Parabens are very efficient as bacteriological agents, as well as fungicidal agents. As preservatives they work against bacteria and fungi. Parabens can be found in a wide range of different personal skin care products like shampoos, shaving gels, cosmetics, shower gels, toothpastes, pharmaceuticals and several more. If you take a look at the lists of ingredients on your cosmetic products right now, I am sure you will find several parabens.
So why is it that people search for paraben free skin care products nowadays? It is because parabens are part of the dangerous chemicals category and are known to harm the skin. People are trying to avoid preservatives as much as possible. Of course that since all the cosmetic companies are trying to sell their products, they either tell you that parabens are safe, either they have been used for years and no one got hurt. But there are many scientists and dermatologists who are starting to disapprove.
There are also studies, available for the general public, suggesting that parabens can actually be toxic for some people. Unfortunately, these studies have not yet been proven. My question is: to how many people do they have to show that parabens are indeed dangerous for people, before they remove them from cosmetics and skin care products? One of the studies found parabens in breast tissue at the patients with cancer. But this was just a small sample and it could not be proven that parabens can actually cause breast cancer. But it had been noted. Other studies show that parabens cause allergic reactions at the surface of the skin and interfere with the endocrine system of the body. Other studies show that parabens can have a light hormonal effect on the body.
One of the problems, when using parabens, is that they are quickly absorbed in your skin and blood and can be detected in the blood, if you take some tests. This is something you should be thinking about when oscillating between paraben free skin care products and cosmetics with parabens. But you should know there are alternatives to using parabens as preservatives. Parabens are affordable and this is why the big corporations use it. It is all about the profit. They could be using a lot of different natural preservatives, but they have to pay for that, because natural preservatives are expensive.
Anyway, the idea is that more and more people are looking for paraben free skin care products, because even if they do not really know what parabens are, they heard that they might be dangerous for their skin and rather not know and just buy paraben free products. Scientists are not yet decided if parabens are harmful or not, but until we find out, I would say “Let’s keep it natural”. Parabens are not natural, so just to be sure, until we find out for sure what is it with these parabens, lest try buying paraben free cosmetics.