DANGER DANGER DANGER: Now that we have your attention, it’s time we start talking seriously about dangerous, toxic chemicals that are widely-used in beauty products. It’s time to flip the script, and it starts with us.The beauty industry has come a LONG way since the days when women put arsenic on their skin to change their complexion, but we still have a long way to go. Let’s get skintelligent!

Here are 5 toxic ingredients to look out for:

1. Fragrance.  Oh boy, could you be any less specific? (Pardon the sarcasm.) Companies are not required by law to disclose specific ingredients used to create their fragrance. This leads to fragrances in products that are hormone disruptors and cause allergic reactions in plenty of people.
2. Methylisothiazolinone.  This is a widely-used preservative found in rinse-off beauty products and has the potential to be incredibly harmful to our bodies and hazardous to our skin. It is known to cause allergic reactions and potentially causes nerve damage.
3. Parabens.  Parabens are preservatives found in many different cosmetic products. They have a potential link to breast cancer and are hormone disruptors. Common parabens to watch out for: methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben.
4. Sulfates.  Sulfates are skin irritants that have been known to leave residue in the heart, lungs, and brain … yeah, we don’t like the sound of that either.
5. Oxybenzone.  Oxybenzone is one of the most toxic ingredients found in cosmetic products. It is found in most sunscreens (but not ours!) and ironically, it has been linked to skin cancer. Oxybenzone is also a nasty hormone disruptor.
6. If you check the labels on your food, why not check the labels on your beauty products. Turn that bottle over and see what’s really inside it (and potentially you). There are plenty of apps you can use to scan product labels and get a quick evaluation of toxicity levels. Let’s boycott bad beauty!