Every day we are exposed to 50 to 100 perfumes, preservatives, and chemical additives in personal care products. It just takes one to cause an allergic reaction.
Scientists tell us that about one person in ten has beauty ongoing allergic reactions to hidden chemicals in perfumes and fragrances. We all know someone who sneezes, wheezes, scratches, or breaks out when exposed to scents in cosmetics and personal care products—but just which products cause the most problems may surprise you.
Scientists at the Hospital General Universitario de Valencia in Spain found that: beauty
12.7% of people using moisturizers,
15.7% of people using cleansing gels, and
18.5% of people using hair dyes beauty
suffered allergic reactions to fragrances and perfumes in their products. About 8% of the patients tested were allergic to fragrance mixtures of all kinds.
Who Is Susceptible To These Kinds Of Allergies?
Dr. Tatyana Hamilton and Dr. Gillian de Gannes at the University of beauty British Columbia report that allergies to ingredients in cosmetics occur in men and women as well as boys and girls of all ages, but they are most common in women who are between the ages of 20 and 55.
Part of the problem, they point out, is that the North American Contact Dermatitis Group, which is very influential in setting standards for cosmetics testing in the US and Canada, recognizes 65 potential irritants and allergens in personal care products, but about beauty 1/3 of people who have reactions to cosmetics that are caused by chemicals that are not on their list.
There is probably no other activity that exposes more people to more chemicals than using skin care products. Drs. Hamilton and de Gannes report that the average man uses 6 personal care products that contain 85 unique ingredients every day. The average woman uses 12 personal care products that have 168 unique ingredients every day. It only takes one ingredient to cause an allergic reaction.
Some allergy-causing ingredients are well known. It's not unusual for people to be allergic to specific fragrances and preservatives. beauty
Probably the most troublesome preservative is formaldehyde, because people can get a double-dose of formaldehyde both from the preservatives in skin care products and also from food. Formaldehyde is released from some food additives but also occurs in certain organic foods. Aspartame (Nutrasweet), cured ham, maple syrup, caviar, cod fish, coffee, and shiitake mushrooms all release enough formaldehyde to cause skin reactions.
Probably the most troublesome fragrance is an herbal ingredient known as balsam of Tolu or Tolu balsam. Worldwide, about 20% of people are allergic to it. It may be listed as Myroxylon pereirae.
If you develop an allergy to balsam of Tolu, you may develop a cross-reaction to cinnamon oil, oil of cloves, orange peel, lemon oil, benzoin, and propolis.
Other ingredients that often cause skin reactions include nickel sulfate, neomycin, bacitracin, gold beauty sodium thiosulfate, and cobalt chloride.
Read more: Are Your Cosmetics Toxic?
If you have problems with skin care products, they are most likely due to one or more of these ingredients—but there is no guarantee that you won't have a reaction to a unique ingredient that bothers almost no one else. However, there is a quick and easy way to tell if a nasty skin reaction to a perfume, preservative, or fragrance may be in your future.