Your body deserves the best. It’s why you dedicate time to the gym, are conscious about nutrition and care about recovery. It’s great you’ve developed these healthy habits but what about your daily skin and body products?
In the few minutes you spend caring for your skin, you might be throwing away all your efforts towards keeping yourself healthy and thriving. It’s important that you take note and avoid harmful ingredients that may be lurking in your grooming essentials.
You might think that Health Canada (or it’s US counterpart Food and Drug Administration), reviews and approves the chemicals used in our personal care products. But due to limited resources they rely largely on the company self-regulating.
On average, men use 6 personal care products containing roughly 85 different chemicals over the course of the day. Now that’s a kick in the balls! Many of these chemicals are applied directly to your skin, where ingredients are absorbed into your bloodstream causing internal harm.
To help you avoid chronic ball pain, here are 6 ingredients to avoid in your personal care products.
Synthetic Fragrances
Fragrance is an umbrella term indicating a combination of chemicals were used to create a product’s distinct scent. Companies are exempt from disclosing the individual chemicals within their product’s fragrance but this is where many harmful ingredients are lurking.
For example, Dibutyl Phthalates is used in cologne to stabilize volatile ingredients but it can cause harm to the development of male's reproductive system. Or Benzophenone, and its derivatives, are used in sunscreen and lip balm to protect against the sun’s UV rays; however, they have been linked to organ system toxicity and are listed as a potential carcinogen on Canada’s Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist.
Phthalates (Dibutyl, Dimethyl, Diethylhexyl)
Phthalates are used in hundreds of products including fragrances, hair care products (hair prays, mousses, and gels), deodorants, lotions, cleansers and shampoos. It’s commonly used as a solvent and fixative in fragrances but can be used to help reduce stiffness and brittleness in hair sprays and aftershave lotions.
As Phthalates are absorbed into our skin, it acts as an endocrine disruptor which lowers testosterone levels in men by disrupting the hormone system by tricking the hormone’s receptor and blocking natural hormones. Thus, the hormone may not be activated.
Parabens (Methyl, Butyl, Ethyl, Propyl)
Similar to fragrances, Parabens aren’t always labelled in the ingredient list of your moisturizers, deodorants, cleansers, and shaving gels. It’s commonly used as a preservative as they are highly effective in preventing fungi, bacteria and yeast growth. But with your product’s shelf life increasing so is your exposure to these endocrine disruptors.
On top of skin irritation, Parabens in your body mimic estrogen causing negative effects to male reproductive health. This elevation of estrogen disrupts your normal hormone function and production, and contributes to a hormonal imbalance.
Triclosan
If you have products promoted as “antibacterial”, then it’s a very high probability you’ve been exposed to Triclosan. It’s commonly used in deodorants, acne treatments, hand sanitizer, shaving cream and toothpaste.
But like Phthalates and Parabens, Triclosan is an endocrine disruptor. Even at low levels of exposure, it affects the function of your thyroid and reproductive hormones, and is linked to liver and inhalation toxicity.
Sulfates (Laurel, Laureth)
Primarily used in foaming “rinse off” products: cleansers, shampoos, soaps, body washes and shaving creams. Sulfates are very effective at removing dirt and oil from your skin, but can cause sensitivities to your skin and hair. Sulfates have been found to cause allergic reactions to your skin resulting in redness, inflammation, and itchiness as well as destroy hair follicles and inhibit hair growth causing hair loss and thinning hair.
Aluminum
This toxic metal is commonly used in antiperspirants and sunscreens, Aluminum functions to control sweat by preventing your sweat ducts from releasing sweat to your skin’s surface. And who doesn’t want to control their sweat, especially on those hot summer days?
After reading a study from Keele University that questions the safety of Aluminum in sunscreen and its link to cancer, we sure changed our minds. The study indicates that Aluminum can significantly increase the potential of skin oxidation causing aging and death of your skin’s cells which make it look and feel aged.
Safe and Performative Skin Care
We know you and your body deserve excellence, which is why we, Honr Labs, reveal every ingredient on our labels. There’s nothing to hide. In fact, we are proud to showcase our premium ingredients. No bullsh*t. What you see is what you get… and trust me, it’s good looking skin!
Now you hold the power to make informed decisions, do with it what you will. But make the smart choice.