It can be difficult to navigate and decipher the long list of ingredients on most beauty product labels. Thankfully, there are sites and apps that can help make the process easier. EWG’s Skin Deep database allows you to search for cosmetic ingredients and products to see if they meet the non-profit’s strict criteria. There are also apps, like Yuka, that allow you to scan a product to find out if it contains any endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, allergens, or irritants. Unfortunately, it doesn’t cover all products, so when in doubt, rely on this dermatologist-backed cheat sheet of harmful ingredients before reaching for your credit card. It has been well established that oxybenzone is an endocrine disrupter, which can have serious consequences on fertility. Moreover, chemical sunscreen should be avoided during pregnancy as it has been linked to birth defects. The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends that parents don’t use sunscreens with oxybenzone on kids. Instead, Dr. Gross recommends opting for mineral sunscreen, which sits on the surface of the skin and isn’t absorbed. The active ingredients in these safe sunscreens are zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide. RELATED: 15 Best Mineral Sunscreens “Parabens can be listed under different names, but the most common are methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and ethylparaben,” says Debra Jaliman, MD, a dermatologist and author of Skin Rules: Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist. According to Dr. Jaliman, parabens are particularly common in makeup and moisturizers. “Manufacturers use thousands of fragrance components in their products, and unfortunately, there’s no regulation to make it mandatory to list all components.”
