Top 5 Skincare Ingredients You Should Always Avoid

With the plethora of products, on the market, it can be very confusing and often very frustrating as to where to spend money. I have always held the opinion that if a product works, regardless of price or retail channel, then it is the best product to use. Expensive does not mean better quality and less expensive does not always mean a better deal. The more important issue is to consider the actual formulation and to really know which ingredients are beneficial for the skin and which ones are detrimental to the health of the skin. Look for these ingredients in the small print on the back of the packaging.

Here is my list of the Top 5 Ingredients to Always Avoid in Skincare Products (and be sure to check out my top 5 list of ingredients to always look for in your skincare)

Denatured Alcohol

Sometimes listed as alcohol denat or SD alcohol this ingredient is simply a grain alcohol that has been molecularly altered so it is undrinkable. It's similar to nail polish remover and with all the drying effects intact. Alcohol is used in cosmetics as a cheap way to create transdermal migration - basically it allows the active ingredients to penetrate quickly leaving no film on the surface of the skin. This is quite popular with consumers since they no longer have to have "greasy" products.

There is, however, some serious downside to this short cut. Denatured alcohol has some terrible side effects including, surface evaporation of water (which will increase irritation, tightness and inflammation on the skin), cellular decay (which means the skin will age prematurely with prolonged exposure to the alcohol), increased free radical damage (which means the skin cells have a higher chance of mutation thus causing irreparable damage in the deeper layers of skin), and disruption of the skin's pH (which means it cannot protect against microbes, bacteria or viruses). Yes denatured alcohol will force active ingredients into the skin but the side effects negate any benefit this might offer.

Fragrances

A single listing of the word "fragrance" on the ingredient list can be comprised of hundreds of different compounds. Fragrance in skincare serves no actual health benefit and is used simply to create a pleasant smell. That, in and of itself, is not really a big deal except the compounds used to create fragrances are often very volatile and are the second biggest category of cosmetic ingredients which cause allergic reactions.

Colour Additives

Colour additives comes first in the category of ingredients which cause allergic reactions. Health Canada regulates the types and concentrations of allowed colour additives in cosmetics but under the same guidelines cosmetics manufacturers are allowed to use colour additives that can cause up to a 20% anaphylactic shock rate and the formula is still considered safe to put on the market. Over 90% of all known cosmetic allergic reactions are caused by colour additives.

Top 5 Skincare Ingredients You Should Always Avoid

Steer Clear of These Irritants

Denatured Alcohol

Fragrances

Colour Additives