Why Choose Paraben-Free Beauty Products?

In the health and beauty industry today, Parabens have a pretty bad rap. Synonymous with nastiness, it’s becoming more and more important to consumers that parabens are omitted from their daily skin and haircare products, but do we really know why?

Parabens are a type of preservative often found in beauty products such as shampoos, mascaras, moisturizers and body lotions, but also in food as E-Numbers. They’re added to stop fungus, bacteria and other microbes from growing in the product, increasing its shelf-life.

Although the movement towards eating foods free of E-Numbers has been in motion for a while, it’s only recently come to light the effects they can have in skin care and hair care…

So – why are we suddenly concerned about parabens?

One of the biggest effects of using parabens in skincare is their carcinogenic link. Parabens can sink into the deeper layers of our skin, and begin to mimic the effects of estrogen in our bodies. Estrogen is a naturally-occurring hormone, with one of its key properties being the encouragement of cell division. In healthy quantities, estrogen is essential for cell renewal and leaving us with healthy, glowing skin, but an excess of estrogen has been linked to breast cancer and other harmful side effects.

The issue with paraben usage in skin care is that they don’t bring any significant benefits to the consumer. They are designed to make the shelf-life of a product last longer, but if you are buying high-quality products that you use daily, you’re likely to use it up long before any bacteria can grow to a harmful level. 

What to look out for…

Just because a product claims to be paraben free, that doesn’t mean it’s free of other harmful ingredients. Parabens are used because they are cheap and easy to produce, but other nasties can often be used instead of parabens in order to deliver the same results. Often, brands quietly replace parabens with a different synthetic preservative which could be equally as harmful, whilst still boasting a paraben-free status.

Here at Cel, we are proud to not only be paraben-free, but also sulfate-free and free of any harmful synthetic preservatives. Our skincare and haircare range all refrain from using parabens.

Our Conclusion

Although the FDA have found no direct health risk from using small amounts of parabens, the lack of necessity with using them means that it should be a no-brainer to cut them out. With plenty of safer alternatives on the market, and many brands moving to a paraben-free offering, eliminating this small risk is an easy switch. Leave-on products are the most harmful, as the parabens have time to sink into your skin and cross into other areas of you body. This means that replacing any moisturizers, face masks and leave-in conditioners is a great place to start!