Beauty ideals spark many skin allergies
Shiny hair. A body that smells fresh and citrusy. Many beauty ideals come with a risk of contact allergies. The dermatology clinic continually sees new patient cases, not least after the multi-year trend of gel nails.
But let us start on a positive note. Life does not have to be lived entirely free of fragrances and makeup. Fragrance substances are the most common cosmetic allergens, but if you are wondering whether you can tolerate your new pleasantly scented body oil – test it.
"Use the product on a small area of skin on the inside of your arm for 14 days. If you do not develop eczema during that time, you can probably feel confident that you tolerate the product," says Cecilia Svedman.
She is a professor at Lund University and a senior consultant in occupational and environmental dermatology at Skåne University Hospital. Patients referred to the dermatology clinic include people who have already received treatment for facial eczema, but without any improvement.
"In those cases, it’s often a skincare product that the person cannot tolerate," says Cecilia Svedman.
Gel nails – a common allergy
Anyone who reads a product’s ingredient list can often see that it contains potentially allergenic substances. In addition to fragrance ingredients, various preservatives can cause problems. Some preservatives also release formaldehyde, an allergenic substance that tends to “leak out” little by little – sometimes without it being possible to identify from the ingredient list.
Substances in hair dye are another allergen group that can cause major problems, in the worst case acute facial swelling and blisters on the skin. Often, the culprit is called PPD, p-Phenylenediamine. Over the past decade, researchers have also seen many cases of allergy to gel nails. The concentration of allergenic acrylate substances is highest before the nails have cured, but the molecules can also spread through the air when a nail is filed. For someone who is allergic to acrylates, it can be enough to be scratched by someone with gel nails for the contact allergy to be triggered.
"Yes, it really is that unfortunate. The immune cells in the skin have a lifelong memory, and completely unintentionally you can expose someone else to the risk of their symptoms flaring up," says Cecilia Svedman.
The allergy is always there
Anyone who has once developed a contact allergy to a substance carries it with them for the rest of their life. The eczema usually disappears when you stop using the product that triggered it. But the next time the skin encounters the allergen, the eczema quickly returns.
Getting rid of beauty products suspected of causing allergy can be difficult. Cecilia Svedman describes patients who have come in carrying an entire bag of products they want to find out whether they can tolerate. But the importance of identifying an allergy extends beyond avoiding throwing things away unnecessarily.
"Many of our patients have other diagnoses. Sometimes they are prescribed certain medical products that they are actually allergic to. For example, it’s a major problem that acrylate-allergic people with diabetes react to their insulin pumps. But if you have a diagnosed contact allergy, it’s easier to know what to avoid," says Cecilia Svedman.
Cosmetics come with ingredient declarations. In addition to reading the text on the back carefully, Cecilia Svedman believes it would be good if more people also reported skin problems to the Swedish Medical Products Agency.
"By reporting problems, we can help influence the market so that skin products become safer, and that benefits all of us," says Cecilia Svedman.
Text: Erika Svantesson
Photo: Åsa Hansdotter, Erika Svantesson
The article was previously published in the journal Vetenskap & Hälsa, 2026.