A good skin care routine is often a girl’s best friend and their pride and joy.
However, most good quality products can cost an arm and leg, so we tend to opt for the cheaper options.
Brands like Simple, Clean & Clear and No7 come to mind.
Although they won’t ruin your bank account, they might ruin your skin.
Ingredients to look out for include:
- Parabens- they mimic oestrogen functions and too much of this has been linked to the growth of tumours and breast cancer
- PEG (polyethylene glycol)- this can alter and reduce moisture in the skin
- Perfumes – too much in a product can cause irritation, redness and infection
- Phthalates- also linked with breast cancer and can cause reproductive birth defects. These are also used to increase the strength of plastics
However, many skin care products often do not even include a full list of ingredients, so the chances are you really have no idea what you are putting on your skin.
A new app called Think Dirty has been developed to do all the dirty work for you (excuse the pun).
You simply type in any product that you use and it gives it a rating out of ten.
The higher the number, the worse it is for your skin.
Take for example, Dove gradual tanner.
You would think this is a much better solution to fake tanning than sitting on a sun bed, however, using the Think Dirty app, it receives a nine on the scale.
Another particularly popular skin care product is the Nivea Q10 anti-wrinkle cream.
It hits an eight on the scale, particularly because of the fragrances it contains.
One other brand that you may be surprised to know that really does not look after your skin is Soap & Glory.
Almost all of their products rate 8 and up on the scale, containing ingredients such as perfumes and parabens.
Katie Willgrass, aged 22, a beautician from Norwich has been investing in finding the right products for herself and her customers.
“I used to use anything that was on offer and never really had a proper skin care routine.”
“I only discovered how bad products like Simple and Neutrogena in November, when I discovered this brand called Tropic.”
Tropic products all rate between 0 or 2 on the scale.
“It wasn’t until I saw how clean and safe it was to use that I thought I should probably check the ingredients of other products- I was actually appalled.”
“The reasoning behind all these harmful chemicals is simply to give products a longer shelf life.”
“I will never use another beauty product again without checking the ingredients.”
