Survey reveals chilling numbers, rings the alarm

Nov 19, 2009 18:31 GMT  ·  By
Women daily apply an estimated 515 chemicals to their face and body with beauty products
   Women daily apply an estimated 515 chemicals to their face and body with beauty products

As part of her daily beauty routine, a woman will use, on average, body lotion, hand cream, makeup (which usually includes foundation, lipstick, mascara and eyeshadow), perfume and so on and so forth. Also as part of her daily beauty routine, a woman will put on her body and face an estimated 515 chemicals, some of which are potentially very harmful, a new survey cited by the Telegraph informs.

As it happens, most women do not even realize the risks they’re exposing themselves to when using what they deem to be “regular” beauty products. What they do not know is that, in order to have better and faster results, all these products contain more ingredients than they did, say, a few years ago, which ironically makes them more dangerous for the health of the skin, health experts conclude.

“A survey found women typically use up to 13 products, most of which contain more than 20 ingredients, including additives. Perfumes contain an average cocktail of 250 ingredients, the study found, with some containing as many as 400. The study, published by company Bionsen which makes deodorants it says are ‘aluminium free,’ said some of the additive ingredients in other products have been linked to cancer, hormone problems, skin conditions and allergies,” the Telegraph writes of the latest study.

At the opposite pole are lipstick, with just 33 ingredients, body lotion with 32, mascara with 29 and hand moisturizer, with just 11. Nevertheless, experts do point out that abusing of such products can have a negative impact on our health, so it’s best not to use them in excess. This, of course, also means being careful of not falling into advertisers’ traps and to always remember that, at the end of the day, a product, no matter how “natural” it claims to be, also contains many chemicals.

“Beauty regimes have changed dramatically from a simple ‘wash & go’ to daily fake tan applications, regular manicures, false lashes and hair extensions. The new ‘wonder treatments’ contain more chemicals to be able to achieve better results, which means that women are more at risk,” Charlotte Smith of Bionsen says for the British media, as cited by the same publication.