What ingredients do I avoid?
Besides glycerin, I avoid a few other ingredients for various reasons. Some are because of my allergies, one in particular is because a dear friend’s allergy, and the rest are for ethical reasons. Since becoming aware of my glycerin allergy, I have become much more conscientious of what I put in and on my body.
While I love mango, mango no longer loves me. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that my mouth started burning when I ate mango. There is a family history of being allergic to it. So I started avoiding it. Then one day I got hives on my arms from a new body wash I was using. Turns out there was mango in the ingredients. At that time I was really only looking for Glycerin and nothing else. That instance with the body wash made me pay closer attention to how my body reacted to the products I was putting on it.
About a year ago, I was using a toner for acne that contained salicylic acid. I’ve struggled with acne ever since puberty thanks to PCOS. At first the toner seemed to being working. But then I noticed my face was red and super greasy all the time. The only new element in my skin care at the time was that salicylic acid toner. The redness reminded me of the kind I used to battle before I stopped using products with glycerin.
So I looked up what salicylic acid was, thinking maybe it was related to glycerin. Nope, it’s a form of aspirin. My father was full blown allergic to aspirin. I’d always been good about avoiding medications with aspirin because of that. Plus the couple times I’d taken OTC meds that contained aspirin, I got the worst sour, upset stomach. While salicylic acid may be great for most people in the treatment of their acne, it’s not for me.
I also avoid coconut oil. Now, I love coconut in food. I’m not allergic or sensitive to it in any way. But Jean, one of my best friends, is deathly allergic. So I will not buy or use anything on my person that contains any form of coconut. I don’t want to potentially expose them to something that dangerous just by giving them a hug.
Which makes it so frustrating that it seems like most everything seems to be made with coconut oil anymore. Especially among Natural and Organic products. Ever since coconut oil became the trendy thing in health foods, I find it in more and more products. It seems like it’s almost as common as glycerin.
And, as Jean informed me from unfortunately first hand experience, it’s use is not always listed in the ingredients. Turns out Haribo gummy candy uses coconut oil to lubricate their molds. Because it’s not used to make the gummies themselves, they don’t have put it on the ingredients list.
How scary is that? Because it’s not a common allergen, coconut is not listed in those allergy alerts on food products. While the FARE (Food Allergy Research & Eduction) website does mention that any food can be an allergen, coconut is not specified, even on their Other Food Allergens section. Rare allergies do exist. That’s why accurate ingredients lists are needed, including whatever is used to manufacture the product in addition to being in the product itself.
I care about my loved ones. If I’m aware that they are allergic to anything, I’m going to avoid using that thing around them. Why would I knowingly expose them to something that could cause anaphylactic shock or even death? Even mild allergies suck.
Basically everything else that I avoid are animal based ingredients. I try to buy all vegan and cruelty free skin care and makeup. No, I’m not a vegan, but I am slowly moving that direction with my diet and all other areas of my life. I buy vegan for ethical and environmental reasons. This is part of how I do my bit to help save our planet.
Think about what you put in and on your body. How do those things make you feel? Do they contain an ingredient that a friend or family member is allergic to? Do they contain an ingredient that is making you feel not so great? Have you ever really given those questions any thought?
