Saturday, April 23, 2011

Never Again: Parabens and the Revlon Temptress

About a year and a half ago, my skin freaked out. I had more acne than I ever had in high school and my skin was just not happy. I started using a Lorac foundation I had lying around, but quickly realized that this was only adding to the problem. I switched over to the Clinque Perfectly Real Foundation which is a beautiful, easy to use foundation.



I had read up a lot on parabens. Parabens are preservatives used widely in the cosmetic industry. They are found in many liquid formulas, but also in pressed products as the binding agent needs to be preserved. But they have caused quite the stir in past years due to health concerns. There are arguments for both sides of the debate, I will let you do your own research and decide. When I thought about how much of our makeup and skin care we accidentally ingest or absorb, I decided it would be a small change to make. On top of that, many products that contained parabens just weren't right for my skin, while options without them were gentler and more healing.

So I switched my skincare and I started to see improvements. My skin cleared up except for three large spots that never seemed to go away. Or they would clear up and new ones would occur. It took months for me to realize how much the Clinque foundation was taking a toll on my skin. My mentality was "Clinque is all green and lab-coat-y. They must make things that are good for me skin." Right? Wrong. I stopped using the foundation and those spots cleared up.



Reading the ingredients list will really open your eyes. Companies are great at marketing and not all of them live up the image that they present. (Another ingredient that is good to stay away from is Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate, which is the agent that causing foaming, but is incredibly drying.) For example, Lush seems like a natural solution. Almost all of their liquid products contain parabens and many contain sodium lauryl sulfate. I love Lush and use their massage bars frequently, but I have restricted my use to their solid items.



Every now and then, something tempts me away from my paraben-free regime. There is no doubt that Revlon Colorstay is one of the most popular drugstore foundations out there. Perhaps included in the general popular foundations category, as well. And every time I walked down the cosmetics aisle, it called to me. "Isabel, here I am. Your solution to the most flawless, perfect skin. You'll wonder how you lived without me." (This is what most products say to me...) I caved while CVS had a Buy One Get One Half Off deal. I put it on right when I got home and my skin did look pretty amazing. The next day my boyfriend, who can always tell when I'm wearing foundation, took no notice. It was that good. And my skin's reaction? Nothing. Nada. The same as usual.

For two days.

Then, my chin started getting more and more bumps. I started breaking out and I knew I had made a mistake. My skin cannot handle products with parabens and it never will. It's a long, hard diet. In a lot of ways, it is a lot like my gluten intolerance. It is in most things, there are few side effects of eating/using it for a little while, but ultimately, it has bad side effects. If you are having problems with your skin, I would try a paraben-free diet. There are many main stream options out there. Origins is paraben free, Neutorgena has a new "naturals line." Covergirl Natureluxe is an option for paraben-free foundation.

As for me, I am saying "Never again" to parabens.

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