How to watch out for harmful chemicals in products for sensitive skin

There are some obvious ingredients to look for in skin products and make up. Just because it says "sensitive skin" on the packaging, does not necessarily mean it doesn't contain any irritants or bad chemicals.

The obvious ones:

• Perfume/Fragrance - These can be hard to spot as they'll try to hide it in the middle of all the other ingredients, but just about anything that says "Parfum/Perfume/Fragrance" is likely to cause a skin reaction, or dry out your skin. Synthetic fragrances can contain 200 different ingredients, but they've just summarized it into one word.
• Alcohol - This goes hand in hand with perfume. If it contains perfume, chances are it also contains alcohol. Although this is going to probably keep the product disinfected and also kill bacteria on your skin, you dont really want it in your skin products as it can be very drying. It is often used to fool you into thinking skin creams are "absorbing" quickly, when really they're just evaporating quickly.
• Mineral oil/Petroliatum/Paraffinum Liquidum - It sounds fancy and is misleading as minerals sounds like something that would be good for your skin, and we're always told oil is good for dry skin. However, this is not the case for mineral oil. It is difficult for our skin to absorb, and it clogs the pores. Once the oil is absorbed, it is broken down in the liver, and absorbs fat-soluble vitamins in your body. Does that sound healthy? Petroliatum is petroleum jelly - vaseline - which has mineral oil as it main ingredient. It does not hydrate your skin, contradictory to common belief. It can prevent evaporation from your skin but essentially just creates a barrier between your skin and the air - it prevents your skin from breathing, and although it prevents moisture from getting out, it also prevents moisture getting INTO your skin. Manufacturers use it because it is very cheap - it is actually cheaper to sell it than to dispose of it.
• Anything with Sulphate/Aluminium - This can we worded in all kinds of ways and can be difficult to spot also. Anything sulphate is used to make shampoos and cleansers more foamy and can cause dryness, rashes and allergic reactions. Aluminium is used in deodorants to prevent perspiration. On your face it's going to clog your pores.
• Parabens - they can give you cancer. Particularly avoid them in deodorants as that is obviously close to your breasts and can give you breast cancer. I don't think I need to expand much on that :P

Check out this website for some other bad chemicals:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/toxic_cosmetics.cfm
This one has an awful layout but very good information:
http://www.healthy-communications.com/harmfulingredients1.html
I'm no scientist and I thought these were really useful so do have a looksie :)

Much Love,

Kristine Storm xx