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There is a lot of talk about parabens recently. But what the heck are they? And are they a concern? When I first started my journey to cleaning toxins out of my life, (you can read my about my journey here!) parabens were one of the chemicals I heard about the most.
But what the heck are parabens? And are they a concern?
Parabens are chemicals found typically in beauty products, medication, and food as preservatives. This means they are used to extend the shelf life of items by preventing the build up of fungus and bacteria.
So is this a bad thing? Isn’t it good that bacteria is kept out of beauty products?
There is a lot of research being conducted on the effects of parabens in the body. The issue with parabens is that they mimic hormones and therefore effect body functions. Parabens have been known to mimic the estrogen hormone. This is concerning because when estrogen increases quickly, it can cause breast cells to divide and cause tumors. Parabens have been found in breast tumors. So, while there is no concrete evidence that parabens can cause cancer, there is a correlation that is being researched further.
It has also been found that parabens can mimic endocrine hormones that could lead to brain cancer. A study on rats has shown that parabens do disrupt endocrine hormones, but the rats were dosed with high levels of parabens.
In my opinion, a correlation is enough of a reason to stop using products with parabens. While I don’t think that using one product with parabens is going to have negative health effects on your body, I think the accumulation of products being used and consumed on a daily basis is what puts our bodies at risk.
You can find parabens in so many things!! The majority of foods contain preservatives, which is a huge issue on it’s own. For the purpose of this blog post, I will stick to beauty products and save food concerns for a different day!
Parabens in beauty products are sometimes easy to spot. Typically, parabens have the word paraben in them. For example, there is methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben. These are clearly easy to spot because all you have to do is look for the word paraben but beauty products can also have parabens in the ingredient labeled “fragrances”. In the beauty world, companies are allowed to put “fragrances” on their ingredient labels to protect their unique formulas that make their products, their products. Unfortunately, this means that not every single chemical is disclosed sometimes.
Here are some examples of labels:
So, what products should you be using?
The good news is that more and more companies and beauty products are going paraben free. As more and more consumers demand paraben free products, the companies move to meet those demands.
Since a lot of lotions contain parabens, this is a good place to start! I recommend Alba Botanica body lotions! This lotion comes in a couple different varieties and scents. I don’t really like scents in my lotions so I stick with unscented. Alba Botanica is a brand that is committed to provide all products paraben free. In addition to lotion, they also have sunscreens, face washes, hair products, and more.
Hair care and skincare are large areas of concern for parabens. My favorite brand and the only brand that I use on my hair is Monat. The company is dedicated to providing clean and safe products that actually work! I also use this brand for my kid’s shampoo, conditioner, and detangler spray. And now in addition to their hair care, they just released skincare! I am actually waiting for my skincare to arrive in the mail!
Another product that typically has parabens in them is deodorant. Deodorant was one of the first products I switched out and I wrote a whole post about it. You can read it here! The deodorant that prefer is Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant in lavender!
Body wash is another place parabens can lurk. For the kids I use The Honest Company baby wash. The Honest Company is another great company to buy products from! As for me, I haven’t found a body wash that I want to share yet. I do use a body wash that has no parabans, but some of the other ingredients are questionable. So more to come on body wash!
Finally, makeup!! This is a section I have not done much research on. I don’t wear a lot of makeup so it is something that I just haven’t looked into yet. I have heard of the brand Naked Poppy and that their products are clean. I have yet to research them so once I do I will give more information.
And there you have it!! My take on parabens and my go to products and brands! Keep eliminating those toxins!