Why I became Paraben Free

Paraben Breakdown

In the past few months, I've been trying to weed out parabens in my daily products.

Parabens are used as preservatives in cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals. "Measurable concentrations of six different parabens have been identified in biopsy samples from breast tumors", according to Breastcancerfund.org. "Parabens are estrogen mimickers, with the potency of the agonistic response being related to the chemical structure." In other words, parabens may cause breast cells to mutate which may lead to cancer. 

Note that the chemical is linked to breast cancer and may not be the cause of it. Research is still being conducted on parabens and we may never find out whether parabens cause or contribute to cancer. Since there is no definitive answer yet, I decided to try my best to stay away from such chemicals (though I haven't succumbed to buying paraben makeup products yet, I've been thinking of tthe Urban Decay Naked Palette :X). I am definitely not using parabens in my moisturizer, body lotion and body wash, since those products cover most of my body and there are easily accessible cheap alternatives (st. ives body lotion for one is cheap, effective and paraben free).

To read more about parabens:
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/chemicals-glossary/parabens.html

Here's a link to chemicals breastcanerfund.org has found to be linked to breast cancer:
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/chemicals-linked-to-breast-cancer/cosmetics/


Side Note: Being paraben free causes you to buy a lot less makeup which is good for your wallet :)!
Every time I review a product that is paraben free, I'll put it in the labels so it is easy for you guys to find paraben free products! I'll also note whether it is paraben free or not in my post on any product I physically have (sometimes makeup ingredient list on websites are wrong -___-)!

How to find paraben in your products: 
Any chemical that has PARABEN in it's name has parabens. For the most part, chemicals with the word UREA has a mix of different parabens and chemicals. So watchout for the words PARABEN and UREA when looking at ingredient lists. Ex. methylparaben and propylparaben has paraben.