We have consciously taken efforts to regulate what goes into our products and in our ‘No List’ are all sorts of petrochemicals, sulphates, parabens and pre-mix bases and more. To give you a better understanding, these are what comes under our ‘No List’:
1) Parabens:
Ever wonder how makeup products last long and stay fresh even after a year of using? Parabens are your answer. Often used in skincare products like shampoos and make-up as a preservative, Parabens are harmful chemicals that cause more damage than good. Parabens have the tendency to mimic estrogen (female hormone), causing interference in reproductive and brain function.
Read your product label for ingredients that include “ethyl,” “butyl,” “methyl,” and “propyl” for they all are part of the paraben family.
2) SLS / SLES / Sulphates:
You’ve probably heard of this particular substance a lot, but what is it? Sulphates are salts that are formed when Sulphuric acid reacts with another chemical. They are often added to cleaning agents for a foaming effect. Something you definitely do NOT want in your makeup. Sulphates can irritate and dry your skin, leaving it flakey and sometimes even cause build-up that is hard to remove. Most importantly, Sulphates are a potential harm to the environment by polluting the water bodies and aquatic life and causing depletion of the rain forests as they are derived from palm trees.
How do you identify them? Keep an eye out for chemicals such as “Sodium Lauryl Sulfonate” which is a slightly modified version of SLS and Cocamide DEA, Cocamide MEA, PEG’s, PEG8, Laureth Sulfate Sodium, Lauryl Sulfoacetate Sodium, Lauroyl Isethionate and Sodium Lauroyl Taurate, Propylene Glycol, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.
3) Mineral Oil:
Mineral Oil may sound like it’s unharmful and natural but in fact, it is far from it. A jelly-like substance that is a byproduct of petroleum, Mineral Oils are added to cosmetics for its moisture-locking property. You’ll find this ingredient mostly in lip balms, lipsticks and moisturizers. While it helps lock moisture, it also prevents the absorption of moisture from the air thereby rendering it a useless and harmful ingredient to be added. If not refined properly, Mineral Oil can turn into a harmful chemical that clogs pores, damages the skin tissues and causes premature ageing.
Look out for names like "paraffinum liquidum", "petrolatum", "cera microcristallina", "microcrystalline wax", "ozokerite", "ceresine isoparaffin", "paraffin" and "synthetic wax" on your beauty label for they are most likely Mineral Oils.
4) Petrochemicals
The most common Petrochemicals found in make-up are Petroleum and Mineral Oil. Used mainly to treat dry skin for its smooth and softening effect, These chemicals actually cause the reverse effect as it prevents moisture from escaping or absorbing thereby creating a layer of just chemicals on your skin. Since our skin absorbs most of what we apply on it, toxins from these Petrochemicals can be far more potent as they travel directly to your tissues and organs causing harm to our system.
Petrochemicals are a long and exhausting list of harmful ingredients but to name some of the most common ones, they are, Paraffin Wax, Toluene, Benzene, Phenoxyethanol, Anything with PEG (polyethylene glycol)
5) Formaldehyde
A colourless gas, Formaldehyde is yet another common preservative found in cosmetics such as hair gels, straightening products, deodorants and an array of makeup products. It is a known carcinogen (a catalyst of cancer) that causes hair loss, scalp burns and neurotoxic reactions. When inhaled, it can cause dizziness and suffocation.
Cosmetic preservatives such as Bronopol, DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, and quaternium-15 are known to form and release Formaldehyde.
Now that we know the top five chemicals to stay far away from, it explains why some of us are allergic to make-up. If most of our make-up is infested with such chemicals, it is only natural for our body to reject, because after all, we are a thing of nature and we were never meant to have anything artificial or harmful put on us.
Nature is a cornucopia of everything we ever need from survival to beauty. We are children of nature and our beauty and wellness are dependent on her. That is why we, at asa, make a conscious effort to stay as rooted in nature as possible to provide you with clean make-up that is free from all the above-listed toxins.
