Cosmetics and their ingredients

Cosmetics can not only make you look beautiful, they can also keep you looking beautiful by providing sun protection and other changes. Read on to find out more about cosmetics.

The difference between cosmetics and drugs

A skin care product, which is a drug, can alter the function and structure of your skin, whereas a cosmetic only causes changes in appearance. Cosmeceutical means that it has some effect on the skin but is not a drug.

Natural is not always equal to non-allergic

Women tend to take anything written as natural or containing natural products to be safe for their skin. However, sometimes this can prove dangerous for the skin. Natural products with rosemary, tea tree oil, lavender and chamomile can be allergic. Try a small amount on a small area to make sure it suits your skin.

Be cautious when shopping for cosmetics

It is good to sample your makeup before buying it. However, when you sample it, be sure that you do not infect yourself with germs. Use a disposable applicator for sampling makeup at the cosmetics counter. This will minimise your risk of infection. In addition, do not share makeup with your friends and do not use theirs.

Check if the ‘natural’ ingredient is natural or not.

Sometimes some components have a natural sounding name; however, they are far from being natural. Most often, they are synthesised in the laboratory instead of being extracted form plants. These have botanical or plant sounding names, which fool us. Hence, these natural ingredients can cause allergies. Therefore, you should beware of such products.

Is perfume-free always equal to zero amount of perfume?

The manufacturers, to make them more buyable, do a slight change of words here. At times, perfume free products contain perfumes. These perfumes are for blocking the chemical smell of a cosmetic. However, because their purpose in the product is slightly different, they are not listed as perfumes but instead they go as preservatives.
As a result, the product contains perfumes, but it still reads perfume-free. No product can be absolutely perfume-free because of this. However, pure petroleum jelly is the only topical preparation that does not require a preservative.