Written By: Shreya Pai, Influencers and Brand Partnerships Intern

Have you ever looked at the back of a serum or toner and seen a long list of ingredients, with half of them being chemicals you can’t even pronounce? It’s no secret that a lot of these ingredients and chemicals are bad for you. It’s easy to look at those and think, “Whatever.” But, it may be worse than you think — and it’s getting spooky.

A horrifying statistic from the Environmental Working Group states that “since 2009, 595 cosmetics manufacturers have reported using 88 chemicals, in more than 73,000 products, that have been linked to cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.” This includes chemicals like specific parabens, phthalates, and sulfates, all of which are so common in skincare and beauty products that we don’t even bat an eye at them anymore. The scary truth: these chemicals can have a harmful effect on your body without you even realizing it. Let’s get into it:

Now, you may be tempted to buy a skincare product just because it smells nice. However, one of the main ingredients used in skincare to make fragrances last longer is phthalates. As stated in WebMd, Phthalates are chemicals traditionally used to make plastic flexible and durable. These chemicals are used in cosmetics for similar reasons — they help retain fragrance and flexibility within these products. However, phthalates have been shown to disrupt hormones, harm reproductive systems, and impact child development, and chances are, you have been using products with this ingredient in it for years and years, according to NIH’s National Library of Medicine.

Although it may seem like avoiding these harmful chemicals is an impossible task, there are simple ways to make sure you’re staying away from these spooky chemicals. Websites such as skinsort and INICDecode can analyze and break down a list of ingredients for you, so you can be sure that every ingredient going on your skin is good for you.

A process with fewer steps is using products from reliable skincare companies that intentionally make plant-powered skincare solutions because they care about your skin health and well-being. That’s why Aurganics’ mission statement is to make plant-powered skincare to revolutionize the skincare industry, through our transparent ingredient glossary, and by making sure our products are made from clean, gentle ingredients derived from plants.

We know it can get spooky out there, glow-getter, so be mindful when purchasing new skincare. And if you’re in the market for a new dark spot serum, Alpha Glow Serum might be just right for you.