Toxic bad ingredients to avoid

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	Dyes Some cause cancer and are banned outside the U.S. If you took FD & C Red No.3, which is found in a great deal of cosmetics and put it into a petrie dish with breast tissue, you will find breast cancer. This ingredient is still on the market, and we know it causes cancer.

	Formaldehyde Found in eye shadows, mascaras, other cosmetics, and in high percentages (up to 10%) in nail hardeners, it is widely used as a preservative, germicide and fungicide. It has recently been reclassified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer to its highest toxic class as a "known human carcinogen". May be listed on labels as formalin or methyl aldehyde, but is also hidden in many chemical combinations. It can cause allergic reactions, headaches, and chronic fatigue. In its liquid state, formaldehyde, present in the ingredients DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, and quaternium-15, can be absorbed through the skin and nails. As a volatile organic compound, or VOC, formaldehyde evaporates when the product is wet; levels drop sharply once it's dry. Consumer concern has led many manufacturers to remove it from their nail polishes. Quaternium-15 causes more dermatitis complaints than any other preservative, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Bronopol, often listed as 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1, 3-diol, can contribute to the formation of cancer-causing nitrosamines, according to the FDA. It can also break down to produce formaldehyde.

	Fragrance Usually listed as 'fragrance' (in the US), or 'parfum' (EU). Commonly used in cosmetic ingredients and personal care products, fragrance may contain up to 4000 separate ingredients, although typically most products use an average of 50-100 fragrance ingredients. These ingredients have no restrictions and are not required to be listed separately. Often used to mask the scent of other ingredients or to make the product smell more appealing. Fragrance is added to most personal care products on the market. 95% of the chemicals used in fragrances are synthetic derivatives of petroleum. Fragrance may have an effect upon the central nervous system, and interfere with metabolism, hormones, and act as endocrine disruptors. These hazardous cosmetic ingredients can cause headaches, dizziness, breathing disorders, allergic rashes and other allergic reactions, skin disorders, coughing, vomiting, depression, hyperactivity, irritability, and chemical sensitivities. A connection is suspected between fragrance and multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.

	Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil Contamination of oil during production includes contact with pesticides, PCBS and other organic matter like mercury, arsenic, and lead.

	Hydroquinone This skin bleaching chemical, often appears in skin lightening and brightening products, can cause a skin disease called ochronosis, with "disfiguring and irreversible" blue-black lesions that in the worst cases become permanent, intensively black bumps the size of caviar all over the skin.

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