare.

What about essential oils? While they smell lovely and can be beneficial, they’re not always completely safe, either—no matter what your essential oil distributor tells you. Sorry, I had to say it. When using essential oils on your skin, here are some important safety tips to keep in mind to minimize your risk of sensitization and skin reactions:

• Avoid using overly expired essential oils. While some essential oils have a really long shelf life, others are shorter, so be sure to look them up to see how long it’s recommended to keep it. If your essential oil supplier has an expiration date on the bottle, even better. (I know expiration dates aren’t always reliable either, but it’s a good starting point.)

• Always dilute essential oils that you apply to your skin. They’re highly concentrated, so a little goes a long way. There are tons of great resources on essential oil safety, such as the Tisserand Institute. Companies like Plant Therapy and Edens Garden also have great resources on safe essential oil use. A general rule of thumb is .5% for sensitive skin, 1% for face products, 2% for body products, and 5% for rollerball blends.

• For even more precision, look up the max usage rate for any essential oil you want to use in your formula. This is the maximum percentage of a certain essential oil to use in a formulation by weight, and each oil is different. While lavender can safely be used up to 5% in some formulations, the max usage of lemongrass is 0.7%. Plant Therapy is a great resource to look up individual oils, and they conveniently publish dilution rates on each bottle.

I personally love essential oils and including them in my homemade formulas, so using them safely allows me to keep using them and enjoying their benefits.

Misconception #3: “All drugstore products/big brands are toxic.”

I’ll admit, I stayed far away from these products until recently, due to my previous belief in the first two points. However, even if you’re still skeptical and looking to avoid things like parabens, phthalates, and more intense surfactants like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), many drugstore products have been recently reformulated due to consumer demand.

For example, I used to use the Cetaphil face cleanser for normal to oily skin in college. It was an effective cleanser, but it left my skin feeling felt stripped and dry. Now that they’ve reformulated to replace the harsher surfactants and offer a fragrance-free option, my skin is much happier. It’s an excellent affordable cleanser that I regularly use in my rotation.

Critics of the safer skincare movement are not thrilled about this shift, because they believe that misinformation and fear is driving a change in the market. Plus, new broad-spectrum preservatives haven’t been studied as long as parabens, which calls into question the long-term efficacy and safety due to lack of data.

While I understand these concerns, I take a more optimistic approach. Many products were created out of a legitimate need that the market didn’t fulfill, and it resonated with enough people to create a new category. There are potential downsides to this collective influence, especially if it’s based on false information. That said, it’s encouraging to see that voting with our dollars makes a difference and can spark positive change. While some changes may have been unnecessary, others have been really beneficial and led to higher-quality products. Skincare science is always evolving, and these big brands have the experience and resources to be able to innovate and adapt.

So if you’ve been avoiding drugstore products, take heart! There are tons of safe and effective products out there that won’t break the bank.

Misconception #4: “Synthetic = bad and natural = good. Don’t buy anything with ingredients you can’t pronounce, or anything that’s not verified on EWG or Yuka.”

Many safer skincare advocates say things like this, which is well-intentioned, but misleading. There are a lot of chemical and botanical names on product labels that are hard for the average person to pronounce, but are perfectly safe. Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil is also known as sweet almond oil. There are legitimate reasons to avoid using certain ingredients, but not being able to pronounce it isn’t one of them. Many ingredients may look scary, but if you look them up individually, they’re not a huge cause for concern unless you have sensitive skin or a known allergy.

There are a lot of synthetic ingredients that are perfectly safe and beneficial, and naturally-occurring ingredients that are unsafe, or may be irritating for some. The term “natural” is unregulated and used as a marketing term, not a universal safety standard. So if a company promotes something as “natural,” it leads people to think that “unnatural” is bad. The same can be applied for products labeled as sulfate-free, silicone-free…you get the picture. Fear is a powerful motivator that sells a lot of products and makes a lot of money, and there’s an abundance of wellness grifters that use it to their advantage. So while I don’t immediately write off a product or company that uses these terms, I definitely roll my eyes a little.

While EWG and Yuka are useful tools for general ingredient awareness, I don’t love the heavy dose of fear-mongering where entire products are demonized for a single ingredient used in a very small percentage. I prefer INCI Decoder as a more balanced resource to look up individual ingredients, their purpose, and helpful context for any controversial ingredients.

Preference vs. Pressure

If you still prefer to use products without the ingredients I’ve discussed above, you do you! Everyone has a different context and risk tolerance, and you might come to a different conclusion when deciding what’s best for you and your loved ones. I still use a lot of the products I swapped in because they’re effective and enjoyable to use. I’m still conscious of reading labels and decoding ingredients, but it’s because I’ve learned what works best for me and what I want to avoid for different reasons. For example, I discovered that oils in skincare products (even non-comedogenic ones) make me break out. I also found that toothpastes with SLS and SLES dry out my mouth and lead to gum irritation, so I prefer gentler surfactants. The important thing is to make decisions based on your own needs and preferences, vs. problems that external forces have manufactured for you.

However, if you find yourself feeling pressure to replace all of your personal care products when you have no allergies, sensitivities, or other compelling reasons to switch, then let this be your permission to exhale. If you’d like to experiment with different products to see if they work better for you, go for it! But don’t feel like you have to because some influencer freaked you out.

What’s your take on personal care products? Let me know in the comments!