Extracts from human and certain animal placenta are known to condition skin and hair and found in certain products. However, since placenta is crucial for a baby's growth in the womb, these same extracts in cosmetics give your body a hit of hormones. Estrogenic content in cosmetics may increase breast cancer risk in users, and if a woman uses personal care products that contain estrogen while she is pregnant, it may trigger extremely early puberty for her child, says Malkan.
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Emu and Mink Oil
According to the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, fat scraped from the back of the hide of mink or derived from emu are conditioning agents found in some, shaving creams, sunscreens (don't forget to reapply after swimming or excessive perspiration now) hairsprays and more.
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Human Breast Milk
Some soaps are milled with human breast milk, but according to StyleCaster it's illegal and controversial to sell this type of soap in most states.
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Cochineal Beetles (Dactylopius Coccus)
Cochineal beetles eat the prickly pear cactus in South America. Pucker up because according to "The New York Times" when they are full of cactus juice, these insects are scraped off the plant, boiled and dried out and crushed into "carmine," which is used in a particular red dye that's used in some lipstick and blush. The good news is, by 2011 Malkan says that cosmetic companies will have to disclose any bug ingredients in their makeup.
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Infant Foreskin (NouriCel-MD)
A San Francisco-based company has patented a baby foreskin formula (no joke) in a special blend of soluble collagen, antioxidants, natural growth factors and matrix proteins that are said to help fight the signs of aging, reports StyleCaster. While it's getting lots of press and might actually minimize fine lines and wrinkles, there's just too much of an ick-factor here, no?
If you're one of those folks whose mantra is "ignorance is bliss" then stop reading right now. But for those of you who don't mind a little disillusioning every now and then, you'll most likely be repulsed, yet fascinated by these gross ingredients found in some cosmetics. It's like when you get an email with a ridiculous YouTube video of a dog tap dancing and you just have to forward it to your friends or post it on Facebook -- these findings are just too dang interesting not to share.
We did some online digging and got in touch with our researcher friends from Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database and Stacy Malkan from The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, author of "Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry". We reported not so much on the dangerous ingredients to avoid, but more like omg-we-can't-believe-our-lipstick-has-bug-juice-in-it (yes, bug juice) type of stuff. And it doesn't stop there. We found that some beauty products contain pretty much everything in the circle of life from placenta to road kill -- we're not making this up.
The purpose of this story is not to point fingers or out any makeup, skin care or hair care companies because sometimes there is a communication break down in the supply chain, and some cosmetic companies aren't even aware of the shocking ingredients in their products. In addition, many companies have phased out the use of some of these disturbing ingredients such as whale vomit (more on that in a minute�). Instead we just thought we'd lift the veil of the amazing smells and technologies of beauty products and unwrap the cute packaging to show you some of the medieval-sounding ingredients that are shockingly still used in some cosmetics. See what gross ingredients might be lurking in your lotion, powder, soap or lip gloss now.
