Superdrug run in... Chemicals in Skincare

So, I love looking at other facial products, mainly because I am looking to see what else is on the market, but also because I am skin obsessed.  As I was perusing a product I hadn’t seen before, reasonably priced at £6.99, so was another woman.  She said “it’s great stuff, I always use it” so of course I asked her what was in it.  When I ask this question, it generally goes one of two ways.  Firstly, they respond and say they have no clue, it just works, so it doesn’t matter.  Secondly, they just say no, this usually means that they are going to look the ingredients up later.  I moved on, I didn’t want her to know that I was going to take down the ingredients of her “great” product and look it up later.  I’m not going to name the product because that just seems wrong, but here are its ingredients:

Aqua - Water (it's always worrisome to me when the first ingredient is water)

Lactic Acid - can make your skin more sensitive to sun damage.  Can also cause redness, burning, peeling, dryness, itching and swelling

Butylene Glycol - Organic alcohol

Glycerin - Moisturiser, attracts water to the skin

Sodium Hydroxide - helps to hold the PH of a product, has no benefits to the skin and can cause skin to become sensitive

Phenoxyne Ethanol - Preservative used in cosmetic products to limit bacterial growth, can cause you to develop eczema and hives.

PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil - derivative of castor oil and has no harmful effects on the skin

PPG26 buteth 26 - restores the appearance of dry and damaged skin, better known for being fragrance and providing skin conditioning

Caprylyl Glycol – Adds moisturisation and wetting to skin, it also functions as a stabiliser in skin care products

Hydroxyethylcellulose – AKA Natrosol is used as a gelling and thickening agent, it’s also used in household cleaners

Sodium Hyaluronate – the salt of hyaluronic acid its good at binding to things, in your face it helps it hold onto water which translates into moisturised skin

Cross Polymer – Silicone that acts as the silky feel your skin gets when you use a moisturiser

Tetrasodium – AKA Tetrasodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is a water-based chelator, which means it keeps the product from going bad.  It also makes sure that the fragrance remains despite the age of the product

Glutate Diacetate – it has natural origins but its included to boost the effectiveness of preservatives

Pentylene Glycol – Anti-microbial properties that preserve the product longer, also great at moisturising skin

Ethylhexylglycerin – Deodorant and skin conditioning agent, great at moisturising skin

 

So, my question to you is, would you buy and eat food that contained these ingredients?  If not, I would suggest that you take a closer look at the ingredients in your facial moisturisers.  While you may not be eating any of these ingredients, your face is.  Call me crazy, but I think we should care as much about what we put on our skin as what we put into our bodies.  Check out our ingredients and see the difference.