Introduction There are over seven thousand ingredients available to manufacturers for use in cosmetics and toiletries (including nearly a thousand aromatic and perfume chemicals), of which more than one thousand are known to have harmful effects and many of these are subject to some level of legal restriction. Another nine hundred ingredients may have been manufactured in such a way as to be potentially contaminated with cancer causing chemicals. Recent tests carried out by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have found that a large number of these contaminants have indeed found their way into finished products in substantial quantities. This means that more than one in four of the ingredients you find on the label of a bottle of shampoo for instance, or a jar of face cream, is either on the restricted list, or may be harmful in some way. That does not mean to say the product is harmful but simply that there are potential dangers that the user should be aware of. In order to address this issue, the authorities responsible for the regulation of cosmetics and toiletries, the European Union (EU) Commission and the FDA in the US, have introduced standards for the listing of ingredient names on product labels. This sounds all very helpful to those consumers with sensitive skin and allergies until you actually pick up a bottle of shampoo or skin cream and try to read the label. The chemical names of many of the ingredients are completely meaningless to most people, including chemists. Most cosmetics and toiletries contain at least a dozen ingredients. One brand of sunscreen on sale in the UK lists forty-six chemicals and invites the customer to see the in-store list for further ingredients. How do you know which of these ingredients is either making you itch or your face feel as though its been burnt? There is a widely held belief that products such as cosmetics would not be readily available to the consumer unless they were safe. The manufacturers and advertisers of the products reinforce this belief by demonstrating their 'nourishing,' 'revitalising,' or 'natural' properties. But just how safe are these products? And can they really help maintain an unblemished, youthful complexion, as the advertisers would have us believe? In 1994 the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) carried out a survey into allergies caused by cosmetics and toiletries. Nearly one in four of the people questioned claimed to have suffered an allergic reaction as a result of using a cosmetic or toiletry, including make-up, foundations and moisturisers. This paints a fairly bleak picture but it is not the intention of this book to make the bathroom cabinet look like a minefield. In fact, the authors discovered much that was, in many ways, reassuring. While there are many substances which may have harmful effects, most of the ingredients used in cosmetics and toiletries are perfectly safe and have no known adverse effects. It must be said, however, that allergies, like people, are not consistent and it is quite possible for any individual to have an sudden and unexpected adverse reaction to the most harmless ingredient imaginable. There are three things you should know before using a cosmetic or toiletry product: what are the ingredients, why are they used, and do they have any known adverse or harmful effects? If you are a vegetarian, you may wish to know whether cosmetics contain animal products, such as conditioners with keratin amino acids which are made from animal skin, hooves and horns. If you are a parent, you will want to know what ingredients must not be used on infants. The aim of this book is to help you answer all these questions in a straightforward manner. The index lists all the questionable ingredients as well as some of the more common ingredients that are known to be safe. If you cannot find an ingredient in the index, it is because it has no known adverse effects. The glossary provides an A to Z listing of cosmetic terms covering details of the nature of cosmetic ingredients, the reasons for their use and background information. The aim of this book is to make you, the consumer more informed about the products you use everyday so that you are not confused or misled by the marketing jargon, so that you can make more informed choices when buying cosmetics and toiletries.

© Gina & Steve Antczak, 2001

This page was last updated, January 2001

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