Do you read labels? What you should look out for?

When you are out shopping for beauty products, what kind of a buyer are you?

-         Do you buy the flashy cream with the fancy packaging with the offer price?

-         Or you are the kind that read the labels and Google all the fancy names on the label?

-         Or you are the kind that prefers to listen to the sales person that has all the information that you want to hear?

Either or you shouldn’t buy any beauty product without attempting to read the label even if it felt like you were reading another language. Most of the times it can be hard to know which ingredients to identify, how to compare products and what it all means.

The below is a list of the easiest and most thorough points that you should be aware of when you pick up a beauty product.

Ingredients Order: ingredients are listed from highest to lowest concentration; this means if a really great ingredient is listed at the bottom, you're not going to get much benefit from it.  The order the ingredients are listed on the label is important. Ingredients are listed in descending order from greatest amount to l east amount present in the product. If a product contains cautious chemicals like alcohol they should be listed in the first three items.

Understanding symbols

There can be several of symbols on a cosmetic label

Some symbols can be very useful, and others can be harder to comprehend.

Some of these symbols are official registered logos or certification logos given by organization such as the organic certification.

Presence of certain official symbols is mandatory like:

-          Legally required information

-      Recyclable packaging

-         Particular certification awarded by and renowned organization.

Beware that some products may contain symbols are created by the brand to give an impression of a specific quality and making false claims.

An interesting symbol is for a bunny on the label that indicates the product is cruelty-free. These products are usually much gentler on the skin, and contain less artificial chemicals.

Expiry Date or Open Label Symbol

You have to always look for expiry date information, which should be somewhere on the bottle and it usually comes in 3 ways:

-         A clear expiry date will be printed on the box with a month and year,

-          or it might be indicated by a ‘best before end’ date which can be represented by an hourglass symbol,

-         Other products might have an open bottle symbol that indicates the recommended number of month, look for the numbers 6M, 12M, 24M, and so

Banned or Harsh Chemicals:

Beauty and cosmetic product are made up of so many chemicals and sometimes it gets harder for us to decide which is good and which is bad, but there are some chemicals that are renowned advised not to be used, unfortunately some products still use them.

Look out for:

-         Sodium lauryl sulfate which is found in shampoo, body wash, face wash, mouthwash and toothpaste. SLS may to cause or contribute to skin and eye irritation, it is also widely believed to be a contributor to acne around the mouth and chin.

-         Parabens which is found in majority of products like makeup, moisturizer, shaving gel, shampoo.

The FDA acknowledges several studies linking parabens, to breast cancer, skin cancer, but has not ruled that it is harmful. Also look for ingredients with the suffix “-paraben.”

 More parabens free products are available in the market.  

-         Artificial Fragrance are used almost in all beauty and cosmetics products like  moisturizers, deodorant, shampoo, and conditioner

Many research groups conducted many studies to show the harmful effects of chemicals use in fragrances.

Fragrance-free product containing health beneficial essential oils are a much smarter choice for you and the environment.  

-         Toxic Trio:  dibutyl phthalate, toluene and formaldehyde are also a chemical present in many chemicals like nail polish, makeup and perfume have been linked to many health issues like endocrine disruption, headaches and respiratory problems. Many nail polish brands are banning the use of these chemicals due to the respiratory healthy issues in nail salon workers.   

-         Sulfates are the chemicals used in detergents that are responsible for the super-sudsy lather that gets out of most shampoos and soaps. Sulfates attract water and oil, that allows soaps, shampoos to separate dirt and oil from your skin. Sulfates have been linked to skin irritation because they are believed to strip the healthy oils from your skin, leaving it dry and itchy.