When it comes to synthetic ingredients, we all know one thing for sure: they’re the substances listed in the back of our beauty products that are so hard to pronounce. But what do they really do for our skin? Are they doing more good or harm?

Synthetic vs Natural

Most people choose organic and natural ingredients as opposed to synthetic ingredients since they seem like the healthier and better choice. However, that’s not 100% true!

In fact, not all natural ingredients can be environmentally friendly. Surprisingly, the use of natural ingredients can sometimes do more harm than good to the environment. Unbelievable, but true! If these ingredients are not sourced properly, chances are we are disrupting the environment in which we get the ingredient.

Also, not all natural ingredients can be beneficial for the skin. Take coconut oil for example. When used topically, this natural oil can dry up and clog pores. Not so good for our skin, really. Add the fact that 100% natural products have the downside of going bad pretty quickly which can be a big waste of money if you fail to finish the product before its expiration date.

Why Synthetic Ingredients?

There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to skin care and on top of that list is how synthetic ingredients make a product inherently bad. But that’s just half of the story. As a matter of fact, synthetic ingredients have incredible uses in skin care: from keeping your product fresh and effective for its entire shelf life to giving your skin the boost that it needs for a healthy, radiant glow.

Most synthetic ingredients act as a preservative to natural cosmetics and they keep it from going bad. I mean, who wants decomposing goods on the skin? Definitely not me. Studies even show that expired cosmetics become toxic and cause skin infections. Yikes! Good thing synthetic ingredients lengthen products’ shelf life and we don’t have to worry much about that.

Aside that, synthetic ingredients act as fillers to the gaps that natural products leave in our cosmetic cabinets.

The sad truth is that mother nature doesn't always provide everything that we need to keep our skin beautiful and young, or to keep the natural bits in cosmetics fresh for months at a time. This is why cosmetics companies make sure that they add in synthetic ingredients that will make their products work wonders for your skin for the longest possible time, giving you the best bang for your buck.

Now that you are much more enlightened about synthetic ingredients, let’s find out which ones you should keep and which ones you should ditch.

The Good Synthetic Ingredients

Synthetic ingredients are organic chemicals made in a laboratory and a large number of them are created with one goal in mind: to work on all types of skin without the unwanted negative effects that everyone seems to think they cause.

Our skin naturally produces the chemicals found in synthetic ingredients so you don’t really need to fret. Technically, they are still natural chemicals and having them in our skincare gives our skin the boost it needs to have beautiful, clear skin.

Now let’s find out the top synthetic ingredients that should be part of your skincare routine:

Retinol

A small pea-sized amount of Retinol is more than enough to fight the early signs of aging, acne and any other blemish. Amazing, right? It does all this by having a small molecular structure which lets it get deep into your skin and rejuvenate it from the inside out. It also works directly on your skin’s DNA, boosting your skin’s ability to create collagen making skin supple and firm.

Our skin produces less and less collagen as we age and adding in retinol to your routine can help stimulate our skin cells to produce more collagen and keeping it from breaking down. With this, your skin will have improved elasticity, fewer wrinkles, and fine lines.

YEOUTH Retinol Serum with Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin E and Aloe Vera ($19.95)

Retinol also effectively fights acne and breakouts by increasing the skin’s ability to renew itself and clear out old skin. It exfoliates and unclogs your pores to keep those pimples away alongside keeping the oil level on your skin low. Perfect for keeping breakouts to a minimum.

Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid is an amazing ingredient used in cosmetics because of its hydrating properties. In fact, this ingredient is one of the best hydrators because of how it attracts and retains water in our skin. It acts like a magnet for moisture that makes skin radiant, plump and hydrated and as we know, staying hydrated is a great way to fight the signs of aging, breakouts, acne and excessive amounts of oil.

YEOUTH Pure Hyaluronic Acid ($14.95)

As we age the amount produced by our skin isn't nearly enough to keep our skin’s youthful glow and using cosmetic products with hyaluronic acid will definitely help our skin keep away unsightly dryness, sagging, wrinkles, and fine lines.

Peptides

Peptides are amino acids that send instructions for the skin to produce more collagen.

As we age, levels of collagen produced by the body decreases and applying synthetic peptides topically signal the skin to produce more collagen. Using products with peptide will give your skin the boost it needs to keep skin healthy, supple, glow.

YEOUTH Day/Night Cream ($22.95)

The Bad Synthetic Ingredients

Synthetic ingredients have a bad reputation since not all of them are good for the skin. The following two synthetic ingredients can cause serious problems when found in skincare products so make sure to avoid them to stay clear of health problems down the road:

Parabens

Parabens are used as a preservative for a lot of skincare products and according to studies, when applied to the skin, parabens could be detected in your system even just a few hours after it was applied.

It acts as a xenoestrogen which mimics estrogen, that throws your body’s hormones out of balance making you more susceptible to developing breast or ovarian cancer.

Formaldehyde

But did you know that Paraben wasn’t the worst preservative on the market? Formaldehyde, the same stuff used to preserve dead bodies, are also used in cosmetic! This chemical has been regulated in skincare products for and was replaced by parabens for decades but beware of other ingredients, like Imidazolidinyl Urea, that releases formaldehyde as time goes by. According to studies, this cosmetic preservative can cause leukemia and other cancers on multiple parts of your body as it builds up. This ingredient is definitely one the of the worst!

Thankfully today, you won't find formaldehyde in the majority of your skin care products but in the rare occasion that you do, have that product returned ASAP! The health risks definitely far outweigh any benefit that you’re going to get out of that product.

So, Are Synthetic Ingredients Good or Bad?

So now that we’ve gone over a few of the synthetic ingredients that can make either make or break your skin, it’s time to answer the question: Are they good or bad?
Both! Synthetic ingredients can be good and bad. What matters is that the product that you’re using is effective and has little to no negative impact on how your skin looks and feels. Always check your products’ ingredients and always have healthy, beautiful skin.

Are there any other miracle synthetic ingredients we missed? How often do you feel about parabens being used to preserve your cosmetics? Want more great blogs and info from YEOUTH? Subscribe to our newsletter and share your thoughts with us!