Parabens - Banned?

Hello,

My name is "Bwings" and my face is melting...melting... oh what a world what a world!

Today I finally broke down and looked at the ingredients on my foundation. PARABENS!!! There were 4 of them! I was expecting it but hoping for something else. As I write this I snicker at a friends comment earlier today, "You're becoming increasingly difficult to buy for." As my friend reads this I'm sure they are blushing. Fear not, dear friend, for your statement made me giggle and I continue to snicker at both the actuality of this fact and your kindness for taking into consideration my expanding research whilst shopping for Christmas presents. A hippie like myself has few true friends who are not themselves "hippies". So I take this moment to thank you for being one of them. <3

Onward and upward to Narnia and the North...or at least my make-up kit.

Upon inspection of the remainder of my make-up kit I found more upsetting news.

{To see please click chart below}

So what is Paraben? Let's review. Firstly a paraben is essentially anything ending in "aben" but most often it will include the full word "Paraben". It is found in breast tumors, mimics estrogen and combined with sun exposure will increase skin aging and DNA Damage. Our cosmetics, the very things we put on our face to look beautiful, vibrant and young, is assisting in our haggard appearance? NICE! Similar to how ciggerettes once were considered a young and cool appearance.

Parabens are effective preservatives used in shampoos, moisturizers, shaving gels, personal lubricants, topical/parenteral pharmaceuticals, spray tanning solution,toothpaste and occasionally food additives. Oh Em Gee you're saying! Why in the hell are they, like EDTA, in everything?! Cause they are cheap, effective, have been around forever and the alternatives, such as grapefruit seed extract, are hard to come by.
So do we really need to worry? What's all this breast cancer stuff about?

Well let's look into that first as it's the scariest of the side-effects. Low concentrations of Paraben's have been found fully intact in breast cancer tumors (an average of 20 nanograms/g of tissue). Additionally parabens have the ability to mimic estrogen (known to play a role in the development of breast cancer). The presence of the ester-bearing form of parabens in tumors indicates introduction by application to skin such as underarm deodorant, cream or body spray. Scientists theorize this to be why up to 60% of all breast tumors are found in just a fifth of the breast (upper-outer quadrant near the underarm) American Cancer Society state nothing to be conclusive yet and that further research will be needed before they back such a thought. In the meantime I'll avoid purchasing further products with parabens where I can.

There is a huge debate over the possiblity of negative side-effects. As there would be in any debate until something is found. Noahs ark will always be looked for if it never exists. If it is found the problem is solved, until it is found people will continue to look. However, in the case of parabens, even those who claim no ill effect could possibly accompany the use of parabens will admit their existance in breast cancer tumors and ability to mimic estrogen to require further research. Justly I shall be more studious of what products on the market have Parabens in them.

Steering away from the most scary of possible conclusions there still remains the aging of our skin through the reaction to UVB. Yikes, the very foundation on my face is reacting with UVB to increase my skins age?! Why don't I just take up smoking and call it a day?!

All-in-all I chose to not panic yet steer clear of further purchases involving parabens in my product.