Natural Cosmetics

Makeup has been around virtually as long as civilization—ancient Egyptian women and men wore cosmetics in their daily lives; red henna on their fingernails, green eyeshadow, and brows and lashes blackened by coal or metallic oxides. Throughout history, beauty and makeup trends have come and gone.

From the middle ages until the 20th century, a pale, translucent appearance was considered the ideal and to achieve the look, women applied white-lead paint to their faces, consumed small amounts of arsenic or iodine, or visited specialists who would “bleed” them. One would think that such dangerous practices have long since been abolished. After all, they didn’t realize what they were putting on their faces, right? And surely today’s government agencies control the ingredients that are currently being used in our modern-day, safe society . . .

The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit environmental research organization, recently completed a study in which 10,000 personal care products including 10,500 different ingredients were tested for safety. The results were shocking—approximately 89% of the products had never been tested for safety by the FDA or any other organization! And virtually all of the products contained at least some ingredients that had never been tested. In addition, the EWG found that one-third of the products contained ingredients that are classified as possible carcinogens.

Most consumers assume that the products they are using daily on their bodies, rubbing into their skin, and using on their children have been tested for their safety. Sadly, they are not. While European countries have tested and banned over 400 ingredients found to be “harmful,” the FDA has only ruled out nine. In addition, the processing and disposal of the thousands of tons of toxic, carcinogenic compounds, plastics, etc., from the manufacturing of cosmetics is not doing the environment any favors.

Read the labels! Cosmetics companies are required to list the ingredients in their products in descending order of their volume of the product. If you can’t recognize or pronounce the ingredient, you probably don’t want to be applying it to your face!

Fortunately, there’s good news in store for those who don’t wish to avoid cosmetics entirely. There are many makeup options that don’t require a degree in chemistry, and many responsible cosmetics companies that are genuinely concerned with their products’ impact on consumers and the environment. When you’re considering the purchase of any product, give a bit thought to the package it comes in. Many companies are starting to color aspects of their corporate policy with sustainable practices—you can now find organic lipstick packaged in biodegradable containers made of corn-based polymer!

Filed Under: Fashion