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Fragrances, Perfumes, Preservatives, And Acne

Over and over on this site we warn you about the dangers of fragrances, perfumes, and preservatives in skin care products. If you have sensitive skin, fragrances, perfumes, and preservatives can cause you problems a lot faster than acne breakouts, and they aren’t easy to overcome. Some of the most harmful substances are chemicals you probably never imagined appear in skin care products.  Here are the five that are the most likely to cause a skin reaction.

Skin Care Products
Many skin care products include fragrances, preservatives and other ingredients that can cause skin reactions.

1. Formaldehyde isn’t just used to preserve corpses. It is also used to preserve many skin care products. If you are sensitive to formaldehyde, you are most likely to break out when you get a double whammy of formaldehyde from your skin care product and naturally occurring formaldehyde in food. Cured ham, maple syrup, pickled herring, dried cod, caviar, coffee, and shiitake mushrooms all release natural formaldehyde. Small amounts of formaldehyde are released when your body metabolizes aspartame (Nutrasweet). And formaldehyde is also released by the skin care ingredient quaternium-15.

2. We warn you about lots of botanical ingredients, ranging from andrographis to zizyphus fruit. The single most irritant botanical ingredient, however, is a pungent herb derivative known as balsam of Tolu, or Tolu balsam. The big problem with this ingredient is that it can trigger cross sensitivites. If you develop an allergy to balsam of Tolu, you will also be allergic to cinnamon oil, lemon oil, orange peel, oil of cloves, benzoin, and propolis. An allergy you develop when you use one product may make you allergic to dozens more.

3. Millions of people are allergic to nickel. There’s probably no more troublesome trigger for eczema than nickel used in ear clips and the studs for body piercings. Nonetheless, dozens of skin care products use nickel sulfate as a preservative. (The products we recommend on this site do not.)

4. Neomycin isn’t just an antibiotic used as a skin cream. It’s also a preservative in some acne care formulas made in China. If you’re allergic to the antibiotic, you’ll be allergic to the acne skin care product too.

5. Some seemingly safe ingredients can cause a condition known as protein contact dermatitis. These are usually food ingredients that don’t cause a food allergy, because they break down during digestion, but do cause a skin reaction. The scratch tests you get at the allergist’s office won’t detect them. Common culprits include soy, peach, tomato powder, chrysanthemum, and natural latex.

The problem with these ingredients is that they cause skin reactions that most people and their doctors would naturally assume are caused by anything but a skin care product. Fortunately, all of these skin care product ingredients are easy avoid (except in products made in China) if you just know you need to be on the lookout for them. Here are ten signs you may have a problem with fragrances, perfumes, and preservatives.

1. Earrings make you ears itch unless the clasp is made with 14-karat gold.

Sensitivity to earrings, piercings, and clip-on jewelry is a tell-tale sign of nickel allergy. Another sign of nickel allergy is sensitivity to cell phones. The numbers on the cell phone key pad are usually printed in nickel. Hairdressers, cashiers, metal workers, caterers, and housekeepers are especially like to have nickel allergies, due to frequent exposure. If you develop a nickel allergy through repeated exposure to the metal in your work you will be especially sensitive to acne products that use nickel sulfate as a preservative.

2. Hair dyes and temporary tattoos make you break out.

The offending ingredient in hair dyes and temporary tattoos that can cause skin to break out is a chemical known as p-phenylenediamine or PPD. This ingredient occasionally shows up in tinted acne creams (again, not in any products recommended on this site) and in makeup used to cover acne blemishes. It’s kind of unusual to be allergic to PPD. About 4% of people in the US and Europe are allergic to the chemical, but about 6% of people elsewhere in the world.

3. Aftershave, cologne, deodorants, or soap make you sneeze or break out.

With aftershave, cologne, deodorant, and soap, the irritant ingredient is usually a fragrance. Chances are that there is just one fragrance that causes you special problems, but because there are over 4,000 different fragrances that are added to cosmetic products and the US Food and Drug Administration doe not require manufacturers to list them by name on the label, you will never be able to find out exactly which product causes you difficulty. That’s why we usually recommend acne care products that are fragrance-free. Acne care products containing fragrances are most likely to cause problems on recently shaved or broken skin.

4. You are allergic to gentamicin or tobramycin.

If you are allergic to either of the aminoglycoside antibiotics gentamicin or tobramycin, you are probably also allergic to neomycin. You need to avoid any acne care products that contain even traces of neomycin, and it’s especially important that you do not use them underneath a bandage.

5. You are allergic to benzocaine.

Acne products that promise pain relief sometimes contain benzocaine. If you’re allergic to benzocaine, it may still be safe for the doctor or dentist to give you lidocaine injections for prevention of pain during office procedures, but be sure to let them know.

6. Eating peppery or highly seasoned foods makes you cry.

Foods that contain the chemical capsaicin usually trigger a reaction in the vagus nerve that causes the eyes to tear and the mouth to water. Capsaicin also accelerates digestion, although regular eaters of hot peppers may not be aware of this effect. If you are unusually sensitive to hot peppers, you may also be unusually sensitive to irritant ingredients in skin care products for acne.

7. The products your doctor gives you for breakouts make you breakout.

While corticosteroids are useful for treating skin allergies and for shrinking pimples, it’s possible to become allergic to them. If you use a topical steroid cream for acne and it makes you break out, be sure to let your doctor know, so you won’t be prescribed stronger steroids that might cause an even worse reaction.

8. People ask you if you have been out in the sun, even when you haven’t.

Allergies that don’t cause itching or irritation sometimes look like sunburn.

9. You get red in the face when you are angry or embarrassed or

10. You get red in the face when you drink alcohol.

Both of these causes of facial flushing tend to be more common in people who have rosacea, which is also made worse by fragrances, perfumes, and preservatives.

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