Cosmetic Supplements: Are They Harmful For One’s Health?

[LoShiNi]

Preservatives

I think that most readers are familiar with the name “parabens”. Nowadays, many cosmetic products contain the following inscription: “does not contain parabens.” Without going into the details of the chemical characteristics of this reagent, it is necessary to point out that these substances are preservatives in their structure, and their properties are close to aspirin. Let’s find out whether parabens can threaten our health.

It turned out that the structure of parabens is very close to the active center of estrogen, the main female hormone. There are several types of estrogen-dependent breast tumors. Oncologists around the world are seriously worried about this problem. Nevertheless, a number of studies have confirmed the safety of parabens in the context of developing breast cancer.

For example, according to British scientists from School of Animal and Microbial Sciences (Byford J.R., 2002), butylparaben causes a 100,000-fold weaker effect compared to estradiol. As a result, in 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported the safety of parabens as ingredients in cosmetics. The only exception was French cosmetics. In 2014, France banned the use of such parabens as isopropyl, isobutyl, pentyl, and benzyl paraben.



Products for removing pigment spots and lightening of the skin

The problem of pigmentation is very common among women, mainly after 40 years, which is due to the change in women’s hormonal background.

Therefore, we find it important to discuss whitening cosmetic products as well. The deepest layer of the skin contains melanocytes, which produce 4 types of melanin (black, brown, red, and yellow) from only two amino acids of tyrosine and cysteine. At present, there are skin lightening cosmetic products that block enzymes involved in the transformation of one of them into melanin — tyrosine. For this purpose, hydroquinone has been an ingredient of cosmetics for 50 years.

The largest content of hydroquinone is found in coffee, tea, wheat, and beer. However, natural components do not produce the desired effect because this substance turns into an inactive form in leaves. Based on this fact, a synthetic agent is used. It turned out that prolonged use of the above-mentioned substance leads to the opposite effect. In connection with this, the European Committee banned the use of hydroquinone in cosmetic products. Unfortunately, there is still a huge amount of serums and creams containing this substance. It goes without saying that you may choose an alternative, for example, products containing harmless analogs of chloroquine, mequinol, or vitamin B3 (nicotinamide).



Pregnancy

It is no secret that pregnancy is not always a happy and auspicious period in a woman’s life. In fact, pregnancy is a great stress for a woman’s body, which is caused by significant hormonal reorganization. One of the problems that women face during their pregnancy is acne, which is caused by the increasing level of androgens. Let us figure out whether a pregnant woman should use any cosmetic products to cleanse her face and reduce inflammation of her skin. According to American cosmetologists from the University of California and the University of Oregon Medical School, most anti-acne and acne cosmetic substances are safe. The only exception is products that contain hydroquinone and retinoids (derivatives of vitamin A) (Caron G.A., 1993; Wester R.C., 1998). So, dear ladies, take your time to look through the composition of any cosmetic product even if it is just a washing lotion!