BEAUTY COUNTER Do fears around parabens have any foundation? E

VER idly flipped over your foundation bottle while you’re blending in your make-up in the morning and wondered, ‘What the heck are all of these unpronounceable ingredients?’

Butylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylparaben... they don’t exactly roll off the tongue, do they?

There’s currently lots of discussion surrounding these skincare ingredients, namely, how good they are for our health. In a world where we’re increasingly aware of what we eat (just take a look at the rising number of gluten and dairy-free options available), it’s no surprise we’re gradually starting to question what we put onto our bodies, and there’s one word that’s getting a pretty bad rep in beauty circles: parabens.

You’ll likely have seen ‘parabenfree’ labels popping up on toiletries and cosmetics on the high street, but if you have no idea what they actually are, it can be difficult to know whether these so-called ‘skin nasties’ are worth swerving.

Here’s what you need to know... As the debate rages on about potentially harmful chemicals in some cosmetics,

picks out the best ‘clean’ foundations to add to your make-up bag you’ve never noticed them before, study from the University of it’s because cosmetics usually Reading found traces of five won’t shout “contains parabens” parabens in the breast tissue of 19 on the front of their packaging – out of 20 women studied. While instead you’ll need to comb the the study didn’t prove that ingredients list. The most common parabens can cause cancer, it did names to look out for are butylparaben, confirm parabens were able to methylparaben and enter the skin and remain within propylparaben. tissue.

That being said, all cosmetic products and their ingredients are governed by strict European laws, and the EU has signed off on the safety of all of the parabens currently in your products. But while strict laws have limited to a safe amount in each product (usually less than 1%), health campaigners have warned that cumulative exposure could overload our bodies with chemicals. WHILE it’s great that parabens can banish potentially harmful bacteria from our cosmetics, there’s long been debate over whether these chemicals can contribute to the development of serious health issues.

Studies have suggested that “long-chain” parabens could interfere with the body’s hormones, particularly reproductive hormones, causing developmental disorders, fertility problems and cancer. In 2004, a small British Parabens are included in more than 75% of skincare products available to buy in the UK, but they’re also used in glues, oils, soft drinks, sauces, processed meat and hundreds of other everyday products... NOT exactly. The bottom line is there’s a chance they’re harmful, but there’s no conclusive scientific evidence or government advice to suggest you need to start chucking out your make-up stash.

Still, if you’d rather err on the side of caution, you could always make an effort to ‘clean up’ your beauty products this summer. More brands than ever are jumping on the organic bandwagon, and it’s never been easier to go paraben-free.

To get the ball rolling, we’ve rounded up six of our favourite natural foundations that are free from harsh preservatives.