Ingredients with a documented concern, from official datasets and our reviewed database.
Sensitive skin: Use with cautionDry skin: High cautionPregnancy: Use with cautionBabies & kids: Best avoidedEczema-prone: High caution
- Irritation:Dryness and peeling at exfoliating concentrations (0.5–2%).
The pore-clearing BHA exfoliant. Not for young children (salicylate absorption), used cautiously in pregnancy at low leave-on concentrations, and drying for compromised barriers.
Sensitive skin: Best avoidedPregnancy: Use with cautionBabies & kids: Best avoidedEczema-prone: Best avoided
- Allergy risk:Fragrance is the single most common cause of cosmetic contact allergy.
- Irritation:Frequent trigger of stinging and redness on reactive skin.
Caredermis curated dermatological review
An umbrella term that can hide dozens of undisclosed scent chemicals. Fragrance is the leading cause of allergic contact dermatitis from cosmetics, and dermatologists routinely advise fragrance-free products for eczema, babies and sensitive skin.
surfactant · foaming agent
Severity 4/10EditorialSensitive skin: High cautionDry skin: Use with cautionBabies & kids: Use with cautionEczema-prone: High caution
- Irritation:Milder than SLS but still drying for compromised skin.
The gentler cousin of SLS used in most mainstream shampoos and washes. Its manufacturing can leave trace 1,4-dioxane, which reputable makers strip out — an issue of quality control rather than the ingredient itself.
Sensitive skin: Use with cautionEczema-prone: Use with caution
- Allergy risk:Named Allergen of the Year 2004; impurities (amidoamine) drive most reactions.
A mild coconut-derived surfactant in countless 'gentle' cleansers. Most allergy is caused by manufacturing impurities, so quality varies by brand.
Sensitive skin: Use with cautionEczema-prone: Use with caution
- Allergy risk:EU-declarable allergen found in tonka bean and many perfumes.
A sweet hay-scented molecule requiring EU allergen declaration; a regular positive in fragrance patch-test series.
Babies & kids: Use with caution
- Irritation:Occasional stinging and irritation, mostly around eyes and on damaged skin.
Today's most common preservative, considered safe by the SCCS up to 1%. French authorities advise avoiding it in wipes and diaper-area products for children under 3 as a precaution.
Sensitive skin: Use with cautionEczema-prone: Use with caution
- Allergy risk:EU-declarable fragrance allergen.
A rose-type scent component on the EU's mandatory-declaration allergen list.
Sensitive skin: Use with caution
- Allergy risk:EU-declarable fragrance allergen.
A floral fixative on the EU allergen list, with early-stage evidence of weak hormonal activity being evaluated by regulators.
preservative · solvent · fragrance
Severity 3/10Sensitive skin: Use with cautionEczema-prone: Use with caution
- Allergy risk:One of the 26 EU-declarable fragrance allergens.
- Irritation:Mild irritation possible at higher concentrations.
A preservative and fragrance component that must be declared on EU labels because it can trigger contact allergy in a small share of users.
- Cancer concern:IARC 2B by inhalation only — relevant to loose powders and sprays, not creams.
A mineral UV filter and pigment that is one of the safest sunscreen choices in cream form; the inhalation-based cancer classification only matters for powder and spray formats.
- Environmental impact:Not biodegradable; accumulates in the environment via wash-off.
The workhorse silicone — inert and non-sensitizing on skin (even FDA-approved as a skin protectant), with persistence in the environment as its main criticism.
- Environmental impact:Skin-safe; the ingredient's controversy is ethical (mining labor), not toxicological.
The shimmer mineral in highlighters and glowy creams; safe on skin, with sourcing ethics being its real controversy.
- Irritation:Can cause transient, non-allergic flushing/stinging on reactive skin.
A food-grade preservative generally regarded as one of the gentler options; occasional non-immune stinging is its main drawback.
FUMARIC ACIDRegulatory dataIrritationEU CLP Eye Irrit. 2ACETIC ACIDRegulatory dataIrritationEU CLP Skin Corr. 1AHEXYLENE GLYCOLRegulatory dataIrritationEU CLP Skin Irrit. 2EU CLP Eye Irrit. 2