In Just 3 Days Teen Girls See Reduction of Chemicals When Switching to Natural Cosmetics

   By SheSpeaksTeam  Mar 08, 2016

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More women every day are going organic when it comes to their beauty routines. But teens are still a large contingent of makeup wearers that are probably not reading labels or thinking about the chemicals they put on their face each day. A new study finds that when teenage girls eliminate non-organic cosmetics for just 3 days, they can dramatically lower the level of harmful chemicals in their body.

The Daily Mail reports about the study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives that shows up to a 45% drop in harmful chemicals when teenage girls stopped using their regular makeup for three days. Instead of using their regular makeup which contained chemicals like phthalates, parabens, triclosan, and oxybenzone - the group of 100 teenage participants were given cosmetics labeled free of chemicals.

Since many of the chemicals used in cosmetics today are known to have the potential of affecting hormone and endocrine levels in young women, scientists were interested to see if stopping use for just a few days would make a difference. After studying urine samples from the participants before and after the study, researchers found a 44% to 45% reduced rate of methyl and propyl parabens (a chemical often found as a preservative in fragrances). Another chemical found in fragrances, diethyl phthalate was lowered by 27%. Also a chemical known widely as oxybenzone and found in sunscreens was reduced by 36%.

One of the study’s co-authors Maritza Cardenas is hopeful that the study will highlight the need for better regulating cosmetics in the U.S. and making consumers more aware of the safer options on the market. Cardenas says, “One of the goals of our study was to create awareness among the participants of the chemicals found in everyday products, to help make people more conscious about what they're using.” She adds, “Seeing the drop in chemicals after just three days shows that simple actions can be taken, such as choosing products with fewer chemicals, and make a difference.”

What do you think of the new study suggesting we can eliminate harmful chemicals in our body by switching to a more organic cosmetic routine?

Do you or your teen think about chemicals when choosing beauty products?