Are Your Beauty Products TOXIC? Revealed: The 20 Most Harmful

The average woman uses 12 personal care products a day containing a staggering 168 different chemicals.

Now a skin care expert has complied a list of the potentially harmful ingredients that are commonly found in beauty and cosmetic products.

Leading naturopathic doctor Trevor Cates explains what to look out for on the labels of our body washes, lotions, shampoos, cosmetics and even toothpastes and how these ingredients are associated with a host of health problems.

In a separate alarming study by the Herb Research Foundation, it was revealed that the skin absorbs up to 60 per cent of the chemicals in products that it comes into contact with directly into the bloodstream.

Dr Cate said: 'What we put on our skin should be as clean as what we eat. But for most people, it’s not.

'Even in tiny amounts, many of the chemicals commonly found in our cosmetics can have a tremendous health and hormonal impact, and we are only beginning to understand the consequences.'

Here Mail Online Health reveal the toxic ingredients to look out for - Dr Cates recommends you bin your beauty products if they contain them.

1. Fragrance

Fragrance mixtures can be comprised of dozens, even hundreds, of individual chemicals, and those don't have to be listed on the label.
Cate says avoid all fragrance unless it's natural, such as from pure essential oils, as it can cause allergic reactions or hormone disruption.

2. FORMALDEHYDE and formaldehyde releasers (quaternium-15, diazolidinyl Urea, DMDM hydantoin, bronopol, or Imidazolidinyl Urea)

Nearly one in five cosmetic products contains a substance that generates formaldehyde, which is linked to causing cancer.

This irritant can be found in nail products, hair dye, hair straighteners, false eyelash adhesives, and some shampoos.