The conceptual challenge of consumer safety

It’s been a while now since I stopped buying off-the-counter cosmetics. Ever since I discovered a website that allows you to filter products in terms of their formulation, it has become a night-time hobby to play around with the filters and see what cosmetics come up. You don’t get a choice over the ingredients a product can have; rather, you select the ingredients you do not wish to be included. PEG, silicones and phthalates are the standard ingredients to avoid but, to my dismay, I noticed recently that the list keeps growing, mentioning substances that I had never heard of. What are BHT and HEMA and why do certain products proclaim that they are free of them? Such questions have turned my night-time routine into a stressful activity as I research what all these substances are and how harmful they can be.