Many beauty products, while claiming to do good things for our skin, contain ingredients can actually be harmful to susceptible persons. Case in point: parabens.

Parabens are used as preservatives in many food and beauty products such as shampoos, antiperspirant, and cosmetics. While they have NOT been proven to CAUSE cancer, a large amount of parabens was found in a small sample of breast cancer tumors. Parabens can also mimic estrogen, too much of which can lead to breast CA, or fertility problems in men. If you have a family history of cancer like me, it wouldn't hurt to avoid other risk factors such as parabens when possible.

This is difficult because practically all drugstore products contain parabens. (Even those claiming to be "all natural," so read those labels!) Not to mention other potentially harmful substances such as phthalates -- endocrine disruptors that can cause similar problems as parabens; and products high in silicones (dimethicone) and petrolatum (petroleums) -- potentially pore-clogging. (Edit: or maybe not!) What's a girl to do?

Here's a tip: check out the baby formulations of the same brand. Because these are specially made for babies, they tend to have fewer, safer ingredients. They're also usually hypoallergenic. For example, Nivea moisturizers vs. Nivea Baby Smoothy Cream.


The only downside is, because they're made for babies, they have no anti-aging properties. *throws hands in the air* Now can't have everything can we?