• Are you lips chronically dry, cracked, peeling or swollen?
• Do mascaras irritate your eyes?
• Do deodorants leave your underarms itchy?
• Do certain creams or face powders irritate your face or your hands?

If so, you could be one of the millions of people – primarily women – with allergies to something in their cosmetics. And cosmetics means face creams, lotions, rouge, blusher, powder, eyeliner and shadow, lipstick, nail polish and polish remover, as well as nail lengtheners, shampoos, hair dyes, hair waves, hair removers (depilatories), shaving cream, perfumes, cologne, sachets, bubble baths, douches, mouthwash, toothpaste – even dentures!

It's easy to see why cosmetics and other personal grooming products are the most common cause of skin reactions. They're usually applied daily, directly to the skin. And, as we mentioned before, chronic exposure breeds allergy. Also, over 5,000 different chemicals and compounds go into these products – as bases, dyes, fragrances, preservatives and the like – multiplying the odds that something is going to disagree with you, no matter how minuscule the amount.

No wonder one doctor estimates that 85 percent of people who are allergic to cosmetics don't even realize which substance are causing the problem. Where do you start? With creams and lotions. These accounted for almost half all allergic reactions in a study of 70 people sensitive to cosmetics, according to Dr. Schorr.

It's not the creams and lotions are any more allergenic than other products, he says. People simply tend to apply them to already irritated skin – which is more prone to react.

And they use them all over their body. An FDA study of cosmetic reactions found that the most frequent reactions were to: deodorants/antiperspirants, depilatories (hair removers), moisturizer lotions, hair spray, mascara, bubble bath, eye cream, hair color, dye or lightener, facial creams or cleansers and nail polish – in that order.

Is a woman with cosmetic allergies dreaming if she hopes to wear makeup? Must men swear off all grooming aids? Not at all. They merely have to choose products carefully and apply them with extra care.