Cosmetic depilatory products are an indispensable type of cosmetic products. The main reason is the fact that in today's society, women's hairlessness is self-evident and the only one socially acceptable. Cosmetic industry follows the trends all the time that is why more and more hair removal products are available in the market. These products contain ingredients that can adversely affect consumers' health. The great emphasis is placed on substances that are specifically addressed in the Annexes to EC Regulation no. 1223/2009 (fragrances, colorants and preservatives). In addition to these substances, depilatory creams also contain a group of cosmetically active substances (thioglycolates), which can also show side effects.
In this diploma thesis one of our interests was to determine what type of cosmetic depilatory products are available in the market, whether these products contain ingredients with confirmed negative side effects and, if so, which of them are most commonly presented and what is their safety. We found out that the most frequently found in the market are depilatory creams, depilatory waxes and sugar pastes. In addition, in the research we also included shaving gels and foams, even though they are not used for depilation, but they help with easier hair removal. We reviewed 100 different products, 20 of each type. We found 14 different types of preservatives (the most common phenoxyethanol - 22.5 %), 19 different types of colorants according to EC Regulation no. 1223/2009 (the most common titanium dioxide - 26.9 %), 14 different types of confirmed allergenic fragrances (the most common linalool - 24.3 %) and four different thioglycols (the most common potassium thioglycolate – 55 %). Using the literature, we evaluated the safety of three most commonly presented components of each of the considered substances. Potassium sorbate was determined as the safest preservative and titanium dioxide as the safest pigment. Due to similar toxicological data, we chose two of the safest substances for fragrances, limonene and linalool. We did not determine the safest substance among thioglycols, as all three had similar toxicological properties. In addition, we wanted to determine which type of product contains the most of the substances considered and after examination we found out that these are depilatory creams. Based on our consideration, we ranked depilatory creams as the least suitable for use. We determined sugar pastes as the safest type, as they contained the least of the substances considered. We concluded that these products do not only contain safe ingredients, but because we do not use them on a daily basis, exposure to these substances does not represent a high risk. As part of the research, we also conducted a survey on the use of these products among consumers and found out that they buy and use safer products. Nevertheless, we advised them to check their composition before buying the product, and that they can help themselves with various mobile applications. In this way, they will be highly aware of the safety of the product they apply to their skin.
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