Ingredients to Avoid In Bubble Bath

In the making of our own bubbles, we discovered the sheer amount of potentially harmful ingredients that are often used in commercial bubble baths.

We knew we wanted to create something safe for everybody (including children!) but didn't want to compromise on those big, cloud-like bubbles that bubble baths are all about. 

We're proud to say that we did it - landing on a formula that's safe, all-natural, gentle on skin, and scented with high-quality essential oil blends with aromatherapeutic benefits.  

In creating a product with ingredients we feel good about, we wanted to highlight some of the not-so-good synthetics commonly found in commercial bubble baths, hopefully making it clear why they we didn't put them in ours. 

Artificial Fragrances // 

The problem with artificial fragrance is that we can't really say what it's made up of.

“Fragrance/ parfum” when listed on ingredient labels is a vague catch-all for scent. This word alone can hide over 3,000 potentially irritating fragrance components that manufacturers don’t have to disclose. 

Sulfates //

Sulfates are foaming agents often used in commercial bubble baths to create those big bubbles. 

Two sulfates with well-documented links to skin irritation and long-term internal issues are sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLS)

Other dangers associated with sulfates are the byproducts and trace contaminants they create such as 1,4-Dioxane. Interestingly enough, 1,4-Dioxane is “reasonably expected to be a human carcinogen” as warned by the National Institute of Health.

Phthalates // 

Phthalates are a family of man-made colourless, oily chemicals. In product packaging, they help to increase durability but are also often used in bath and body products to bind ingredients together and make fragrance last longer.

Phthalates have the ability to disrupt hormones amongst other health and developmental conditions.

Formaldehyde //

Used as a preservative and antibacterial ingredient, formaldehyde is known to be a possible carcinogen. This may seem like an obvious one to avoid given how well-researched it is but formaldehyde can be hidden under a number of different names on a label. some of these include:

• Methylene oxide
• Methylene glycol
• Methyl aldehyde
• Methanal
• Methanediol
• Formic aldehyde
• Formalin
• Imidazolidinyl urea
• DMDM hydantoin
• Diazolidinyl urea
• Quaternium-15

Formaldehyde is widely understood to cause allergic reactions, and skin issues in certain people. The amount of Formaldehyde used in some personal care products tends to be very low but can still trigger a reaction in those with sensitivities.