Harmful Effects of Parabens on Skin You Should be Aware of

Hey Beauties,

How are you all today? It has recently rained in Delhi, thus the temperature has decreased. Finally we are going to experience full-fledged winters! Time for indulging in some delicious but nasty weight increasing dishes too. Weight watchers, keep an eye on these tiny monsters that ruin your diets.

So, coming back to today’s article, that I have for you – the most controversial ingredient used in most of the cosmetics and other consumables. Believe me, I had never heard of this word ‘Parabens‘ in my life before I started following IMBB. And like me there are a lot of people who are not aware of parabens and are using products loaded with them, being unaware of the effects of the same on their health. Today we are specifically going to talk about the effects of parabens on our skin.

I would like to tell you all in short a little about Parabens. These are preservatives widely used in personal care products and also in some edible food items. They prevent the growth of microbes and bacteria, thus increasing the shelf life of the products. Parabens are easily absorbed by the skin and thus pass on quickly to the blood.

Surprisingly parabens are most commonly found in skin care products like moisturizers, lotions, facial cleansers and other cosmetics like blushes etc. Beauty and skin care products require preservatives otherwise they would get spoilt due to the formation of bacterial and fungal growth. This is the reason most of the skin care products don’t have a shelf life of more than 18 months.

Effects of Parabens on Skin:

• Although, Parabens are added to skin care products that are used to make our skin beautiful, some studies say that a specific type of Paraben called the methyl type increases the skin’s sensitivity to UV rays. This causes the skin cells to get destroyed faster. This causes premature ageing of skin. So be careful while buying skin care product containing methyl paraben.

• Products containing Parabens can cause Dermatitis. It means inflammation of skin. It is followed by rashes and itchy skin. So people with sensitive skin please read the ingredients carefully while buying products for personal use.

• In some cases, continuous use of Paraben based products cause rosacea. It is a skin ailment characterized by facial redness, tiny red pimples and fine red lines on the facial skin.

We have been using products containing Parabens for a really long time. So, still there are controversies going on among the scientists as to whether Parabens are really bad for our health. Some of them say that a small amount of these preservatives is not a matter of concern. But we can’t be sure about that! So, it’s better to take precautions and be cautious while buying products.

These days a lot of companies are manufacturing Paraben free products. Below I have listed a few of them:

• Burt’s Bees
• Inglot
• Khadi Naturals
• Forest Essentials