Could Your Cosmetics Be Causing Hormone Imbalance & Weight Gain?

From makeup, facial cleansers, deodorant, toothpaste, body wash, and shampoo seem harmless and help you maintain good hygiene and smell nice. In recent years, a lot of research has revealed that these products can harm our hormones, weight, brain, and skin health. In this article, I will share with you what harmful ingredients you should watch out for and how they can negatively affect your health.

Ingredients Matter

When it comes to foods, we know the harmful side effects of ingredients. The same goes for any skin care product; our skin is the biggest organ in our body. Our skin absorbs sun, water, and nutrients through the pores on our skin, so putting things like lotions, face serums, deodorants, colognes, perfumes, and so much more on our body is introducing not just our skin to ingredients but our entire body. These ingredients can affect our brain, endocrine, immune systems, and more.

The ingredients found in most cosmetics are not safe for our skin, such as phthalates, parabens, nanomaterials, antimicrobials, and UV filters all of these, which can be classified as endocrine disruptors, immune system inhibiting, and cancerous materials.

Ingredients of any product matter because of how these chemicals and additives can affect your long-term health.

How do these ingredients affect our health?

These products have different uses, and when applied to the skin, they are absorbed into the skin or ingested through the nose when you breathe in their fumes. Either way, they enter your bloodstream and then are carried throughout the body, or they can be filtered through vital parts of your body like your heart, brain, or other organs. If they affect your organs, they can create inflammation or an inflammatory response, affecting your complexion, energy levels, hormones, digestion, and more.

Ingredients like formaldehyde in hair straightening products, nail polish, eyelash glue, and more are now associated with cancer.

Phthalates are used to help with perfume and cologne to stick to the skin and be endocrine disruptors, causing early puberty in girls and reduced sperm in men.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG): Is associated with skin irritation because they are petroleum-derived.

Triclosan is an antimicrobial ingredient found in hand sanitizers and soaps and has been linked to impacting the thyroid and other reproductive hormones. This ingredient is actually banned in other countries. It's banned in some products but can sometimes be found in deodorant, mouthwash, shaving cream, and toothpaste.

Oxybenzone, a potential endocrine disruptor

Homosalate is found in sunscreen used as a UV absorber and has been found to damage the skin and our coral reefs in the ocean.

Toluene, or BHT, is linked to brain toxicity and is dangerous during pregnancy; it can be found in nail polish, hair dye, and nail treatments.

Talc is a carcinogen and an instigator of lung disease. Primarily used as a smoothing agent in makeup.

PFAs and PFCs these chemical are found in thousands of products, and they are one of the most dangerous, linked to severe health effects such as cancer and thyroid disease.

Teflon is used to improve the texture of cosmetic products and has been linked to hormone disruption and reproductive issues.

Carbon black found in eyeliner and mascara has a possible link to cancer due to inhalation.

Parabens have been linked to hormone disruption and were found in traces of breast cancer tissue in a study conducted in 2004. These ingredients can be found in many cosmetic products. The FDA has considered it safe since they have put boundaries and limitations on how much can be used in products.

Hydroquinone This one is up for debate whether or not it is safe or cancerous to the body. More research is to come on this ingredient. However, it is one to consider unsafe until proven safe.

As you can see, this is a long list of ingredients, and this is a touch of how many ingredients there are in these products. They all affect different parts of the body, but mainly our hormones and lymphatic system.

How do they cause weight gain?

As I stated above, when these ingredients enter our body, they affect our hormones and correlate with how our body manages its weight. These EDCs cause our thermodynamics to be thrown off and begin to affect our body's metabolism. They affect our thermodynamics through our thyroid by disrupting our body's ability to digest food properly and utilize it for energy. When this is combined with a bad diet, it just makes matters worse. These EDCs also get stored in your fat tissue, making it harder for your body to utilize those fat cells as energy.

How to Avoid & Detox?

The best way to avoid these harmful ingredients is to read ingredient labels or use apps to help you find better alternatives. Yuka is one of the best apps around that can help you scan a barcode on food items and cosmetics, and it will tell you if the ingredient label is good or bad. It's always a good reminder that you shouldn't put them on your skin if you can't eat the ingredients.

Detoxing is essential for helping your body eliminate the toxic chemicals from these products and help alleviate inflammation. So using a sauna and cold plunge can be very beneficial for detoxification and regular exercise. Then using a detox program 1-2 times a year can be great for detoxifying your vital organs. This will help keep your body younger and functioning optimally.

What are better companies to use?

Now, with all these harmful ingredients out in the world, what are the best companies to use for cosmetics and hygiene? Well-linked below are the cleanliest companies with various products that can be healthy for your skin.

Just ingredients

Acure

Earth harbor

Dime Beauty

Osea

Native

Llia (makeup)

Well, people (makeup)

100% Pure (Makeup)

Shopping and investing in products with healthier ingredients not only save your health but also helps the environment's health. It all starts with awareness of the ingredients we put in our bodies. You only need to start with one product at a time.