the top 5 most toxic ingredients to avoid in skincare

Since we loved giving you guys all the valuable info regarding the non-vegan ingredients to look out for in your skincare products last week, this week we thought we'd shake it up a bit and shed some light on the most common toxic skincare ingredients found in your everyday products. 

Now, some of these you might be aware of and others you might not be, but the main thing to remember is that these ingredients don't belong on your face or anywhere near the rest of your body for that matter. 

We definitely don't want to alarm you, but using toxic ingredients can damage your skin, wreak havoc on your overall health and can cause serious harm. We also don't want to throw around the word poison but these ingredients do exactly that. Yikes. 

It's not all doom and gloom though. We'll also take you through a couple of our very own vegan, non-toxic skincare products (so you can replenish whatever you throw away) that'll help your skin reach it's full fresh, bouncy and healthy potential. 

But, before you can begin your quest to chuck out all the products that feature even one of these ingredients, you need to know what these ingredients are. Let us do the honours. 

1. petroleum 

This one is a sneaky lil' biatch if we ever did see one. 

Popping up in way too many everyday skincare products to count, this ingredient promises to sabotage your bid for the freshest, glowy-est lookin' skin going round and can even have negative effects on your body's health. 

Research has been done surrounding what this ingredient can actually do to you and chances are you're not gonna like what's been uncovered. 

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), petroleum is linked to a few of the recognised cosmetic impurities known to sit with cancer and other serious health issues at lunchtime. Like, sorry, what was that? 

Super penetrable to the skin, this ingredient has been subject to a whole heap of studies, one of them being whether or not petroleum based moisturisers and other products might accelerate the form of tumours. We don't know about you but that's enough to put us off this ingredient for life. 

Oh and it can also disguise itself as the following: 

• Petrolatum
• Xylene
• Toluene
• Mineral oil
• Liquid paraffin

2. parabens 

Ah yes, the ingredient that's most like the annoying little brother you're always trying to avoid but somehow he's seemingly everywhere.

An ingredient that helps to fight mould and other bacteria growing in water based products, parabens are commonly found in anything from moisturisers to body lotions and just about any other product you can think of. 

On the surface they seem okay but when you dig a little deeper, you'll quickly come to realise that these innocuous nasties can actually do you a lot of harm. 

As it turns out, parabens have been linked to breast cancer tumours and because of this, you should be hyper aware of their inclusion in your skincare. While there haven't been any proven studies carried out, we definitely don't need to be asked twice to give parabens the boot. 

Like petroleum, parabens can also be a bit sneaky and can pop up under any of the following names: 

• benzylparaben
• butyiparaben
• propylparaben
• methylparaben
• ethylparaben
• isobutylparaben

3. phthalates 

Oh look, another toxic ingredient that starts with the letter p! 

Another ingredient that is used in pretty much everything due to its ability to cling onto your skin, phthalates are not only hard to pronounce, they've also been found to disrupt your reproductive and hormone systems. 

Would you like to read that again? There's not only been studies trying to figure out whether this ingredient can actually do you harm, it's been proven that it can. 

*shudders*

However, this ingredient is petroleum's right hand man when it comes to actually finding it on your product's label. Lurking where you least expect it, this toxic nasty-pasty is often found under the umbrella term 'fragrance'. If you see this, run the other way. 

Try sticking to products that feature essential oils and not ones that have artificial scents in them. 

4. Hydroquinone

Now, you may not have heard of this one but trust me when we say it's probably heard of you. In fact, it might be sitting on your bathroom shelf right now.

Used as a lightening ingredient in products that claim to help alleviate hyper-pigmentation, bruising, dark under-eye circles and any other blemishes you may be dealing with, hydroquinone markets itself as a Wonder Woman type ingredient when in reality, it's the bad guy. Every. Single. Time. 

While it does its job of getting rid of all of the darker patches on your skin, it also decreases the amount of elastin and collagen found in the problem areas on your skin. It's like, no, you want to keep those things! 

It can also have negative effects on your skin's natural pigment and can easily irritate your skin, leaving you worse off than you were before. 

5. synthetic colours 

Thankfully, this nasty ingredient is pretty easy to spot even without looking at the ingredient list (but you should definitely still do that, just to make sure). 

This ingredient's job is to put pigment into your favourite products such as lipstick, nail polishes etc. 

So, while you might love donning a cherry red lip colour, we actually recommend you put in the bin, stat. 

The majority of synthetic colours and artificial dyes are made from coal tar. First of all, yuck, and second of all, there have been numerous studies carried out that prove this ingredient is carcinogenic (an agent that has the ability to cause cancer) and will most likely cause your skin to become super sensitive. It's a hard no from us. 

Finding out whether it's in your favourite products is actually pretty simple. If there's any ingredients beginning with FD&C or D&C, then you wanna either get rid of it straight away or pop it back on the shelf and keep walking over to the 'organic' section to pick up something that isn't full of harsh chemicals. 

butt naked body products 

Yay, you made it past the depressing yet necessary info and now you're here! Time to get onto the good stuff, and by good stuff we mean our products (not that we're biased or anything). 

If you're looking for good-for-you, good-for-your-skin type products then you've come to the right place. 

Our products are all vegan, cruelty and palm oil free, and are made without any of the nasties you've just read about. In fact, if you'd like the full list of what we've never and will never include in our products, read it here: keepin’ it real + clean for every be-hind.

rose body oil 

A superhero, super skin-saving oil that not only helps to rejuvenate and refresh your skin but will also become your go-to protector from all the bad stuff trying to get at your skin (and come into your life). 

Made with a kickass combo of grapeseed, jojoba and sweet almond oils, this oil will have your skin full of rich fatty acids and necessary antioxidants, leavin' it hella hydrated (without the skin irritation) and glowing brighter than it has any right to be. 

hemp clay face mask 

Behind every boy, there's an even better girl and behind every glowing, fresh and healthy lookin' face, there's a hemp clay face mask! 

Absolutely full of (and we mean it) all of the essential vitamins and amino acid your skin needs to be it's best damn self every single day, this face mask helps with hydration and takes care of any irksome blemishes that have stuck around way longer than they had any right to. 

Down to clean out your clogged pores and restore moisture and youth to your face, believe us when we say you need a hemp hero by your side. It's just non-negotiable.