Anything that is put on the skin is absorbed directly into the body. Anything that is eaten is first pass metabolized by the liver. In contrast, an estrogen patch goes directly into the body bypassing the liver. Thus, the patch dose is 10 times less than the oral dose. Or put another way anything that is put on the skin is 10 times the oral dose.
Most skin creams contain methyl paraben, propyl paraben, or butyl paraben.
The parabens are known xenoestrogens, and are now being investigated by the European Union as a contributor to breast cancer. Be very careful about what you put on your skin. Many of the cosmetics also contain these same preservatives as well. A women who has too much estrogen has estrogen receptors that are desensitized or down regulated to estrogen. Her body tries to compensate for the large estrogen load by becoming less sensitive to estrogen.