Nowadays, beauty really is skin deep, as toxic synthetic chemicals have become the biggest issue in the beauty industry. We routinely expose ourselves to almost 130 different chemicals from the products we use, which can cause problems as diverse as infertility, birth defects and even cancer. Many women want to make the move to natural, non toxic products but don’t know where to start.

Pharmacist Deirdre Leahy from can guide you towards the safest and best products for your skin and believes that what you put on your skin is as important as what you put in your body your skin is the largest organ in your body so looking after our skin and what we put on it is very important.

We have sourced a wide range of effective natural make up, skin and hair care products from around the world, including Kneipp, Dr Haushka, Jason, Elave, , Ziaja, Moogoo, Nuxe , Burts Bees, Naturalism, Dusty girls Lavera and La Roche Posay. The pharmacy supports and stocks many Irish made products such as Seavite, Green Angel, Nia, Brooke and Shoale, natural soap company ,pestle and mortar,kinvara,and Dalkey handmade Soaps. Professional advice and excellent customer service is available from Deirdre and her team to help you make that changeover and choose what’s right for your skin.

Certain  products that contain preservatives called parabens. These chemicals can act like the hormone estrogen in the body. Estrogen is known to fuel certain breast cancers. Many breast cancers develop in the part of the breast closest to the armpit, where antiperspirants and other underarm products are used.

Now a new study shows that yes, there is evidence of parabens in 99% of breast tissue samples taken from women with breast cancer.

So where are all the parabens coming from?
Parabens such as methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, isopropylparaben, and isobutylparaben are also found in makeup, moisturizers, and hair care and shaving products.

The new study included 40 women with breast cancer who chose to have a mastectomy. Researchers looked at four samples of breast tissue from each woman. The tissue samples came from several locations within the breast, including the armpit region.

Fully 99% of the tissue samples had evidence of at least one paraben, and 60% showed evidence of five. Paraben levels did not seem to play a role in the cancer’s location or whether or not the cancer was fueled by estrogen. The findings appear in Journal of Applied Toxicology.

Should You Try Paraben-Free Personal Care Products?
The new study does not prove that personal care products cause breast cancer. But “the fact that parabens were present in so many of the breast tissue samples does justify further investigation,” said Philippa Darbre, PhD, of University of Reading in the U.K., in a news release.

“The study suggests that if there is a relationship between parabens and breast cancer, it  may be a complex one.”

Formaldehyde is known to be a human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from studies in humans and supporting data on mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Formaldehyde was first listed in the Second Annual Report on Carcinogens in 1981 as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence from studies in experimental animals. Since that time, additional cancer studies in humans have been published, and the listing status was changed to known to be a human carcinogen in the Twelfth Report on Carcinogens (2011).

So all these studies make it clear to us in Dunlaoghaire pharmacy that if there is the slightest link of a connection between all these chemicals, parabens, formaldehyde, aluminium and cancer we should definitely avoid them and more importantly not put them on our children’s skin.

We have many ranges of products at all prices to allow you to do this for yourself and your family.