Unless you can’t resist the urge to always scrutinize the back of your makeup and beauty products for ingredients, you might never discover what’s hidden in your potions and lotions. Every beauty formula holds its fair share of good ingredients, but most of the stuff you apply on your skin is utterly bizarre. If you can stomach it, read on to discover the nasty ingredients that lurk in your everyday makeup.
- Snail mucin
While we shiver at the slightest thought of having snail goo slapped on our face, you’ll usually find snail mucin in your creams. Studies have shown that in Ancient Greece, snail slime was used to treat burns and cuts. Later on, farmers in Chile discovered that their hands were silky after snails slimed them. Snail slime became popular in Asia and South America since then.
Anti-aging creams that claim to increase skin smoothness and softness have snail secretions as their main ingredient. Elastin and glycolic acid, extracted from snail mucin have been discovered to have skin moisturizing abilities and the abilities to reduce scar appearance and hyperpigmentation.
- Rust
Did you ever think the merry hues for pink-tinted formulae like calamine lotion were gotten from food coloring? Sorry! They’re actually obtained from rust. When next you examine your new product’s list of ingredients, be sure to look out for “pigment brown 101,” “pigment brown 6,” or ferrous oxide.” Either of these terms is merely a euphemism for rust.
- Whale vomit
Oh no! We were taught never to go back to our vomit, but no one talked about going back to whale vomit.
Ambergris, a waxy substance and waste product of the sperm whale’s digestive system, is used as a fixative base for perfumes. In other words, vomit waiting to be secreted by sperm whales, is a hot commodity used by fragrance companies, irrespective of its bizarre origins. Its value is in the scent, which becomes fascinatingly sweet immediately it leaves the body. So, several fragrance companies decided to include the ingredient in their perfumes.
Now you know! You have been spraying whale vomit on your body all these while without even realizing it.
- Placenta
Yes! Placenta!
Extracts from sheep and human placenta have been found to rejuvenate skin and enhance collagen production. So, they are used in hair and skin conditioning products. Placenta extracts in cosmetics also give the body a hit of hormones, though some experts argue that the estrogenic content in beauty products may increase the risk of breast cancer in women. Some also believe that for pregnant women who use products with estrogen content, it might lead to extremely early puberty for the child.
If you must know, some celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Donatella Versace, and Simon Cowell are reported to have tried the “sheep placenta facial.” Yuck!
Kim Kardashian-West, in an episode of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” once toyed with the idea of eating her placenta. You guessed right; she ate it! Soon after giving birth to her son, Saint West, she dedicated an entire blog post to her eating her placenta, which she had turned into pills.
- Bird poop
Isn’t that lovely? A full load of bird poop in your makeup.
We all hate bird poop for the free samples they continuously leave on our windshields, bags, or worse still, our arms and legs. You could hate someone for saying, “it’s good luck,” but are they entirely wrong, especially if it concerns the fate of your skin?
For makeup, bird poop is here to stay, as it dates far back to the geisha facials. The bird poop facial, otherwise known as the Geisha facial, is an ancient Japanese beauty practice using excrement from the nightingale. This practice results in super smooth and shiny skin.
The poop contains nitrogen-rich urea and guanine, an amino acid,” dermatologist Dr. Gary Goldfaden, a dermatologist in Hollywood, Florida “Urea helps to bind moisture to the skin, thus making the skin look and feel hydrated.”
Now that you are aware of some of the gross ingredients in your makeup, will you throw your sunscreen into the trash can, or do away with your favorite lotion? No one says you should. Only make sure to check out the ingredient list next time you want to try out a new beauty product.
