Here’s a number that stopped me in my tracks years ago, and it’s only grown since.
Europe now prohibits more than 2,500 chemicals in cosmetics and restricts around 790 more. The United States? The FDA bans or restricts only about a dozen.1
That gap is the whole reason I started paying attention to what I was putting on my skin. Because I’d spent years being handed creams and antibiotics for a rash nobody could explain, and not one person ever asked whether the products I used, or the state of my gut, might be the actual cause.
Let me tell you the story. It’s a true one, pulled from my own medical records.
My rash, in my own medical records
They say self-diagnosing is the worst thing you can do. I did it anyway, and it’s how I finally started healing.
Years ago I requested all my childhood medical records from my hometown clinic. When a nose-and-chin rash came roaring back before a trip to Minnesota (family members said they’d never seen my face so broken out), I pulled those records out. Here’s what I found.
January 30, 1997 (age 13).
A rash on the skin just lateral to my nostrils, both sides, started on the right and spread left. Diagnosis: fungal versus eczema. Treatment: Lotrimin AF for a week, then 1% hydrocortisone.
April 22, 1999 (age 14).
An itchy, flaky rash, mainly the left nostril region, plus a patch below my lower lip. Diagnosis: mild pyoderma. Treatment: Emycin (erythromycin), two weeks, then a taper.
September 29, 1999 (age 16).
A rash on my chin, itchy, spreading, confined to the right side. Diagnosis: tinea versus eczema versus other infection. Treatment: Lamisil 1% cream.
October 6, 1999 (age 16).
The rash getting a little worse. Options offered: Bactroban (topical antibiotic) or erythromycin again.
The records stop there. At 18 I started getting mouth sores, the rashes kept coming and kept worsening, and I started seeing a dermatologist. My junior year of college was horrendous.
Notice the pattern. Every single visit, something different was “wrong” with me. Every visit, a new medication. And every time, I was healed only temporarily.
Not once did anyone ask whether food, personal care products, or other everyday chemical exposures might be the root. We reached for a mask to cover the symptom instead.
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The gut-skin connection I didn’t know about then
Here’s what I understand now that no doctor told me at 16.
Your skin and your gut are in constant conversation. It’s a real, researched relationship often called the gut-skin axis. When your gut barrier is compromised (leaky gut) and your microbiome is out of balance (dysbiosis), the resulting inflammation doesn’t stay in your gut. It shows up elsewhere, and for a lot of people, it shows up on the face.
Chronic, recurring skin conditions like the perioral dermatitis I was eventually diagnosed with are exactly the kind of thing that can have internal roots, not just external ones.
So the problem was never just “what cream do I need.” It was two questions nobody was asking:
What am I putting on my skin that’s disrupting it from the outside? And what’s happening in my gut that’s driving inflammation from the inside?
The personal care products were half the equation. The gut was the other half. Treating either one alone is why I kept relapsing for years.
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What’s actually in your personal care products (and what’s banned where)
This is the part that made me angry once I understood it.
Most cosmetic ingredients in the US never cross an FDA desk before they reach store shelves. Manufacturers largely self-certify that their products are safe, and the FDA’s main tool has historically been the after-the-fact recall.2 The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA), in force since 2023, expanded FDA authority (facility registration, product listing, recall power), but it did not create a European-style banned list.2
The contrast with Europe is stark.
| European Union | United States (FDA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Chemicals banned / restricted | More than 2,500 banned, ~790 more restricted | Around a dozen |
| Approach | Precautionary. A cancer/reproductive-harm classification triggers an automatic ban. | Reactive. Generally requires proof of harm before acting. |
| Premarket approval | Broad annex-based framework | Mostly not required (except most color additives) |
| In 2004, for comparison | ~1,100 banned or restricted | 11 |
When I first wrote this post, the figure I quoted was 1,328 chemicals banned in Europe. A decade later that number has roughly doubled, while the US number has barely moved.1 The gap didn’t close. It widened.
The ingredients I started with
I’m not a fear-monger, and I’m not going to tell you every ingredient is poison. But there are categories worth knowing and reducing, especially if you have chronic skin issues or you’re working on your gut. These are the ones I looked at first:
Fragrance/parfum (a catch-all that can hide dozens of undisclosed compounds). Certain preservatives. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and similar harsh surfactants. And the ingredients flagged on lists like The Never List.
Make note: “reduce and be informed” is the goal, not paralysis. You don’t have to overhaul everything overnight. Start with what touches the largest surface area or stays on your skin longest.
What I actually did (and still do)
I made two changes at once, because I finally understood it was two problems.
On my skin: I swapped out the worst offenders and moved toward cleaner products. Simple things helped more than I expected. (In the original comments on this post, readers mentioned coconut oil and Dr. Bronner’s castile soap, and I was a yes, yes, yes on both.)
To be perfectly transparent, today I ONLY use the Herbal Face Food skincare line.
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In my gut: I stopped chasing the topical mask and started addressing the inflammation from the inside, the same gut-healing work this whole site is built on.
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If this is the season you’re ready to stop guessing and finally take the next right step, start with the resource, product, or bundle that makes the most sense for where you are right now.
That combination is what finally broke the relapse cycle the medications never could.
Chemicals and your skin FAQ
How many chemicals are banned in cosmetics in Europe vs the US?
The European Union prohibits more than 2,500 chemicals in cosmetics and restricts around 790 more. The US FDA bans or restricts only about a dozen. The EU uses a precautionary approach; the US generally requires proof of harm before acting.
Can personal care products affect your gut or cause skin problems?
Chronic skin issues often have both external and internal drivers. What you put on your skin can irritate it directly, while inflammation from a compromised gut barrier and imbalanced microbiome (the gut-skin axis) can show up as recurring rashes. Addressing only one side is why many people keep relapsing.
Which ingredients should I look at reducing first?
Start with products that cover the most skin or stay on longest. Common ones to research: synthetic fragrance/parfum, harsh surfactants like SLS, and certain preservatives. The goal is being informed and reducing, not overhauling everything overnight.
Did MoCRA fix US cosmetic regulation?
The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (2023) expanded FDA authority over cosmetics, including facility registration, product listing, and recall power. But it did not create a European-style list of banned ingredients, so the large gap between US and EU cosmetic bans remains.
What’s next in this series
This was where my journey started. From here:
Tomorrow’s post covered what my rash was and the culprits I identified and banned. Then I shared how I started replacing my personal care products and healing perioral dermatitis naturally.
Want more? Read more on safer beauty, grab my recommended body and personal care items, and if you want a structured start, there’s my free guide The Hormone-Disrupting Ingredients Hiding in Your Bathroom.
You might call it crazy. I still call it healing.
Xox,
SKH
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I noticed something there Sarah. May or may not have to do with this but you seemed to have started this rash right around puberty time. Could it have been brought on by hormones or stress? College can be quite stressful as well.
I DO totally agree with you about the amount of chemicals in our products. I’m reacting to an eye serum that I’ve been using for two years… sigh. It took me about that long to find one that I didn’t react to and now I find I’m looking again for a new product.
My daughter works in the cosmetic section of my store (Shoppers Drug Mart) and we now have a “beauty boutique” thanks to our huge renovation. All this means is that we will now carry “high end” beauty products. One line that she’s excited about is called Nuxe (from France) which is natural-based. Yes, there is some chemical compounds but that is something you can’t get away from since a preservative needs to be added. She just told me you can check them out at Nuxe.com. I’ve tried some of the samples and I can quite honestly tell you that I love how my skin feels.
Its scary what is in all the “health and beauty” products. I have been using ONLY coconut oil on my face since the beginning of the year and washing with Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap and have seen huge improvements in my skin!
Gosh this sounds familiar. I had a rash that appeared around my mouth over a year ago and was given two different diagnoses, two different creams, and an antibiotic to try (I opted out of the antibiotic). Nothing worked. Then I discovered a stand at our farmers market selling a raw lotion made up of different oils, mainly hemp oil. I was desperate and paid up. Guess what? The rash was gone in a week and has not come back. I’ve also since eliminated SLS products, after doing some research. I’ve been using locally made soap on my combination skin, but I think I’m going to make the switch to oils.
And I love what you said about doctors not considering diet/lifestyle, etc when making diagnoses and prescribing treatments. When I think about all I’ve been put through to “diagnose” my gut issues, it makes me sick! I’ve done more to heal myself on my own than 15 years of doctors did for me! Ugh.
Yes, BOTH hormones and stress:) http://bit.ly/agugrpc
Dr. Bronners = yes, yes, yes!!!!
ps. I had those around my mouth, too. They told me it was “angular chelitis.” Doubtful.