Junk Food Cosmetics

Consider this a warning about the dangers of mass manufactured cosmetics. Not to be an alarmist, but in the past few years the opportunity arose to educate myself on this topic and the information is worth paying attention to. Here in the United States, the consumer mindset is to value convenience, the fast and easy. Fast and easy drive-through food, fast and easy on demand digital TV, fast and easy downloadable music, fast and easy cosmetics from the local drugstore or mall. The majority of us don't stop to investigate what is in that food, where does it come from, whether the claims being made by the manufacturer are, in fact, true? We tend to rely on some unknown governmental agency to be on the lookout on our behalf. When it comes to cosmetics, reliance on the FDA is misplaced.

The FDA is underfunded. Very few of the ingredients used in makeup are tested for their safety. Only when a substance has been proven harmful is it studied for removal. The exact cause and effect must be proven as directly related to that ingredient in isolation. Even when substances are tested, they are viewed in isolation. Determinations are made about how safe or unsafe that particular substance is, without taking into account multiple exposure. In a typical morning, an average female might perform her morning routine, including: brushing her teeth; showering and washing her hair with shampoo containing sodium laureth sulfide; rub on deodorant/anti-perspirant with heavy metals; apply makeup containing talc, mineral oil, bismuth oxychloride, nanoparticles, parabens, synthetic fragrance, synthetic FD&C colorants and lead; use hair spray or gel. Products, let alone individual ingredients, are not used one at a time.

On the topic of ingredient safety, Europe has a very different view than the FDA. Across the pond, substances must be proven safe prior to being approved for inclusion in cosmetics. There is a long list of substances banned from use due to their being known or suspected carcinogens, endochrine disruptors and toxins. Since most of the conglomerate manufacturers of cosmetics are worldwide distributors, they have reformulated products for the European market. In order to comply with European law, makeup companies have taken out the banned carcinogens from their products. Yet, these same companies continue to sell the original versions of the same products to us in the United States, carcinogens included! If that isn't outrageous enough, these same companies tout their pink ribbon campaigns to “find the cure”. How can they be so insincere and get away with it?

Cosmetics are a self-regulated industry. That means all of these “studies” showing this or that are not performed by independent labs, but by in-house chemists being paid by the cosmetic companies. Not exactly impartial.

Last year, a meeting for Signatories of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics included a presentation on nanoparticles. It explained how nanoparticles are so tiny they have the ability to lodge inside the helix of a strand of DNA. No anti-oxidant in the world can dislodge a nanoparticle once it is inside your DNA. The DNA is altered. No one would seek out DNA alteration as a side effect from a makeup product. But it may be even more serious for particularly vulnerable groups. So let's imagine, for example, a woman of childbearing years. She puts on some makeup containing nanoparticles which seep into her skin and penetrate into her cellular level, altering the DNA structure. Who knows what reproductive harm may result? It has not been guaranteed to be safe, is the risk worth taking?

There is a wonderful tool available to determine the safety of ingredients, products and companies that produce their own line of cosmetics. It is run by the Environmental Working Group, which has created a compendium of studies in a searchable database called Skin Deep. With product in hand, a consumer can go online and obtain a report showing the safety rating of the product with a breakdown by ingredient. There is a scale from zero to eight with eight being the most eggregious. There are pie charts and references to the underlying reports and studies used to reach the rating. The data is all factual, although some of the studies may be outdated. Even if you only know the name of a product, it may be in there with the ingredients listed, avoiding you from taking a trip to the store to buy it just to find out it contains things you don't want.

Food labels have to list their ingredients, enabling a consumer can judge whether it is nutritional or junk food. How can consumers spot junk cosmetics? The whole process would be easier if there was more transparency in the cosmetics industry. Cosmetic advertisements would be a lot more useful if they had a box at the bottom with the Ingredient list. The powerful lobby funded by the Food, Cosmetics and Toiletry Association would no doubt block any attempt to regulate cosmetic advertising.

Consumers, harness your own power! The power we all have as information gatherers. Read ingredient labels. Find out what qualities the components of the makeup you use are supposed to impart. Ask yourself if it is something you want in your products, and if not, find the alternatives that exist. Effective cosmetics can be made without harmful substances. It is being done every day.

Linda Stein is the Owner of and Formulator for Zosimos Botanicals LLC, http://www.zbllc.com.

For Questions regarding this article, she can be reached at customer_service@zosimosbotanicals.com.