Many health and beauty products contain Paraben. Should you be afraid if it is in your cosmetics and start looking for paraben free make up and paraben free lotion? That depends just how into natural and organic beauty products you are, and if you can afford it … Keep reading for my inside beauty scoop on paraben free cosmetics

Having just written a beauty blog post on Hypo-allergenic skin products, I happened to come across the term Paraben a number of times. I’ve heard of Paraben yet did not really know what it was. I decided to read up on it and report my beauty findings!

What is Paraben?

Paraben is an extremely common preservative that comes in many beauty and health products. Everything from your hair shampoo to your skin moisturizer to toothpaste can contain it. The cosmetics companies use Paraben because it is inexpensive and very effective as a preservative. Cosmetics products are required to list their ingredients. If Paraben is in the ingredient you will see it, however it may be cloaked by a prefix such as ethylparaben, propylparaben, or butylparaben. Sometimes they drop the gen ending and call it things like parahydroxybenzoic acid.

Is Paraben bad for you? It is bad if you are paranoid about things like estrogen and hormones and is also bad if you hate chemical additives are more into 100% pure organic beauty. I’m personally not too concerned though

Paraben got its bad rap when it was found inside the tumors of women with breast cancer. It was found in the tumors, but there has never been any proof that it actually caused the tumors. It has actually been shown that Paraben can cause a hormone disruption and change normal hormone balances. In other words, it has an estrogenic effect on the body of an animal. And remember, certain cancers are also linked to hormone activity in women over time. If paraben causes hormone issues, and hormones are notoriously linked to all sorts of ailments from depression to weight gain to infertility to cancer, then that’s pretty scary stuff! Estrogen tampering is bad news.

If you are more scared of makeup and cosmetics going bad on you, say OK to Paraben as a preservative

Cosmetic companies point out that there is no concrete evidence that Paraben is unsafe for the consumer. They say the health risk is at such a low level that it is not worth being concerned over. I tend to agree with the cosmetic companies (partly out of my own financial convenience since it’s cheaper for me to believe them and buy drugstore makeup), that if it is commonly used and not proven unsafe, it is fine. I’d be more concerned about getting a product with a less effective health alternative to paraben (like grapefruit seed extract) that wasn’t effective. What if your product gets infested with bacteria or fungus because it isen’t effectively preserving it. Paraben has bactericidal and fungicidal properties so remember, it’s preserving the beauty product from going bad. Personally, I am the type of person that would be more worried about the product getting stale without the preservative (using for example grape seed extract instead) than about what the paraben preservative itself might do to me. But that is just my opinion.

If you embrace organic beauty, go Paraben free to avoid the controversial chemical preservative, but prepare to hunt for all natural Paraben free products

But a women that believes 100% in organic living and leading an organic lifestyle may really want to avoid Paraben. Locating Paraben free beauty products is a task unto itself because it is so prevalent and common. If you want to be Paraben free, you will have to shop for all green and organic skin, hair care and cosmetics products. You’ll have to become good at reading the ingredient lists to see if the paraben is present or if its really a paraben free product. Being organic takes time! Parabens can be found in shampoos, moisturizers, shaving gel, topical medicated ointments, spray tanning products and toothpaste. Parabens are used for beauty products and even added to food also. If you are organic and anti-chemicals, you may already look for paraben free products. You’ll need paraben free makeup, paraben free lotion, no paraben skin care, and paraben free cosmetics.

I’ve come across some paraben free brands, You can get paraben free mineral makeup, lotions, paraben free lipstick, paraben free mascara, paraben free nail polish and paraben free lip gloss, paraben free hair products, eyeshadow, concealer, liquid foundation, sunscreen, sunless tanner, hair color and paraben free eye cream. These products are hard to find in stores however. Check the ingredient lists for the paraben chemical. I’ve seen paraben free products sold by brands like AFA, Auriderm, Avene gentle cleansors and creams, Fallene sun screens, Babor paraben-free, fragrance-free and colorant free creams, Prana skin care cleanors and deep moisturizing skin creams, and Dr. Grandel element of nature facial masks. I’ve heard of an organic brand called Avalon Organics also. Avalon Organics is really popular for bath and body and hair care.

Some but not all of Burt’s Bees and Origins Organics are paraben free certified organic too. If you need a paraben free foundation with SPF you can try Physicians Formula, which is a really good drugstore brand in my opinion. I would say Burt’s Bees is the most accessable brand that pledges not to use toxins in products. They have tinted creams and lip balms. I actually love Burt’s Bees products. I’ve look at the prices of all these beauty products and trust me you pay a premium for the organic beauty products. All natural and organic botanicals and conscious living sounds great but you have to pay to get it. I can’t personally review the effectiveness of these products (except for Burts Bees which I do use) because I typically just go with the preservative cheap ones and hope to god they are safe. I figure I have a better chance of getting hurt or injured in everyday life than being paraben poisoned.


In certain cases (like for homemade facial masks, etc) you can make homemade beauty products from your own ingredients, although that can become very time consuming. Since parabens appear in food as well, I am sure you would have to check for parabens in the homemade beauty ingredients too. An organic health food store would be a good place to start. Often health food stores carry organic brand shampoos and toothpastes.

Paraben alternatives

It’s going to be pretty hard to avoid paraben since it comes in most cosmetics and beauty products, and food also. It is in salad dressing, mustard, mayo, candy, jelly, soft drinks and more. Just because a product is called a healthy, organic or natural beauty product doesn’t necessarily mean it is paraben free. You have to check the ingredients. Alternatives to paraben that I’ve heard about are grapefruit seed extract and vitamin E. Some essential oils like lemon, tea tree, lavender, eucalyptus and cinnamon among others, are popping up as natural preservative alternatives to paraben.