Websites to Help in your Skincare Search
- ams
- Jul 17, 2024
- 3 min read
*None of these are sponsored
Finding websites that can help guide us and decipher more complex ingredients is an essential tool to finding safe products and brands.
The first website I am going to discuss is one that identifies potentially problematic ingredients for acne. If this is not one of your concerns, please feel free to skip down.
Combating acne breakouts can feel very pointless and monotonous. Finding products that can effectively treat (NOT cure) acne is also quite difficult when there is constant advertising that clouds our decisions. But I've found Sezia to be very helpful in determining which products may actually work for me and which specific ingredients may be causing or promoting acne.
How it works:
All you have to do is copy and paste an ingredient list into the search engine and the website will list potentially acne causing ingredients. Each of these ingredients will be assigned a color that indicates its potential to irritate the skin. Depending on your skin's sensitivity, the number will vary, but I like to aim for 4 or less highlighted ingredients per product in my routine. Ideally they are all a lighter color, but if they are darker I would want a lower number of them to be highlighted and I would check their place on the ingredient list. You should keep in mind that if you have dryer skin or other concerns some of Sezia's highlighted ingredients may actually help your skin, it all depends on you.
Microplastics have only just recently been brought to the public's attention, and as such there is a lot of obscurity and a lack of information. This website, Beat the Microbead, is one that I have frequently referenced when I am researching new products. They similarly color code microplastics according to their commonality and how sure they are of their respective synthetic compositions -- meaning that if an ingredient is a well known microplastic, it'd likely be red, while an ingredient that they are still unsure of may be orange.
They also have a product search section that is helpful if you want a quick and full rundown.
With that being said, I typically only avoid ingredients on their red list, and will only occasionally avoid an orange ingredient. Given the lack of research on microplastics right now, I would use this website with a grain of caution and not be too strict with avoiding these compounds until we have verified and in depth research published.
Along with a wide variety of other public health topics, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been researching and certifying skincare and cosmetic products for many years now, and their website provides a helpful tool to do some independent research. If you have any curiosities about organic or clean beauty certifications, this is where I would refer you to.
In addition, they also have a few certifications, such as the NSF/ANSI 305, that can help you identify certain safe categories of products (for example, containing 70% or greater organic ingredients for the NSF/ANSI 305).
I hope these websites will help you all in your search for safe products! I am also answering questions in these blog posts, so if you have any other inquiries or requests, please leave a comment or fill out the form on the homepage!
Comments