Warning: this is NOT your usual toxic skincare ingredients to avoid list.
You won’t find the usual suspects here. I won’t tell you to avoid silicones, parabens and mineral oil. Those are all perfectly fine (but they did make it onto my Top 7 Unfairly Maligned Ingredients).
The truth is there’s nothing in your skincare that’s toxic or will give you cancer. But, there are a few ingredients that can give you a bad rash, cause an allergy or make your skin breakout.
These ingredients are different for everyone. Just because something doesn’t agree with my skin, it doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.
So, don’t take this list as the holy grail of skincare ingredients to avoid. I’m sharing what’s not working for my skin, the skincare ingredients I personally choose to avoid and why:
Are There Toxic Ingredients In Your Skincare Products?
I started Beautiful with Brains in 2008 with the intent to debunk marketing hype and scaremongering tactics that get you to make the wrong skincare choices. At the time, rumours about toxic skincare ingredients lurking in your cosmetics had just started to take hold, courtesy of organisations like the Environmental Working Group that likes to scare people with statements like this: “Companies are allowed to use almost any ingredient they wish. The U.S. government doesn’t review the safety of products before they’re sold.”
This is a LIE. According to the FDA, “It’s against the law for a cosmetic to contain any ingredient that makes the product harmful when consumers use it according to directions on the label, or in the customary or expected way. This is true whether or not there is a regulation that specifically prohibits or restricts the use of the ingredient in cosmetics.”
Even if it were not illegal, it’d be downright stupid for skincare companies to put toxic ingredients in skincare. Killing your customers is just NOT a good way to make money. If people started dying left, right, and centre after using a cream with parabens, rest assured you’d know immediately. You can’t hide stuff this like.
So why do people and organisations like the Environmental Working Group think there are toxic ingredients lurking in your skincare products? They misunderstand the science and misinterpret scientific studies. Some common mistakes they make:
- Applying animal tests results to humans: Just because an ingredient causes cancer in rats, it doesn’t mean it’ll do the same in humans (last time I checked, rats aren’t human). For example, a study shows that retinyl palmitate in sunscreens caused tumours in mice. Scary, right? What the Environmental Working Group & co don’t tell you is that the species of mice used in this study is highly susceptible to skin cancer when exposed to UV light EVEN when they’re NOT treated with retinyl palmitate! How does that automatically translate to retinyl palmitate being carcinogenic in humans?! It doesn’t.
- Ignoring “the dose makes the poison” principle: Just because an ingredient is toxic at 100% concentrations, it doesn’t mean it’s toxic at 1%. Even the safest of natural ingredients can kill you at high enough doses. It’s possible, for example, to die if you drink too much water (more than 6 litres in 3 hours). Vitamin C can cause Diarrhoea and nausea in high doses. There’s a reason why there are recommended dietary doses of harmless foods. Everything is dangerous in high enough doses and good at the right dose.
- Not taking the delivery system into account: Just because a skincare ingredient is toxic when ingested, it does mean it’s toxic when topically applied onto your skin. It’s a myth that your skin absorbs 60% of what you put on it. The main job of your skin is to keep stuff OUT of the body and it’s damn good at doing that. Think about it. One, if everything you touched penetrated your skin, you wouldn’t get dirty. Two: there would be no need for injections or pills to treat most diseases. Three: skincare superstars like retinol and Vitamin C would easily penetrate skin, giving you much better and faster results. Instead, there are very few medicines and ingredients that can bypass the skin’s protective barrier. If they can’t get into your skin, they can’t reach the bloodstream and cells and be toxic to them.
Do you see how easy it is to misinterpret studies when you’re not aware of the scientific principles behind them?
My Criteria For Choosing Which Skincare Ingredients To Avoid
Like everyone else, I do have my list of skincare ingredients to avoid. But I base my decisions based on what science, not misinformation, says. So what are my criteria? I avoid skincare ingredients that:
- Don’t agree with my skin: For example, every time I use a cream with a high dose of Isopropyl Myristate or Isopropyl Palmitate, my skin breaks out so much, it turns into a war zone. I also know people who can use them without any issues. You don’t need to avoid an ingredient just because it doesn’t work for me. But you need to pay attention to what works for you – if something doesn’t, ditch it.
- Proven side effects: I’m not talking about cancer. Again, it’s illegal to put toxic ingredients in skincare products. I’m talking about irritations, allergies, and breakouts. A lot of natural extracts, for example, contain fragrant compounds that can cause irritations in sensitive skin while offering no positive benefits whatsoever. To me, if something is a common allergen, it simply doesn’t belong in your skincare.
- Unproven effectiveness: Some skincare ingredients are so new, the only proof of them working comes from the manufacturer. Argireline, anyone? It’s a peptide dubbed “botox in a jar” that’s supposed to freeze muscles and wrinkles, but I haven’t seen solid evidence it deliver son its promises. In cases like this, I may try the product for review purposes only. Otherwise I’d avoid it, simply because I want to spend my money on things that are proven to work, like retinol.
There you have it, how I make decisions about the skincare ingredients to avoid for better (and safer) results.
The Skincare Ingredients I Personally Choose To Avoid
Now you know my criteria, let’s take a look at the ingredients I don’t want in MY skincare products:
1. Palmitates and Myristates: They’re Highly Comedogenic
Palmitate and Myristates are two families of ingredients with emollient properties. You can easily spot them on an ingredient list: they include anything with Palmitate and Myristate in the name, such as Isopropyl Palmitate, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isopropyl Myristate and Myristyl Myristate.
Palmitates and Myristates are fatty acids that moisturise skin, leaving it soft and smooth. Most creams for dry skin will include at least one – they’re that good at the moisturising job. And, for your skin type, they may be fine. I have clients who use moisturisers with Palmitate and Myristates without any issues. If they work for you, keep using them.
Personally, every time I used a moistruriser or other skincare products that has a Palmitate or a Myristate high on the ingredient list, my skin explodes in pimples. Although there are no scientific studies (yet!) that these ingredients cause acne, a lot of people with oily, acne-prone skin report my same experience. If you know they’re problematic for YOU, avoid them.
WHAT TO USE INSTEAD:
There are plenty of ingredients that moisturise skin without clogging pores. A few of my faves:
- Ceramides: Natural components of the skin’s protective barrier, they prevent water loss and keep skin soft and supple.
- Hyaluronic Acid: A humectant that attracts and binds up to 1000 times its weight in water to your skin! That extra moisture makes your skin softer and plumper – without adding more oil to it and causing pimples.
- Natural oils: Rosehip, olive, sweet almond & co are all deeply moisturising. Rosehip and jojoba and Squalane in particular are suitable even for oily and acne-prone skin.
Best Picks:
- Boscia Green Tea Oil-Free Moisturiser ($38.00): An oil-free moisturiser for oily skin enriched with green tea to help prevent wrinkles too. Available at Dermstore, Sephora, and Ulta
- CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion ($15.99): One of my fave moisturisers, it’s loaded with ceramides and niacinamide to deeply hydrate and soothe skin. It’s suitable for all skin types and walks that balance between being moisturising enough for dry skin without causing breakouts in oily skin. Available at Sephora and Ulta
- Paula’s Choice Clinical Ultra-Rich Moisturiser ($31.00): A godsend for dry skin, it uses a mix of ceramides, shea butter, and olive oil to deeply moisturise even the driest of skin types. Plus, it has antioxidants that help fight premature aging. Available at Paula’s Choice
Related: Is Isopropyl Myristate Comedogenic?
Struggling to find skincare products that don’t irritate your sensitive skin? Download your FREE “Skincare Ingredients To Avoid” cheatsheet to find out what the most common culprits are and cut them out of your skincare routine:
2. Alcohol: It Can Be Drying (When Poorly Formulated)
First things first: not all types of alcohol are bad for skin. Fatty alcohols like Cetyl Alcohol and Stearyl Alcohol are very moisturising. Keep using them. I do.
The alcohols I avoid are Denatured Alcohol, Ethyl Alcohol, Ethanol, Methanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Isopropyl Alcohol and SD Alcohol – and even then only when they make up most of the product.
These alcohols are used to thin down solutions and help other ingredients penetrate the skin better. But, they do this by disrupting the skin’s protective barrier. Overtime, this dries out your skin.
There’s a workaround: if your serum or moisturiser is also loaded with moisturising ingredients, they’ll be able to counteract the drying effects of the alcohol.
If my alcohol-laden sunscreen contains moisturising ingredients, like hyaluronic acid or shea butter, I’m able to use it without experiencing any dryness – and I do use them. Sure, I’d prefer a different delivery system, but there’s no real harm done for my skin.
But those toners with alcohol and little else that are supposed to tree acne? They work by absorbing excess oil. But, without anything hydrating to counteract the drying effects of the alcohol, the side effects are not worth the little benefits you get in return. There’s always a trade-off and, in this case, it’s one that doesn’t benefit your skin.
WHAT TO USE INSTEAD:
If you’re using an alcohol-lade toner to absorb excess oil, you can use ingredients like silica and clays that do the same job and are not so drying.
Best Picks:
- Paula’s Choice Skin Balancing Oil-Absorbing Mask ($22.00): A clay mask with bentonite and kaolin to absorb excess oil and antioxidants to fight premature aging. Available at Paula’s Choice
- Shiseido Oil-Control Blotting Paper ($20.00): They’re on the pricier side, but they include kaolin to absorb excess oil during the day without ruining your makeup. Available at Sephora.
Related: What Does Alcohol-Free Really Mean?
3. Witch Hazel: It’s A Mixed Bag
Witch Hazel is one of the few natural ingredients I prefer to avoid whenever possible. It’s a complete mixed bag. Natural ingredients often are. Contrary to popular opinion, natural ingredients like witch hazel aren’t just one ingredient. Instead, they’re made up of lots of different chemical compounds. some of these compounds have moisturising, antioxidants and soothing properties. Others are designed to kill the plants’ predators and can cause irritations and allergies in humans.
With hazel is a mixed bag. For example, you may have heard that witch hazel has powerful soothing and antioxidant properties. That’s true, BUT… it also contains a lot of tannins, a group of antioxidants that can irritate sensitive skin. The amount of tannins (or even if they’re in witch hazel extract at all) depends on which part of the plant is used, how it’s been processed… all things you won’t know simply by looking at the ingredient list.
But what really worries me is the distillation process. During this phase, 14-15% of alcohol is added to witch hazel extract. When it comes to witch hazel, I apply the same rule I have for alcohol: ok with moisturising ingredients, not ok when this is pretty much all you get. Those toners with witch hazel and nothing else may be promoted as a gentler alternative to alcohol-laden toners, but they’re anything but.
WHAT TO USE INSTEAD:
There are soooo many ingredients with soothing powers that don’t have the irritating potential of witch hazel. They include antioxidants like green tea, avena-derived colloidal oatmeal, soothing allantoin, and natural aloe vera – to name just a few.
Best Picks:
- First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream ($30.00): Packed with colloidal oatmeal and green tea, this rich cream deeply moisturises dry and sensitive skin and soothes irritations. Available at Sephora and Ulta
- Niod Modulating Glucosides ($21.00): This baby contains every soothing ingredients you can think of, including some of the most innovative you won’t find anyone else. It’s the best thing I’ve found for redness. Available at Harrods and Niod
- Paula’s Choice Calm Redness Relief Repairing Serum ($34.00): A serum packed with plenty of traditional soothing agents and antioxidants to slow down premature aging and reduce irritations. Available at Paula’s Choice
Related: Once And For All, Is Witch Hazel Good Or Bad For Skin?
4. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: It’s Drying And Irritating
I know I said you wouldn’t find the usual suspects here but Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) is one of the very few ingredients that deserves its bad reputation. Here’s why:
SLS is a surfactant (a fancy way of calling cleansing agents). You’ll find it in shampoos and body washes. If you’ve paid attention in chemistry class, or you’ve ever tried to wash a greasy pan without soap, you know that oil and water don’t mix. So how can you clean that greasy pan and take dirt off your skin?
Enter surfactants. SLS helps water mix with oil and dirt so that they can be rinsed away. But SLS is also very drying. It cleans skin, but it also disrupts its protective barrier, making your skin drier with regular use. Plus, it’s irritating. So irritating that when scientists want to determine how irritating another ingredient is they compare it to SLS. I’ll pass, thank you…
WHAT TO USE INSTEAD:
Thankfully, it’s rare to find a cleanser that still uses Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Most cleansers use gentler surfactants like Sodium Laureth Sulfate (a gentler cousin) or Coco-Betaine that remove dirt and makeup without drying out skin. Natural oils also make good cleansers. They break down the oils and makeup on your skin and rinse it away.
Best Picks:
- CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser ($14.99): A gentle cleanser for dry skin that removes impurities and moisturises skin at the same time. Available at Sephora, Ulta and Walmart
- Corsx low PH Good Morning Gel Cleanser ($11.00): A gentle, pH-balanced (5.5) foaming cleanser for oily and sensitive skin. Available at YesStyle.
- Paula’s Choice Perfect Cleansing Oil ($25.00): An oil-based cleanser that removes even then most stubborn of waterproof makeup. Available at Paula’s Choice
Related: Should You Avoid Sulfates In Your Shampoos And Shower Gels?
5. Peppermint And Menthol: They’re Irritating
Ever wondered why peppermint and menthol are in so many lip products? It’s not just to give a fresh feel to your lips or give the lip balm a nice scent. Both peppermint and menthol swell up your lips, making them look larger.
At first glance, it may seem like a good thing. Who doesn’t want bigger lips without the cost and pain of lip fillers? But there’s a catch. Mentol and peppermint swell your lips by irritating the skin. When your skin is irritated, inflammation kicks in, making your lips bigger. The swelling is a sign your skin is badly irritated! Irritation is never a good thing!
WHAT TO USE INSTEAD
Regular lip balms and products without these ingredients. You may not get the lip plumping effects, but you’ll get smooth, soft and healthy lips ready to kiss – and that’s so much better, in my humble opinion.
- BIODERMA Atoderm Dry Lips Moisturiser ($4.90): A simple, no-frills lip balm that heals chapped lips and makes them soft and smooth again. Available at Sephora
- Drunk Elephant Lippe ($18.00): Enriched with natural oils, this lip balm is super moisturising and has some antioxidant properties to fight premature aging. Available at Cult Beauty, Sephora and SpaceNK
- Paula’s Choice Lipscreen SPF 50 ($10.00): It provides broad spectrum protection and features natural plants and oils to deeply moisturise lips. Available at Paula’s Choice
6. Sodium Cocoate And Sodium Palmate: They’re Drying
These are two of the main surfactants (that word again!) used in bar soaps. In other words, they’re the active ingredients in bar soap that cleanse your skin and remove impurities from it. Their problem? They cleanse skin TOO well.
These surfactants are usually formulated at an alkaline (high, about 7 or higher) pH. But skin has a slightly acidic (low, about 5.5) pH. In plain English, this means they disrupt the skin’s protective barrier, making skin dry and prone to irritations.
WHAT TO USE INSTEAD
Give your bar soap a pass and use a liquid formula instead. They use surfactants like Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Coco-Betaine that do the same thing, but are gentler on the skin. Check out the alternatives to Sodium Lauryl Sulfate for best picks.
Related: Bar Soap VS Liquid Soap: Which One Should You Use?
The Bottom Line
There are no ingredients in skincare products that will kill you. But there are a few that’ll dry out your complexion, irritate your skin, and give you pimples. These are the real skin enemies you want to avoid at all costs.
Good to know! I avoid alcohol in skincare as well, though I always forget which alcohols are “good” XD
Eight, there are way too many types of alcohols, aren’t there? It’s so difficult to remember that all!
Thank you for this great post. I am new to your blog and am looking forward to reading through your archives.
I avoid all of these ingredients too, since my skin is easily irritated by so many things. Some others that I avoid are cinnamon oil, citrus oils or extracts, and large amounts of lavender or linalool.
By the way, I have looked for some natural, organic-type skin and hair products, but it is really hard to find one without lavender, mint, or citrus. Lip balms are the worst offenders for me. Do you have any idea why so few natural products are made without one of those fragrances?
Pam, you’re welcome and thank you. I hope you enjoying browsing the archives.
I’m sorry to hear that, it must be very frustrating indeed. I don’t know the reason for that but my personal opinion is that a lot of companies are simply jumping on the natural=better bandwagon without having the slightest clue of which natural ingredients are good and which are bad. Also, part of the reason could be that they’re added to give the product a particular odour as I know there are lots of people who love citrusy and minty scents.
What a great writeup, Gio! 😀 The last ingredient caught me by surprise as this is the ingredient skin care companies commonly use if they claim that their product is SLS free! That’s good to know – i’ll monitor and see if it dries out my skin!
You know which ingredient sends me running across the room right? Alcohol – though I won’t say no to wine 😉 Hahaha! 😀
Jenn, thank you. Unfortunately very often companies replace an ingredient with a bad reputation, whether deserved or not, with something that is just as drying and irritating, if not more. They’re more interested in jumping on the free-from bandwagon than making a good product, it seems and it’s a shame.
And alcohol on the skin is a no-no indeed.
i am not too hot about mineral oil, it is a petrolleum derived. It just screams trouble in the long run.
Jocelyn, it is true that mineral oil is derived from petroleum, but it highly refined to make it safe. I hear lots of people say that it’ll cause problems in the long run, but I know women who’ve been using it for decades and their skin is perfectly fine. There is just no scientific proof that mineral oil will cause trouble for skin when used regularly.
I avoid 2, 4, phthalates, some chemical sunscreens when possible (avobezone, oxybenzone). I like the minty feel of some lip products; I didn’t know they weren’t good for the skin. I’ve never used anything with witch hazel that I am aware of. I should avoid #1 too, mysristates and palmitates. Surprisingly, I have two face washes that have myristate at the top of the list and I’ve been fine. I have had some minor breakouts and maybe these two ingredients are the cause. I’m going to stop using them now. I’ve read about these little evils before but I never bothered to look up all the other names. Eeks. Thanks again, Giorgia! You’re a lifesaver.
I’m still searching for a suncreen that will protect well but not tug at the eye area. Do you have any suggestions? All the liquid-y ones I’ve found are full of alcohol, is that not good to use for my dry skin?
Janessa, you’re welcome. The Palmitates and Myristates must be some of the worst ingredients in skincare and it’s surprising how few people know that. They all seem to blame silicones or mineral oil for breakouts when very often it’s Isopropyl Palmitate and its cousins that are the culprits.
Have you tried Blue Lizard of Burt’s Bees sunscreens? They usually don’t contain alcohol and are formulated with physical sunscreens.
Nope, I haven’t! I’ll check those out. thanks. :] I love my Burn Out sunblock as it’s 20% zinc oxide yet it isn’t greasy and is relatively lightweight. It just streaks on my face unless I’m taking my time to apply it. That’s when I prefer Shiseido, for the cosmetic aspect of it. I primarily use Burn Out sunblock on my neck and hands since I can rub it in easily.
No mooorre palmitates and myristates for me! I feel like I am free of them now that I am fully aware of them.
Thank you for teaching me so many ingredients and getting me interested in them. In fact, I love reading the lists and looking up what I don’t know. I am no longer fooled by many false claims and advertisements. I read the ingredients before the claims. I have very much to learn still, but I’m getting better. :]
Janessa, that’s the problem with physical sunblock. When the concentrations of ingredients is too high, applying it becomes a bit of an hassle. Still, for the protection it gives, I think it’s worth it. 🙂
You’re welcome and I’m so glad to hear that. It’s so important to be informed as there is so much misinformation out there that it’s easy to use what’s bad for you and avoid the good stuff otherwise. 🙂
Nice posting, very useful for me..
Olivia, I’m glad you found it useful.
I agree with al the ingredients you listed except Witch Hazel. I found a wonderful Witch Hazel that is alcohol free made by Thayers. I find that alcohol free witch hazel can be very soothing!
Char, yes, when it’s not distilled with alcohol, witch hazel can be very soothing. The problem is that companies usually don’t tell you how they distill it so it’s easier to stay away from it entirely.
I’ve been looking up new sunscreens to try lately, and am amazed how many include citrus oils and and other dubious plant extracts. I have heard that citrus extracts are photo toxic, in that they actually magnify the damaging effects of UV. Some of the most expensive sunscreens are the worst!
Leanne, I know, right? It’s incredible how many good formulas are ruined by natural extracts and oils like anything citrusy! 🙁 I get it they make the product smell good but they’re not that good for skin.