4 Nasty Ingredients in Conventional Skincare you want to Avoid

June 25, 2024

Just one glance at the label on any conventional skincare product you may own and you might find yourself really confused.

There are names you can’t pronounce and one quick Google search will have these ingredients listed as “toxic” with a heap of potential health risks that may leave you scared and angry, because how can it be legal for us to be exposed to such awful ingredients?

This is the sad reality though, and we totally get your frustration and understand that making the switch can be tricky when you have no idea where to start or when you have been using specific products for years.

Once you understand the very real risk associated with some of the top and most common toxic conventional ingredients, making the switch becomes a whole lot easier!

Your skincare ritual should be fun, it shouldn’t be something you stress about!

Learning to read labels like a pro is key to starting to get your inner skincare guru on!

If you see any of these names on your skincare label, avoid, avoid, avoid!

Propylene Glycol

Propylene Glycol (PG) is formed as a byproduct of petroleum refining; a crude oil obtained through oil drilling.

It’s used in skincare products to add hydration to the skin, and to prevent products from melting in extreme temperatures, namely high heat or freezing cold. This may sound insane, but it’s also the main ingredient in brakes and hydraulic fluids so why would we want to put it on our skin? It’s like antifreeze in your skincare!

If that’s not enough to immediately put you off then let’s talk about the risk to your skin.

It doesn’t even really add hydration to your skin, but rather forms a seal to lock moisture in. In fact, over time it may cause your skin to become quite dull, as it also prevents water from being able to penetrate the pores.

Alcohol

When it comes to healthy, happy skin, the absolute last thing you want to expose it to is harsh alcohol!

Alcohol will drastically dry out your skin, putting your skin barrier at risk. Once your skin barrier is impaired it can take ages to restore and in the meantime, you will be dealing with a heap of frustrating skin issues, including breakouts, as your skin tries to compensate for the lack of oil, often by over-producing oil.

Polysorbate 20

This is a sugar alcohol used as an emulsifier to help mix water and oil together in products.

Sounds fairly safe right? Wrong!

Polysorbate 20 is treated with 20 parts of ethylene oxide (hence the name), and in small doses, may contribute to skin irritations. In high doses, it may contribute to possible reproductive toxicity! Avoid, avoid, avoid!

Dimethicone

This silicone, often found in moisturizers and primers, may make your skin instantly appear and feel smoother and softer, but the downside is potentially clogged pores and breakouts.

While this may not be the dirtiest of them all, it’s still a synthetic ingredient, and therefore one we aren’t too keen on.

We never want to scare you, but think that you deserve to know what you’re putting on your skin, as a large percentage is absorbed into your body and we know that you care about your health.

You will never find nasty ingredients in our products, as all of our formulations are 100% clean and made with gorgeous ingredients straight from Mother Earth.