Every beardo that is serious about his beard will take advantage of the numerous grooming products available to him to keep it in top condition. It goes without saying that all beard grooming products have a list of ingredients with the potential to cause allergic reaction and that before buying a product you should check the ingredient list.
Allergic reaction on natural ingredients
Beard grooming products could potentially contain the following:
- Beard oil (Various essential oils such as almond, jojoba, argan, hempseed, grapeseed, avocado, and safflower, Vitamin E and castor oil)
- Balm (Argan and jojoba oil, shea butter)
- Wax (Beeswax, lanolin, grapeseed and carnauba oil)
- Beard wash (Sunflower and coconut oil, glycerine)
- Soap (Sunflower, coconut and palm oils)
It should be noted that all of the above are natural ingredients. But especially the essential oils are knows to cause strong allergic reactions because of there concentration.
Allergic reaction on products with artificial ingredients
Any products that contain synthetic chemicals should be avoided as they are far more likely to cause skin sensitivity issues and can also be toxic.
The top four to ensure you avoid are:
- Sulfates: These are industrial degreasers and certainly should not be used to clean your beard. Products containing sulfate will strip vital moisture and sebum which is a natural nourishing oil from your skin. Labels will show this as sodium laurel sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate.
- Phthalates: These chemicals are used to soften plastics which are used in things like food packaging and vinyl flooring. There are a load of side effects of using grooming products containing them. This includes a decreased sperm count, possible infertility, abnormal sexual development and birth defects. Labels will include DMP, DBP, DEP, DEHP, and BzBP.
- Formaldehyde: A preserving agent used on medical specimens and dead bodies it is also used to preserve grooming products. This can cause heart palpitations, dizziness, dermatitis, hair loss and even cancer. It will show on product labels as quaternium 15, glyoxal and DMDM hydantoin.
- Paraffin/Petroleum jelly/Mineral oil: This ingredient coats the skin with a thin layer of oil which prevents pores from breathing. It also stops the skin from being able to release sebum. This would be labelled under various forms of petroleum.
What to do in case of allergic reaction on grooming products
Should you start to have a reaction to any beard grooming product there are things you can do such as washing the area with cool water and mild soap. The longer you let the product sit on your skin the worse the reaction will become. You can then follow that up with a cold compress to ease the irritation.
If you are sure it was an allergic reaction and not just an irritation you could also take an antihistamine or use a hydrocortisone cream. If your symptoms persist or worsen you should contact your doctor.
Last but not least I highly suggest to use self made beard oil or beard balm! It’s really easy, cheap, you know what’s inside and all that without the stuff that causes allergic reactions
Photo by Louis Blythe on Unsplash
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