Both men and women use cosmetics every day. This has been part of our daily lives for the reason everybody wants to feel good and look good so cosmetics are the go-to of all people nowadays, well who don’t have a skincare routine at this point of time? According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating consumers on the content of cosmetic products, states that women use an average of 12 personal care products a day, and men use about half that.

Before a certain cosmetic is made available to the public they should be made to follow and meet certain rules and standards, keep on reading if you want to make sure your products are goodly made.

FDA

We have bad news to say that not all cosmetics saying and claiming that they are “green,” “natural,” or “organic” are unreliable. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t have the power to monitor cosmetics as closely as it does food and drugs. The FDA has some legal authority over cosmetics. However, cosmetic products and their ingredients (with the exception of color additives) are not subject to FDA premarket approval. And there is no government agency responsible for defining or regulating the manufacture of cosmetics, FDA doesn’t check to see if a product that claims to be “100 percent organic” is actually 100 percent organic. Additionally, the FDA can’t recall dangerous cosmetic products. So as a consumer you should check the content as well to know if it contains harmful or toxic ingredients.

Prohibited ingredients

These are forbidden or banned ingredients:

• bithionol
• chlorofluorocarbon propellants
• chloroform
• halogenated salicylanilides, di-, tri-, metabromsalan and tetrachlorosalicylanilide
• methylene chloride
• vinyl chloride
• zirconium-containing complexes
• prohibited cattle materials

Restricted ingredients

These ingredients are can be used but are legally restricted:

• hexachlorophene
• mercury compounds
• sunscreens used in cosmetics

Products to avoid

These can cause harm or not good for health so take note as well:

• benzalkonium chloride
• BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole)
• coal tar hair dyes and other coal tar ingredients, such as aminophenol, diaminobenzene, and phenylenediamine
• DMDM hydantoin and bronopol
• formaldehyde
• ingredients listed as “fragrance”
• hydroquinone
• methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone
• oxybenzone
• parabens, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, and isobutyl parabens
• PEG/ceteareth/polyethylene compounds
• petroleum distillates
• phthalates
• resorcinol
• retinyl palmitate and retinol (vitamin A)
• toluene
• triclosan and triclocarban

Always remember that you should always check the label of every product that you will use, not just for cosmetics we mean every product that you will intake, these have a direct effect on your health so always do the best decision. To achieve healthy glowing skin you should be an intelligent consumer!