Ingredients with a documented concern, from official datasets and our reviewed database.
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.
Sensitive skin: Use with cautionBabies & kids: Use with cautionEczema-prone: High caution
- Allergy risk:Rising cause of contact and photoallergy, especially in children.
- Environmental impact:Accumulates in aquatic life; degrades into benzophenone over time.
A stabilizing UV filter that can degrade into benzophenone as products age, and an increasingly reported allergen — replace old tubes of octocrylene sunscreens.
Sensitive skin: Use with caution
- Allergy risk:Degradation products can cause photoallergy when unstabilized.
The main UVA filter in US sunscreens. Safe when properly stabilized, but it breaks down in sunlight into potentially sensitizing fragments in poorly formulated products.
Pregnancy: Use with cautionBabies & kids: Use with caution
- Environmental impact:Toxic to coral; banned in Hawaii alongside oxybenzone.
Caredermis curated dermatological review
A UVB filter under regulatory re-review for hormonal effects and banned in some reef regions; steadily being replaced by newer filters in modern sunscreens.
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.
Eczema-prone: Use with caution
- Irritation:Can enhance penetration of other ingredients; avoid on broken skin.
A common emulsifier; CIR advises against use on damaged skin because it can carry other ingredients deeper.
Pregnancy: Use with cautionBabies & kids: Use with caution
A UVB filter the EU sharply restricted in 2022 after its scientific committee flagged potential endocrine effects at former use levels.
preservative booster · skin conditioning
Severity 2/10- Irritation:Documented occasional contact allergy and eye irritation.
A preservative booster often paired with phenoxyethanol; low-risk overall with rare reports of contact allergy.