Time to learn a bit more about the ingredients on the back of your favourite beauty products? First up, let’s talk about Phthalates! Found in the likes of nail polish (to reduce cracking) perfume, hair spray (to make it more flexible) and lotions. Examples of phthalates include dibutyl-phthalate, dimethyl-phthalate and diethyl-phthalate.
These chemicals are plasticisers and therefore are used to increase the softness, transparency, longevity and flexibility of plastics. However, most importantly, these platicisers are known endocrine disrupters with links to developmental and reproductive toxicity.
Phthalates are banned from the use in cosmetic and personal care products here in the EU. These ingredients is still however prevalent in many products from the USA.
