by Elizabeth Thompson

Created on: November 08, 2008   Last Updated: November 22, 2008

Parabens: The Ugly Side of Beauty

By now, most of us have at least heard of parabens and know that we should not be using products containing them. But do you know what they are and why?

Parabens are widely used as a preservative to inhibit microbial growth in many products ranging from hand soap to toothpaste and also many foods. When a product is water-based it is necessary to use some sort of preservation method to guard against bacterial growth. The problem with parabens is that they appear to mimic estrogen in our bodies and have been linked to breast cancer, feritility problems and impaired fetal development. Parabens are an inexpensive and effective preservative, giving the manufacturers who use them more profit and products with a longer shelf life.

Our society is becoming increasingly aware of health concerns in products we use on our bodies, which is definitely a step in the right direction. The manufacturers of some of these products are taking advantage of this and marketing themselves as a safe, natural product, often times brand names that we trust, when they are actually anything but good for us.

Many cosmetics companies are jumping on the "Paraben-free" bandwagon simply as a marketing tool, otherwise known as greenwashing. The definition of greenwash by Wikipedia is "a term used to describe the perception of consumers that they are being misled by a company regarding the environmental practices of the company or the environmental benefits of a product or service". In other words, the product isn't as safe as they imply, if at all.

One of the leading offenders are makers of baby skincare products. As careful and concerned parents we go to the drugstore or grocery and choose the products we think will be gentlest and safest for our children. The product I faithfully used on my babies in the beginning of their lives contains not only parabens but a host of other toxic ingredients. Of course, it was one of the first to be thrown out of my bathroom closet.

Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to decipher a healthy label as compared to a not-so-healthy one. With all kinds of new natural cosmetics products cropping up at our favorite drug and department stores, this is becoming a bigger problem all the time. What we need to ask of a conventional product that has just gone paraben-free is; How is the product now being preserved? If it is with another synthetic preservative then there is obviously no benefit to the product.

Manufacturers of safe cosmetic

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