Many health nuts and proponents of the natural beauty movement have raised the red flags regarding a certain group of preservatives. Parabens, which are chemicals that are normally found in many mainstream cosmetics, are worrying plenty of consumers who believe there may be a possibility that they’re cancer-causing agents – an analysis of cancerous breast tissue found parabens mixed in with the sample.

Emphasis on the word “possibility,” however. According to the Food & Drug Administration, there may be cause to look into this relationship further, but at the moment, there is no conclusive evidence that parabens are actually responsible for causing any adverse effects.

Besides this, Rebecca Sutton, a scientist at the Environmental Working Group, raised a good point.

“You certainly don’t want parabens to be pulled out and a more dangerous preservative to be put in,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “Sometimes cosmetic companies might jump on the paraben-free bandwagon without really doing a proper assessment of…the safer preservatives that they ought to be adding.”

So what’s a girl to do? Just because there’s no conclusive evidence doesn’t mean that none of these allegations aren’t true, and at the same time, there don’t seem to be any good alternatives (unless you want lotion that gets moldy three weeks after you open it). One day, science will hopefully give us a better answer, but in the meantime, it’s best to stay mindful and keep treating our bodies the best we know how.