Do you know how to read cosmetic labels?

There are ingredients that should never be part of your beauty routine. Do you know how to read cosmetic labels? Some people use a magnifying glass and Google searches when buying nail polish, while others think that if a baby body lotion has reached the shelves of a certain store, it's because it's 100% harmless to the skin and health .

There's no need to go to either extreme. Choosing reputable brands saves time in reading and research, and you should also know that there are minimum "guaranteed" safety standards, especially in Europe. On this continent, the European Notification Portal collects product information for the purpose of legally registering responsible parties and, in the event of an accident involving a product, to determine the appropriate response based on its composition.

Europe has very strict and active regulations for evaluating substances used in cosmetics, as well as a long list of prohibited and restricted substances (more than 2,000). Furthermore, companies are also required to have a safety assessment conducted by an expert. In the United States, the legislation is not as strict. The FDA is the agency that regulates cosmetics, but in reality, there are only about 13 prohibited substances, leaving the responsibility for determining "safety" to the individual company.

We put the word in quotation marks because there are permitted active ingredients and preservatives that, depending on their concentration or combinations, can be potentially toxic, and because the FDA, in particular, gives the green light to any product that has not demonstrated any problems and allows higher concentrations of active ingredients.

This is not the case in the European Union. While 'clean' cosmetics require going further and eliminating ingredients with a well-founded suspicion from their formulas, even if the levels are lower than legally permitted in order to eliminate risks, since legal limitations have been in place for years or even decades.

Fortunately, since 1996 (and in Spain with the Royal Decree of 1997), the law requires that the complete list of ingredients – without abbreviations – appears on the label of any cosmetic product, and only allows the use of colorants, preservatives and sunscreens that are on the permitted list.

READ THE COSMETIC LABELS! WE'LL TAKE CARE OF IT!

We understand you might be going crazy. But at Beldon, we want to make things easier for you, so we're giving you the 'blacklist' of ingredients to avoid.

COSMETIC INGREDIENTS TO AVOID

We won't be swayed by false alarms or accusations without verified studies. But just in case, pay attention to these ingredients:

• Formaldehyde. The WHO has already declared them "officially carcinogenic" and their use in cosmetics is prohibited, but be careful, because there are substances like Quaternium 15 (an ammonium salt), which can release them and which some still use as a preservative.





• Mineral oils. It sounds very natural, but for the cosmetics industry, mineral oil is extremely cheap as a formulation base, and it's derived from petroleum. Because of its petrochemical origin, it comes from non-renewable sources, is not biodegradable, has no affinity with the skin's components, and contributes to occlusivity.





• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. It is used as a cleansing agent and is a surfactant that makes bath products more foamy. It may appear on labels as (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate). Technically, sodium lauryl sulfate is not a PEG, but there is an ingredient in the same family, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, which has an oxyethylene portion in its structure. In general, surfactants disrupt the skin barrier, which can lead to greater penetration of other ingredients in the formula, but there are no studies that demonstrate this level of penetration. In this case, due to its nature, it is unlikely to penetrate because it is very water-soluble and the skin provides a barrier. However, it is clear that by disrupting the barrier due to its aggressiveness, it causes irritation. In the case of Sodium Laureth Sulfate, the problems associated with oxyethyleneation are compounded by possible traces or impurities of 1,4-dioxane.





• Parabens. Until 2004, they were the most widely used preservatives. Since 2014, the European Union has banned longer-chain forms of parabens, such as butylparaben and isobutylparaben. A new evaluation is now underway due to their potential endocrine-disrupting effects.





• Triclosan. It is an active ingredient still used in some antiperspirant deodorants, cleansers, and hand sanitizers. It is suspected of being a hormone disruptor.





• Polyethylene glycol (PEG) compounds. It is known that the use of ethylene oxide in their production produces an impurity: 1,4-dioxane, a known carcinogen. They can be identified in the list as PEG*-Polysorbate- (20, 30, 80,…), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and ingredients ending in -eth, such as Ceteareth-X, Laureth-X, Steareth-X.





• Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are antioxidants, although they can be found in all kinds of products. The main problem is that they are suspected, based on considerable reliable data, of being carcinogenic.





• Phenylenediamine. It is only used in some hair dyes and appears on the product label as "CI" colors followed by a five-digit number. However, not all dyes indicated with the CI color index contain phenylenediamine. In general, synthetic dyes have highly problematic structures from a toxicological standpoint, such as aniline derivatives, and are linked to carcinogenicity or endocrine disruption.





• Diethanolamine (DEA, MEA, or TEA). These are chemicals used to create foam. DEA, MEA, and TEA are pH regulators, but only TEA, known as triethanolamine, is actually used as a free compound and is used as a pH regulator. The others are more often part of other ingredients, such as cocomide DEA or MEA. The concern with these compounds is their ability to form nitrosamines under certain circumstances.





• Phthalates . What's concerning about them is their potential to disrupt the endocrine system. They are ingredients in some nail products and perfumes. It's important that perfumes don't list them under the INCI ingredient FRAGRANCE (PARFUM), as well as synthetic masks.





• Siloxanes. They are hidden in ingredients that end in "siloxane". They are silicone-type compounds, and their main problems are associated with ecotoxicity, as they are not biodegradable and are persistent in the environment, in addition to not being derived from renewable sources. They can be identified by terms such as: Silicone quaternium, Cyclomethicon, Dimethicone, and Siloxane. In the case of cyclopentasiloxane and cyclohexasiloxane, there is concern about the toxicity of a carcinogenic impurity, tetrasiloxane.





• Methylbenzylidenecamphor (4-MBC or MBC), octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC), benzophenone-3 (oxybenzone), homosalate (homomenthylsalicylate or HMS), and octyl dimethyl para-aminobenzoic acid (OD-PABA) are found in chemical sunscreens and are suspected of being endocrine disruptors. They are now known to affect marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, and have therefore been banned in certain geographic areas.

DO YOU KNOW IF THE LABEL IS RELIABLE?

Plant names must be in Latin. Ingredients must be listed in descending order of concentration down to 1%. You might be surprised, because sometimes the ingredient listed on the bottle is at the end of the list. If colorants are present, they must always be preceded by a CI number.

BRANDS YOU CAN TRUST

Beyond our seals, at Beldon, before introducing any brand, we carefully read every label and consult with experts, if necessary, to ensure the safety of each product and its potential reactions. Furthermore, as you know, our personalized diagnostic service is one of the most sought-after in Madrid.