Just say no to parabens!
It seems everywhere we look, labels carry the phrase “Paraben Free”. So the opposite (and likely not so good for ya) would be Paraben Full”? Paraben schmaraben, what is a girl to do? There are so many warnings and things to be concerned with in regards to our health and exposure to various chemicals and substances. Sometimes it seems less exhausting to plead ignorance and keep our pretty little heads blissfully in the sand.
However, with just enough exposure to that sand and parabens our pretty little heads will no longer look so good when potentially the rest our body is fighting cancer or ill effects due to exposure to toxic ingredients.
Knowing that your girls at Pinup have your hair health at heart, you can trust that we have gotten the skinny on those details surrounding parabens that are of concern to you. Here are the basics that you should learn about parabens:
- Besides being ucky, what are parabens and why are they lurking in my hair and beauty products?
- What are the problems with exposure to parabens?
- How can I avoid parabens and still use really great hair products?
Parabens are preservatives which are inexpensively and easy to produce to lengthen the shelf life of beauty products, helping prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi. You can recognize them on labels by the following names: Methyl paraben, ethyl paraben, propyl paraben and butyl paraben are the most commonly used parabens. Less common parabens include isobutyl paraben, isopropyl paraben and benzyl paraben. Forget about Ethyl, Butyl, and Propyl, all you need to remember is the last 2 syllables: para-benz.
Exposure to parabens has linked them to several forms of breast cancer, by mimicking the hormone estrogen. Parabens are also shown to diminish muscle mass, cause extra fat storage, and male gynecomastia (breast growth) (man-boobs, aaaagh!). Parabens also affect the bodies’ testosterone secretion and the male reproductive system functioning.
What on earth does this have to do with parabens on my hair, you ask? Parabens can be absorbed into the body through the skin on your scalp and bind to your body’s estrogen-receptors. This is where cancer cell growth can begin.
Avoiding parabens starts with reading labels. Specifically look for the most common names of parabens mentioned here since those are the most common ones in beauty products.
Look for ingredients that are safe and non-toxic preservatives such as Vitamin E, citric acid, grapefruit seed extract, rosemary oleoresin and Neem oil. And it goes without saying (except we’re gonna say it anyway) that we got your back at Pinup and offer paraben free hair products so that you can wash, style and condition stress and paraben free.