{"id":10571,"date":"2020-09-29T17:06:27","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T21:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prose.com\/?p=10571"},"modified":"2021-03-05T11:53:39","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T16:53:39","slug":"parabens-hair-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prose.com\/blog\/parabens-hair-care","title":{"rendered":"What are Parabens and Why Should You Care If They\u2019re in Your Products?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<p>Aptly called the \u201cNever List,\u201d this round-up includes potentially harmful ingredients like talc and petroleum, as well as one of the most talked about no-go\u2019s in haircare: <a style=\"color: #ffa180;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ewg.org\/californiacosmetics\/parabens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">parabens<\/a>. We all may do our best to stay away from these kinds of disruptive ingredients, but it\u2019s important to know why. So what exactly are parabens, why is it in your shampoo, and why do we vow to never use it?<\/p><p>Here, we answer some FAQs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>What are parabens?<\/h2><p>Much like preservatives are added to foods to make them shelf-stable, parabens are a type of artificial ingredient that prevents certain ingredients from degrading. Without them, those ingredients could develop mold or bacteria. It may sound like a good thing, but keep reading.<\/p><h2>How do you spot them?<\/h2><p>Scan your bottle for methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, isopropyl-, butyl-, or isobutylparaben. These are the six common types of parabens.<\/p><h2>Which products have parabens?<\/h2><p>A lot. Parabens are usually found in products with a high water content\u2014think shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, sunscreen, deodorant, toothpaste, you name it.<\/p><h2>How do parabens affect my body?<\/h2><p>Parabens get absorbed then metabolized in the body, then expelled through urine and bile (a fluid that\u2019s useful for digestion). And when you use products daily, the number of parabens compounds. A 2018 study, for example, found that wearing makeup every day increased levels of propylparaben in urine by 20 times compared to girls who never or rarely wore makeup.<\/p><p>Preventing bacteria may sound noble, but the problem with parabens is their ability to mess with your endocrine system, disrupting hormones and impacting your reproductive system. Some parabens have even been officially designated as \u201cendocrine disruptors.\u201d These imbalances can result in fertility issues, shorter periods, and more pre-terms births. Scientists have also seen parabens speed up the growth of breast cancer cells as well as irritate skin.<\/p><h2>So how are parabens even allowed in products?<\/h2><p>The <a style=\"color: #ffa180;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/cosmetics\/cosmetic-ingredients\/parabens-cosmetics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Food &amp; Drug Administration<\/a> doesn\u2019t have any rules restricting parabens at the moment. According to their protocol, cosmetics and their ingredients don\u2019t need FDA approval. They do acknowledge the questions surrounding parabens and breast cancer but say they\u2019re looking into it.<\/p><h2>What are some safe alternatives to parabens?<\/h2><p>Nobody wants bacteria or mold in their cosmetics or haircare products, but we also want to give our body the best, most natural ingredients, too. So what\u2019s a conscious consumer to do? Beyond trying products with shorter shelf lives that don\u2019t require preserving, look for <a style=\"color: #ffa180;\" href=\"https:\/\/prose.com\/ingredients\/sodium-benzoate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sodium benzoate<\/a>, a man-made preservative that\u2019s gentler than parabens and clocks in at 3 on the <a style=\"color: #ffa180;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ewg.org\/skindeep\/ingredients\/705989-sodium_benzoate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EWG scale<\/a>. You can find it in our hair mask, scalp mask, shampoo, conditioner, and curl cream.<\/p><p>To find out which other product stabilizers we use (and where they\u2019re sourced from), check out Prose\u2019s comprehensive <a style=\"color: #ffa180;\" href=\"https:\/\/prose.com\/ingredients\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ingredients Glossary<\/a>. Each one has been rigorously researched and extensively tested. We believe that information is power, and the more you know about your body, the better you can take care of it.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div><div class=\"gbda-custom-cta\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/prose-blog-media\/1\/2020\/10\/d-blog-article-redirects_consultation-1.jpg)\"><span class=\"cta-title\" style=\"color:#FFFFFF\">ONLY GOOD HAIR DAYS\u2014<\/span><span class=\"cta-text\" style=\"color:#FFFFFF\">Think of us as your partner in haircare. Start with our innovative consultation.<\/span><a class=\"cta-button\" href=\"prose.com\/consultation\">GET YOUR FORMULA<\/a><\/div><div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Knowledge is power. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[389,15],"tags":[263,262,261,479,251],"class_list":["post-10571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-category-hair-health","category-ingredient-research","tag-balanced-hair","tag-combination-hair","tag-dry","tag-new","tag-oily"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What are Parabens? |<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Parabens seem to pop up a lot in beauty conversations and are often criticized, but what exactly are they? 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