Are your favourite skincare products secretly killing you?

According to Dr Laura Vandenberg, a research scientist in the documentary, hormones play a crucial role in the daily operations of the human body. Hormones basically tell our organs what they should do.

Our natural bodily processes are disrupted when laboratory-made hormones stuffed in skincare products are slathered all over our skin. Then, our skin absorbs these man-made hormones that give our organs the wrong instructions.

Two synthetic hormones are commonly found in skincare products. They are namely – phthalates and BPAs. They are considered endocrine-disrupting hormones, and are bad news to our bodies.

“They are linked to early miscarriages, liver disease, diabetes, and can impact the brain development in children,” states Not So Pretty.

Dr Leah Gordon studies the impact of skincare products on infertility in her patients. In the documentary, Gordon was seen showing a patient her blood test results, particularly increased levels of BPA and phthalates found in her blood.

Normally, levels of BPA in the patient’s blood should be lower than 3, but her blood work showed levels of 23. Her phthalates showed 1,192, but it should have been lower than 3.05.

“If you are a man, the quality of sperm is impacted by such chemicals,” the documentary states.

In a study of 43,000 men from 19732 to 2011, the average sperm count fell by 50 per cent.

Male fertility could be affected by phthalates from pregnancy to adulthood.

“Phthalates are industrial chemicals used to hold the scent – fragrance,” states Not So Pretty. You’ll find phthalates in all sorts of scented beauty products from makeup, skincare, hair care, to perfumes.

However, not all scents are bad. Our ancestors used natural ingredients to smell good – sweet-smelling flowers such as roses, jasmine, lavender etc.

In our time today, we use synthetic chemicals to replicate such scents. And most of such fragrances contain phthalates.

If you’ve noticed, perfume bottles don’t state their ingredient lists. Why? Just because regulations don’t require them to do so!

How is it possible that there’s a loophole in the beauty industry’s regulations?

“Fragrance” is stated in most ingredients lists. Check your moisturiser, serum, or face mist and you’ll probably find the word “fragrance” somewhere on the back of your product.

According to Not So Pretty, that’s a loophole in the beauty industry.

Companies are not required to disclose the many ingredients that goes into the making of “fragrance”. And if you find this word on your product, you might want to give it a miss since it might be hiding a bunch of harmful chemicals under this umbrella term!

Alright, done with phthalates. Moving on to BPA. Where does BPA come from? How do they end up in our skincare products and our bodies?

“BPA is an EDC (endocrine-disrupting chemical) which leaches from the package into the products,” narrates Not So Pretty. 

“BPA has been linked to changes in male and female reproduction, diabetes, and liver disease,” says Dr Laura Vandenberg.

Unlike the beauty industry, the negative effects of BPA is more commonly understood and rejected by customers in the baby section.

You’ll find “No BPA” labels all over baby food products and baby bottles, for example.

Similar chemicals you should keep a lookout for include BPS and BPAF. These are common replacements and they could prove to be more potent than BPA.

What should I buy? What do I use then, since everything on this earth pretty much exists in plastic packaging?

Well, unbeknownst to most of us, there are many packaging-free beauty options. Think soap bars, shampoo bars, solid conditioner, face cleanser bars and etc.

According to Not So Pretty, if you really need to buy and use plastic, avoid plastics with the recycling symbols 3, 6, and 7 since more likely to leech BPA.

Instead, look for plastic packagings with the recycling symbol 2, 4, and 5.

Below, some solid shampoo, conditioner, soaps, and face cleanser options you can easily find online.

You’d be surprised! Solid shampoos and conditioners are aplenty online here in Singapore. In fact, there are numerous independent homegrown labels making their own solid shampoos and conditioners.

These solid shampoo bars are usually twice more concentrated than the usual bottled liquid shampoos that we use. They also tend to be handmade by smaller producers and companies. You can, therefore, expect the prices to be double that of your usual liquid shampoos.

A quick search online returned an array of solid shampoos available online in Singapore. Just for example:

• Scoop Shampoo Bar Soap For Normal Hair ($8.50)
• L’Occitane Intensive Repair Solid Shampoo ($21)
• DermaHarmony 2% Pyrithione Zinc Shampoo Bar for Dandruff and Seborrheic Dermatitis ($32.30)
• Ethique Solid Shampoo Bar for Curly Hair ($38.77)

Facial cleanser soap bars have been around for a long time. You will even find them around in physical drugstores such as FairPrice Unity, Medi-Ya and Cold Storage. However, I’ve found those prices to be marked up heavily. You’re better off buying face cleanser bars online where you can get the cheapest price;

• Neutrogena Transparent Face Bar for Acne-Prone Skin ($5.91)
• Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar ($13.20)
• Salicylic Acid Rub for Exfoliation and Acne-Prone Skin ($10.99)
• Some by Mi AHA BHA Exfoliation Face Bar ($14.46)

This article was originally published on Singapore Women’s Weekly.

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