Over recent years the desire to understand deeper what we introduce in our body through diet or lifestyle and the possible effects of these substances, more or less beneficial, is growing. Also the choice of cosmetics should be done carefully because these are products that come into contact with our skin. The cosmetics can nourish and improve the skin or, on the contrary, irritate it and therefore causing an increase in sebum production, acne and blackheads, can also cause wrinkles and aging and sometimes may also be able to overcome the skin barrier and come into the body with dangerous effects, even carcinogenic, as we have seen in the previous posts dedicated to the INCI of cosmetics, the label that lists all the ingredients used in a product. Today we will see in detail other ingredients that can be found in the most common cosmetics and their effects on our body and beauty.
Amine and amino derivatives MEA/DEA/TEA
These ingredients, with so odd names, are fatty acids that can be synthetic or produced from the coconut oil and mean monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA). These substances are used as wetting agents in shampoo, creams, lotions and other cosmetics (Shin et al, Arch Pharm Res, 2016). MEA/DEA/Tea are still very debated substances because, according to scientific studies, they are considered to become dangerous if combined with other ingredients contained in cosmetics, the so called nitrosating agents, such as the preservatives, because in this case they can form nitrosamines, carcinogenic substances connected with stomach, esophagus, liver and bladder cancer (Shin et al, Arch Pharm Res, 2016). Moreover, they are also considered to be aggressive on the skin (Lessmann et al, Contact dermatitis, 2009) and a possible cause of dandruff and acne. How can you recognize these substances in the INCI? Here the names that may appear in the INCI of cosmetics, Cocamide DEA/TEA/MEA, Oleamide DEA/TEA/MEA, Lauramide DEA/TEA/MEA, Linoleamide DEA, Myristamide DEA, Stearamide DEA, DEA-Cethyl Phosphate, DEA-Oleth-3 Phosphate, TEA-Lauryl Sulfate, Thiethanoamine. These ingredients, if present, should be avoided.
