We are hearing a lot of negative hype about preservatives in cosmetics, especially parabens, and that’s causing everyone a lot of concern about endocrine disruption and cancer.  While there are studies which report parabens have been found in cancerous breast tissue, there are also very recent studies out of Europe which show that parabens are fully digested and harmless to the body.  More research is needed on this and many other questions we all have about the safety of parabens and various other common chemicals.  But, what are we supposed to do until the answers are clear?

As a woman who is skeptical of beauty companies, but also as a mom who’s concerned about my health and the health of my family, my personal choice is first and foremost to choose preservative-free whenever possible.  That goes for the products I use in the bathroom, as well as the food I put on the table.

If you’d like to avoid preservatives, here are some tips:

  1. Look for anhydrous (or waterless) products.  Because not only do microbes adore one another, they also adore WATER! It’s the environment that allows them to do their, uh, thing… So, no water—no microbian love nests—sorry guys… But seriously, just look at the labels. If water or anything that sounds a little, er, “watery”, like aqua or aqueous extract, is listed as one of the first few ingredients, that indicates preservatives must also be in the product. Some recommendations are natural & organic beeswax or oil based balms as an alternative to water based lotions and creams for body moisturizing.  To read more about bacteria and preservatives click here.

 

2. Don’t assume “paraben-free” means “preservative-free”.  Parabens are one particular type of preservative, commonly used in cosmetics because they’re effective.  But, unless you’re a chemist, you likely won’t be able to determine which of the other ingredients listed on the package are preservatives, until then buy paraben free products.