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Over the course of my pursuit for clear, soft skin, I have learned that it is necessary to keep away from some very strong chemicals present in some of the makeups. Also, some of the “natural” ones have coconut oil which is comedogenic which means it blocks pores and causes blackheads.
There are some ingredients both chemical and comedogenic that you definitely need to avoid in your cosmetic products. If you have been applying chemical makeups, washes and creams for a fairly long time, your skin is, probably, in a bad state. It is time that you work on repairing it.
Following are some of the tips that you need to follow along with avoiding the chemical makeup products to repair your skin.
- First of all, stop using the products with ingredients that caused your bad skin, and explore healthier makeup options.
- Use natural healing and hydrating ingredients to moisturize and wash. Oils like argan or jojoba and honey are great for your skin. For super-sensitive skin use oil and regular raw honey to wash it with.
- Use papaya enzyme masks to help your skin exfoliate on its own. Also, papaya enzyme masks remove the scar tissue and old dead skin cells. Doing it until your skin regains its health will be enough.
- Switch to a healthier lifestyle. Improve diet, lower stress, take more rest, etc to clear your skin from the very core.
Ingredients you should avoid in makeups:
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Acrylics
Acrylics are used in the makeups to bind the ingredients. Also, they are used as a suspension agent.
They are plastics. Sometimes, they are used in making plastic nails. They get into the pores and clog them.
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Alcohols
They help the product to penetrate into the skin. They are comedogenic; block skin pores, cause dehydration, a lot of irritation, and free radical damage. More the amount of alcohol used in the product, the more problematic they will be.
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Parabens
They prevent mould growth in the product and extends its shelf life. Parabens can be highly toxic and disrupt the endocrine system. You won’t want them when you are dealing with acne.
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Petrochemicals
There are hundreds of different petroleum products with many different uses. They are used in the products as a preservative or to lock moisture against the skin.
Petroleum derived ingredients work as a delivery agent; taking harmful material in the product deeper into the pores which, in turn, clogs skin pores.
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Colourants and Perfumes
They are used for the cosmetics of the cosmetic products meaning they make it look and smell nice.
Artificial colourants and perfumes are well known to be extremely irritating. They enhance the sensitivity of the skin. And, many of the dyes used in cosmetic products are pore-clogging.
Also, these colourants and perfumes contain hundreds of harmful chemicals themselves that do not have to be disclosed.
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Phthalates
They dissolve solid materials in the products and homogenize it. They also carry fragrance.
They can disrupt your hormones like parabens.
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SIlicones
They make the product and your skin feel smooth and silky. They are one of the major ingredients that cause dehydration of the skin. They also clog pores which starts the whole cycle of redness, pore scarring and then acne breakouts.
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Bismuth oxychloride
It is often used in powder makeups. It has sharp crystals that are irritating and can get trapped in pores. They are one of the major causes of cystic acne.
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Talc
They cause dehydration of most types of skin which causes it to trapped and clogged in the skin.
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Oxybenzone
It is a major ingredient used in chemical sunblocks/sunscreens. It is carcinogenic that increases photosensitivity and causes free radical damage.
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Coconut Oil and caprylic triglycerides
Coconut oil is known to be highly comedogenic; gets trapped in the pores and clogs them causing acne.
Caprylic triglycerides have had the part that clogs the pores removed, therefore, it is not considered to be comedogenic.
Note:
Mica and silica are ingredients that can be irritating for some skin types while they are ok for others.
In addition, the ingredients listed above, there are other pore-clogging and irritating ingredients as well that you should avoid to have a healthy skin. These ingredients are as follow:
- Algin
- Algae extract
- Acetylated lanolin
- Benzoic acid
- Cetyl acetate
- Carrageenan
- Cajeput oil
- Coconut butter
- Cocoa butter
- Coal tar
- Corn oil
- Colloidal sulfur
- Crisco
- Cottonseed oil
- Cotton aws oil
- Dioctyl succinate
- Decyl oleate
- Glyceryl-3-disostearate
- Glyceryl stearate SE
- Anything with a name starting with iso (isopropyl myristate, isocetyl stearate, isostearyl acid, isopropyl myristate etc.
- Hydrogenated vegetable oil
- Lauric acid
- Laureth 4
- Lanolin acid
- Linseed oil
- Myreth 3 myrstate
- Mink oil
- Myristic acid
- Myristyl myristate
- Myristyl lactate
- Octyl stearate
- Octyl palmitate
- Oleth-3
- Oleic acid
- PG monostearate
- Potassium chloride
- Polyglyceryl-3-disostearate
- PPG 2 myristyl propionate
- Shark liver oil
- Red algae
- Sodium chloride
- Salulan 16
- Sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate
- Sorbitan oleate
- Sorbitan sesquinoleate
- Steareth 10
- Soybean oil
- Stearyl heptanoate
- Stearic acid tea
- Sulfated jojoba oil
- Sulfated castor oil
- Wheat germ oil
- Wheat germ glyceride
- Syearyl heptanoate
- Xylene
This list doesn’t cover all the chemical and harmful and ingredients there are but it is better that you compare the ingredients with this list. You are surely going to come across some big names. Not all of them are bad.
If you find a good product, go through every ingredient on the list and google them to make sure if they will suit you.
Another to notice is that the ingredients are listed from the highest quantity to the smallest. It will be less of a big deal if the bad ingredient is listed at the end.
Mineral Powder Makeups:
Powdery, loose, mineral makeups are usually thought to be good choices for the sensitive and acne-prone skin, which they are.
They are least likely to have pore-clogging and harmful ingredients. However, for some people, they can be irritating.
They do not contain any natural skin-hydrators, unlike the liquids. Some minerals (which contain clays, like kaolin) absorb too much moisture from the skin making it dehydrated. dehydrated , dry skin is the first step towards clogging, redness, and acne breakout.
So mineral powder makeups are a good choice if they do not make your skin dry.
