Think you know what goes into your skincare products? Beauty expert Laura Ludlow reveals all

Can you be sure the products you are putting on your skin are what they say they are? Whilst promising they are full of plant extracts and vitamins, these products contain synthetics that could be poisoning you.

The dazzle of big brand marketing, shiny packaging and lovely smells are enough to send most women into a state of nervous excitement – surely these companies would have your best interests at heart? Not necessarily true. The skincare industry is largely unregulated – a scary thought, even to a beauty therapist whose job it is to make people more beautiful.

There is a frighteningly long list of unpronounceable ingredients that people regularly slick onto their skin. I hear people exclaim “Ooohh, look at the lather I get from my new super-smelly organic tea tree shower gel!”. Sadly, nobody knows, not even the manufacturers, the long term effect of the synthetic chemical cocktail.

But before you throw out your bathroom contents and stop washing altogether, here are a couple of pointers to help you in the constantly debated ‘chemical’ war.

The words ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ are often misused. Consumers are led to believe they are buying a product that may be good for them and for the environment. But most of these products are full of synthetics – to claim it is ‘natural’ only 0.01% of the entire product needs to be natural matter. So what’s in the rest of the product?

By law companies must list the chemicals on the products packaging. They are put in descending order with the highest concentration coming first. Just because it says organic does not mean that it isn’t full of nasties as well!

Soap
Propylene glycol is a major component, and acts as a solvent for all the other ingredients. It is a mild irritant and easily absorbed by the skin. If large quantities of propylene glycol are repeatedly applied to the skin, or ingested, it can depress the central nervous system - the nerves that make up the brain and spinal cord. Medication containing propylene glycol has been linked to fatal depression of the central nervous system in premature babies. Other effects on the central nervous system have been described in children whose skin has been in contact with the chemical.

Hair wax
Often contains paraffinum liquidum, a poshed up term for liquid paraffin or mineral oil. On contact, the biggest problems mineral oil can cause are sweat rash and inflammation of hair follicles. Questions have been raised about mineral oil as a potential cancer risk, but any carcinogenic effect of the oil is down to contamination with a group of chemicals called polyaromatic hydrocarbons. If ingested, mineral oil acts to dissolve fats, and if taken with food can interfere with the absorption of vital substances.

Moisturiser
The National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark found recently that 99% of all leave-on cosmetics and 77% of rinse-off cosmetics contained parabens. Certainly few moisturisers are made without them. Parabens act as preservatives, but are well known skin and eye irritants and have also been found to mimic the female hormone oestrogen. Because of this latter effect, some scientists suspect there may be a link between parabens and breast cancer, although as yet there is no evidence for this. Allergic skin reactions to parabens have also been documented.

Shower gel
Sodium laureth sulfate is added to shower gel as a cleanser, but it can irritate the skin and eyes at low concentrations. Because it draws fatty molecules from the surface skin layers, it may make the skin feel tighter after usage. Linalool, a fragrance added to shower gel, is also a skin irritant. Another fragrance, coumarin, is rapidly absorbed through the skin and into the body. A few people who have ingested coumarin have suffered liver damage as a result.

Mascara
It is primarily water, plus binding, thickening and emulsifying agents, acidity controllers, texture modifiers, chemicals that prevent it drying out, and preservatives, such as parabens. In 1998, researchers at Brunel University published a paper showing that parabens mimic oestrogen and said, "Given their use in a wide range of commercially available topical preparations, it is suggested the safety of these chemicals should be re-assessed." But the European Cosmetic Toiletry and Perfumery Association said that it had data to show no parabens entered the bloodstream.

Blusher
"Make-up has one of the best safety records, and there is very little evidence that it is genuinely harmful," says Dr Stephen Antczak, co-author of Cosmetics Unmasked. "But many people have individual allergies, and alarm bells start ringing when a cosmetic has an ingredient which in a standard laboratory bottle would carry a compulsory warning." Blushers, for instance, typically contain propylene glycol, which although it's considered safe for use in cosmetics, is used in anti-freeze.

Lip gloss
Parfum was among 10 ingredients Womens Environmental Network (WEN) found listed in lip gloss. It sounds harmlessly fragrant, but it is a catch-all term for hundreds of chemicals, 24 of which have been identified as a common cause of allergies by the European Union's Scientific Committee on Cosmetics And Non-Food Products. Despite this, specific chemicals in parfum do not have to be labelled, so there is no way of telling which might be in your make-up. "It's a fog," says Matthew Wilkinson, chemical and health campaigner for WWF.

Make-up remover
It brings a host of ingredients with it. WEN found three parabens and propylene glycol in one brand of wipes; the ubiquitous parfum in an eye make-up remover and, in one brand of facial wash, methyldibromo glutaronitrile. But the effect is likely to be worse in leave-on products such as sunscreens. "The chemical can cause redness and irritation," according to Dr Ian White, chairman of the EU's Scientific Committee on Cosmetics and Non-Food Products. "It has been demanded that the chemical should be kept out of these products until a safe level is known."

Nail varnish
Because nails are porous, they can absorb what is painted on them, and in addition to colour, that can include toluene. Though deemed safe for use, the US Protection Agency's Office of Pollution and Prevention Toxins warns that breathing large quantities can affect the kidneys, liver and heart. Formaldehyde has also been used in hardeners, although it is banned in Sweden and Japan. It's the one chemical, Antczak says, to avoid: "If a hardener contains more than 0.05%, the label must state 'contains formaldehyde'."

Lipstick
The UK's most popular cosmetic, lipstick is used by 81% of women. Assuming you get through five lipsticks a year between the ages of 16-60, you will swallow 2lbs of the stuff, according to WEN, which has calculated that you absorb 90% of what you apply. Lippy typically contains lanolin, propylene glycol and butylparaben, and "...might have extra preservatives to make sure it doesn't become infected as you use it near your mouth," says Antczak. "You have to ask yourself if you want all these chemicals on you, and are they beneficial or not."

Feminine wipes
Commonly contain a preservative called BNPD, or to give it its full name, 2-bromo-2-nitro-propane-1,3-diol. Although relatively innocuous on its own, when mixed with other compounds called amines and amides, it can break down to produce potent cancer-causing compounds called N-nitrosamines. For this reason, US and European regulators have recently called for a tightening up of cosmetic formulations to ensure the compounds are never mixed.

Nail varnish remover
You only have to smell nail varnish remover to know it is powerful stuff. The distinctive odour is probably acetone. Workers exposed to acetone in labs complain it irritates their noses, throats, lungs and eyes, according to a public health statement from the Agency For Toxic Substances And Disease Registry, but you would have to inhale a lot of it for a long time to suffer the same effect. The agency also noted people, especially children, who accidentally swallow enough nail varnish remover could be come unconscious and develop tissue damage in the mouth.

Shaving cream
In addition to a range of parabens and alcohols, shaving cream may contain a substance called diethylhexyl adipate (DEHA). It can irritate the skin and eyes on contact, although ingesting DEHA can cause more serious problems. Tests on animals have found that when ingested, DEHA can cause cancerous tumours in mice and abnormal embryos in rats. The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health estimates that 11,000 workers in the country inadvertently ingest DEHA each year, either from cosmetics or food contaminated by DEHA in its packaging.

The list is exhausting and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! It is only realistic to presume that since most of us have to live in an unavoidably toxic city, it would be totally impossible to live a puritanical life – each person should be armed with the facts and should choose their own health battles. Put more simply – is a cheap high street moisturiser or a deparment store glossily marketed product any more dangerous than eating an entire bag of highly coloured jelly tots or downing 3 diet cokes? The choice is yours (but the evidence is becoming more substantiated!).

List taken from the Chemical World Report

Next week Laura reccomends products that use a natural preservative system and are free from synthetics.

Laura Ludlow is a beauty therapist and runs website www.nicetouch.co.uk