These Ingredients Are Sabotaging Your Favorite Beauty Products

Chances are a lot, if not all, of your beauty products include sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), a foaming agent used in shampoos, body and face washes, and toothpaste.

Most of us equate foam with cleanliness, but surprise: it's also a skin irritant.

"SLS is a skin irritant for a huge number of people and is one of the leading causes of perioral and periocular dermatitis (red, flaky skin on eyelids and around the nose and mouth)," said Villafranco.

"It is used in almost all shampoos, except the ones at Whole Foods Market and a few emerging natural luxury brands. It's inexpensive, especially compared to the less toxic alternatives, so it will likely take a while to phase out of use in the mainstream market."

If you're ready to go SLS-free, be sure that your replacement doesn't use an ingredient that is just as toxic.

Lemons, limes, grapefruit, and other fruit oils are frequently used because — duh — they smell amazing! Although they're packed with antianxiety and antidepressant effects, these "crowd-pleasers of the aromatherapy world" also come with a not-so-pleasant side effect: phytophotodermatitis.

For starters, the long-winded moniker can actually be broken down into three smaller words: plant (phyto), light (photo), and rash (dermatitis). In simpler terms, phytophotodermatitis is a nasty skin reaction that occurs when you leave citrus oils on your skin for a long time in sunlight.

The results are anything from mild redness to blisters and even permanent scarring. For instance, if you're drinking a margarita and leave the lime oil on your mouth, you run the risk of irritation or a bad burn on your lips.

Villafranco recommends avoiding leave-on oil products altogether if you plan on being outside. And even if you're using soap or face wash beforehand, wash them away completely before stepping out the door.

"Distilled citrus oils, rather than expeller-pressed, carry much less risk," she said. "And bergaptene-free bergamot essential oil has had the phototoxic element removed, so it has a much lower risk as well."

Emulsifying wax, also known as "e-wax," is a solid substance commonly used to make cream-based products. This is because it does a great job of linking oil with water. Unfortunately, e-wax is also "ethoxylated," which means it contains carcinogens. Carcinogens cause cancer.

Why do most of us bypass e-wax as being dangerous? It may have something to do with the fact that it doesn't fit any of the common criteria for an ethoxylated ingredient. These are usually identified by words ending in "eth," words starting with "PEG," or words with a number at the end.

The synthetic fragrances (aka "parfum") found in your products are most likely a breeding ground for lots of dangerous ingredients, including petrochemicals, phthalates, and benzene.

According to Villafranco, "synthetic fragrances linger way longer than any true scent in nature and change our physical environment in a really substantial way. For many, synthetic fragrance is a trigger for allergies, headaches, or just decreased productivity. Fragrance is still used widely, as many people have become accustomed to overpowering, unnatural scents."

On a more superficial level, lots of companies are also guilty of using fragrance as a way to hide ingredients that don't look attractive on the back of packaging — especially as the public becomes more educated on what's inside the bottle.

The takeaway: go for natural fragrances. "If you're concerned about hormone disruption, carcinogens, or decreasing chemical sensitivity symptoms, be sure to seek out products scented only with essential oils," Villafranco explained. Try Osmia Organics as a natural alternative.

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