The word chemical probably evokes something scary or sinister.

Pherhaps something dangerouseven with the skull phrases artificial or chock full of
chemicals are used to imply something as dangerous or bad for us as anything free from
chemicals or organic must be better or safer however everyone is aware that at it
fundamental level everything is a chemical so nothing can ever truly be
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free from chemicals
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in recent years there's been a massive
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rise in the term clean beauty where
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products are labeled as natural organic
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or clean
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but even these products are deeply
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rooted in chemistry in order to work so
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today i will be explaining the chemical
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processes behind some of our cosmetic
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products debunking myths surrounding
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certain ingredients and highlighting
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some of the issues with the clean beauty
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movement as companies perpetuate fear in
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order to sell a product
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cosmetic products are designed to
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cleanse change or protect some aspect of
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your external appearance the key
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ingredients include
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water emulsifiers preservatives
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emollients color and fragrance
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any potential impact on our health comes
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from the chemical compounds within these
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ingredients
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but these doses are almost always too
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small to pose any adverse effect
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if your product comes in a bottle
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chances are the first thing on the
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ingredient list will be water this is
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because water is a solvent and thus
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forms the basis of most cosmetic
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products
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then an emulsifier is needed because
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most cosmetic products are also made
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from emulsions which is when small
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droplets of oil are suspended in water
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or small droplets of water suspended in
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oil
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oil and water don't mix so an emulsifier
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is needed in order to change surface
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tension and create a well-mixed and even
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texture
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preservatives are then added to prevent
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the growth of microorganisms like fungi
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or bacteria which could potentially harm
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the user common examples you might see
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are benzyl alcohol parabens or salicylic
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acid
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thickening agents work to give an
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appealing consistency
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and then emollients moisturize the skin
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by preventing
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moisture loss
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a common example of emollients at work
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is in lip balms so petroleum jelly
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lanolin and beeswax are all common
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examples
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cosmetics can be quite a complex mix of
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chemicals but the way that they work is
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advantageous and ingenious
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soap is made and works through a process
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called saponification this is when oil
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containing fatty acids are mixed with
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sodium hydroxide life lie is pretty
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dangerous by itself it reacts vigorously
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with water but in this instance it
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breaks down the fatty acids into fatty
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acid salts and glycerin
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fatty acid salts have a hydrophilic head
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and a lipophilic tail this means when
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you wash your hands the lipophilic tail
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will cling to the dirt and oil on your
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hands
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whilst the hydrophilic head will cling
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to the water thus washing the dirt and
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oil away
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in recent years there's been a rise in
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the term clean beauty you may be
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familiar with celebrity clean beauty
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brands like those of victoria beckham
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gwyneth paltrow or millie bobby brown
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the issue is that clean beauty is not a
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set scientific definition so it has no
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regulation or legislation surrounding it
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however dr anjali mato who's a
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consultant dermatologist describes it as
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products that are labeled
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clean
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organic or natural and don't contain
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synthetic parabens
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however the labing labeling of certain
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products as clean or non-toxic implies
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by definition that other products are
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dirty or toxic the uk has really strict
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regulatory limits about which chemicals
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and which concentrations are allowed
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within cosmetic products aggregate
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exposure at maximal consumer usage is
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taken into account the baseline is that
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unsafe chemicals are illegal to use in
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cosmetic products
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naturally though the term clean beauty
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is very appealing we all want the
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products we use on our bodies every day
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to be as clean safe and sustainable as
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possible
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clean beauty and wellness generally go
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hand in hand
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but unfortunately some clean beauty
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brands exploit a lack of consumer
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knowledge and understanding i'm not
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going to complain about social media too
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much
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but celebrities who advertise the fact
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that they use clean beauty and brand
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endorsements mean that people with
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really good intentions can end up
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spreading misinformation
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free from is a fear-mongering term you
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may have heard
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products are labeled as free from common
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ingredients and these ingredients are
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not only deemed to be inefficient or
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mildly irritating but genuinely harmful
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to our health
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the prevailing misconception
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is that the chemical compounds are
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absorbed through your skin and into your
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bloodstream however this doesn't really
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happen as the skin is a barrier and the
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small traces of chemicals that are
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absorbed will be metabolized and
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excreted
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some brands place particular emphasis on
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the fact that they don't use aluminium
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within their deodorants citing studies
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linking aluminium to alzheimer's disease
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and breast cancer however these studies
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have since been discredited and aren't
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accepted within the medical community
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if a chemical sounds intimidating
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instead of looking at the wider body of
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evidence companies will seek out
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outdated unreplicated studies that
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support their agenda these often have
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small sample sizes poor methodology or
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don't use the chemical in a way that is
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relevant to cosmetics
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whereas natural products are assumed to
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be safe no matter the relevant safety
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data
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in addition ingredient lists can be
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examined and criticized for containing
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potentially harmful ingredients but
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ingredient lists are far more
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complicated than we may at first realize
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we cannot tell from an ingredient list
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how different ingredients will interact
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and react with each other and each
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ingredient is researched and tested and
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selected by a cosmetic scientist and i
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can ensure you
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assure you that cosmetic brands don't
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want to harm you
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another common misconception is that
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clean beauty brands will be more
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sustainable or
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environmentally friendly but
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unfortunately being clean doesn't tell
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us anything about a product safety or
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sustainability
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an easy example here is rose essential
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oil to produce one pound of this oil you
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need ten thousand pounds of plant
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material
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this is a huge amount of land and
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agriculture is the biggest driver in
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biodiversity loss also to create this
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amount of land for farming
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deforestation is needed which results in
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high co2 emissions
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organically farmed peas in sweden have a
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50 higher climate impact than
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normally farmed peas
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it's not that the clean or organic
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option is never the eco-friendly one
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it's just complex and depends on a lot
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of different factors
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when producing some of these chemicals
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the synthetic the synthetic method can
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sometimes be more sustainable than the
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natural one in the production of menthol
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the synthetic method actually results in
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a lower greenhouse gas gas emission
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so the simry synthetic method produces 8
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kilos of co2 per kilo of yield or as the
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natural method produces 50 to 100
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ultimately though when it's talking
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about sustainability
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it's a case-by-case basis striving to be
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more sustainable is something i know we
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are all passionate about but we should
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inform our decisions with evidence
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instead of making assumptions
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however the easiest way to be more
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sustainable when it comes to cosmetics
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is simply to buy less and use all that
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you buy
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however it would be remiss of me to
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suggest that all clean beauty brands are
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bad or that every chemical is safe or
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good to use for each person
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people with curly hair often find that
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using shampoos without sodium laureth
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sulfate results in better moisture and
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curl definition or people with allergies
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find products that are clearly labeled
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as free from common ingredients really
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useful because it advertises to them
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which products are safe for them to use
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or not
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other clean beauty brands have really
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strict ingredient sourcing and
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manufacturing processes in order to be
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sustainable campaign against animal
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testing and try and prevent the spread
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of misinformation
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at the end of the day it is completely
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up to you about which cosmetic products
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you buy and use the cosmetics industry
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is a multi-billion pound industry so
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remember there's going to be a huge
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amount of marketing to try and convince
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you to buy one product over the other
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this is why it's worth knowing the
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basics behind the chemistry of your
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cosmetic products after all knowledge is
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power