What is the true nature of parabens?

It is obvious that each of us women would like her cosmetics to serve their purpose for as long as it is possible. Especially, we want to prolong ‘lifespan’ of the expensive cosmetics. Indeed, the period of time when the products preserve their freshness depends on the ingredients. Despite moisturizing and nourishing substances, a cosmetic should contain parabens – preserving substances which cause a little bit of confusion among scientists, doctors and women. What is the true nature of parabens?

Parabens are chemical substances used in food, pharmaceutic and cosmetic industry. They are responsible for protecting products against microorganisms, mould and other germs that could influence (in other words shorten) best-before period of food, medications and cosmetics. Although parabens do not change features of products, they are no longer favoured by experts.

Parabens are constantly examined by scientists. So far, they have discovered that parabens affect hormones. There are evidences that concentration of parabens in patients with breast cancer is fairly high. For that reason, women have now the possibility to choose cosmetics with or without parabens. The truth is, the cosmetics with a big ‘paraben-free’ label include other substances (preservatives) that preserve their features. Fortunately, experts set safe norms for some parabens. To demonstrate, the concentration of propylparaben and butylparaben cannot exceed 0.19%. When it comes to methylparaben and ethyloparaben, these two substances are completely safe for a human organism.

Parabens are present in products which are especially prone to working of microorganisms, mould and fungi. The very preservatives are included into so-called wet cosmetics like, for example, face creams, body balms, oils, toners and lipsticks. Parabens are also present in powders, foundations, perfumes and deodorants. On the other hand, paraben-free products are dermocosmetics, also known as fridge-cosmetics and natural products. Some cosmetics available in a shop may be replaced with plant and herbal extracts. All that must be remembered is the fact that period of use of such cosmetics is way shorter than of paraben-containing products.