5 Spooky Skincare Ingredients You’ll Want to Avoid 👻
Happy Halloween! These are 5 ingredients that frighten me when I see them in skincare! 👀
All jokes aside, when I look at the ingredients of a skincare item, if I see any of these 5 things, I know I’m not going to be purchasing or recommending it to people.
5 Ingredients to Avoid in Skincare Items
When I look at the ingredients list of a facial care or body care item, I pass on anything that contains the ingredients listed below. There is so much great skincare to choose from (both affordable and luxury), so why would we choose items that contain harmful or skin-irritating ingredients?
scrub me secret: ALWAYS read the ingredients label of your skincare product before purchasing. Even if some of the items on there are indecipherable to you, look out for these harmful ingredients I list in this blog. You can also enter your skincare product into the EWG SkinDeep database to see the quality of its ingredients. Also, feel free to surf my blog for skincare recs. You can trust the items I recommend!
Oxybenzone & Octinoxate
These chemical sunscreen ingredients are known to be disruptive to our hormonal processes and thyroid health. When absorbed into the skin and then into our bodies, these ingredients may have the ability to affect our health in a negative way. Skip SPFs and sunscreen products that contain these ingredients. Check out my 2025 safe sunscreen blog post for recommendations!
scrub me secret: speaking of SPF, let’s touch upon sunscreen mists. Even if you are using a mineral SPF mist that contains zinc oxide or other skin and body-safe ingredients, you need to be conscious of not inhaling the product while you are applying it. These types of mists may contain micro particles that can build up in your lungs. I always hold my breath while mist and then take breaths while I rub it in.
Methylisothiazolinone
This is a preservative and antibacterial ingredient used in skincare and other beauty and personal care items that also contain water, like lotions, serums, cleansers, conditioners, stuff like that. Methylisothiazolinone is known to cause skin irritation and allergic reactions for some. If you’re experiencing redness, itching, contact dermatitis, or small bumps or breakouts, check your skincare item to see if it contains this ingredient.
Phenethyl alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, and Sodium benzoate are all considered “skin safe” vs. Methylisothiazolinone and other preservatives.
Benzyl Alcohol
This is an ingredient used for fragrance masking properties and is also used as a preservative. It is known to cause dermatitis or skin irritation, just like the preservative I listed above. I also am wary of skincare items that use chemical fragrance masking ingredients because that hints at the idea that the product might have a chemical or putrid smell. Furthermore, a fragrance masking ingredient doesn’t lend any benefits to our skin or body. No thanks!
Propylene Glycol
This is a common ingredient found in skincare items like moisturizers and creams. Used as a conditioning agent, it helps water-based products retain moisture and have a viscous texture. Research shows that it has the ability to cause redness, itching, and other skin irritations. This is another ingredient that is only here to serve the purpose of making a product feel or apply a certain way; it has no benefit for our skin. I always skip items with this on the ingredient label.
scrub me secret: this ingredient is one that I have a lot of personal experience with, noticing that it irritates my own skin as well as clients’ that I have known throughout my career. I noticed a common reaction to propylene glycol was a small rash or dry and red skin in certain areas. Sometimes there were also small bumps.
Fragrance/Perfume
I talk about this a lot, maybe too much? Well, I won’t consider it too much until artificial fragrance and perfume are no longer in our skincare and household items. Manmade, chemical fragrances, not to be confused with essential oils or plant extracts, each have a different makeup of chemical ingredients that are unknown to us as both consumers and skincare professionals. These are sometimes carcinogenic ingredients, hormone disrupters, and items that cause lung irritation. Since we both inhale and absorb fragrance in skincare, I really do believe we should see it as more dangerous than we are currently. Skip the “lavender rain”, “vanilla, berry, cake”, “linen”, “strawberry leaf” scents, and choose skincare with real essential oils or plant extracts. If it says “fragrance” or “perfume” on the ingredients list, SKIP the purchase.