The other day, I bought some new makeup – an eyeliner and an eyeshadow (4 colors in one!). I am rather ambivalent about makeup – I’ll go days without a speck, and other days I really want to glam it up; and of course there are all the inbetween days… the last time I bought new makeup, I spent days researching brands; noticing what was available at my usual shopping locations, then looking those brands up to see which were the cleanest, greenest ones (Dr. Hauschka, but it seems so expensive to be buying it at the grocery store; or Laura Mercier at Sephora – both get high ratings on GoodGuide.com).
This time around, it was totally on a whim; I was at Rite Aid and just couldn’t resist the low price… so for about $14, what did I get?
Revlon Colorstay 12 hour Eye Shadow, #345 Sterling Rose: mica (organ system toxicity, persistent and bioaccumulative, human immune system toxicant), boron nitride (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), dimethicone (organ system toxicity), calcium aluminum borosilicate (neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity), talc (often contaminated, not assessed for safety in cosmetics), cyclopentasiloxane (persistant and bioaccumulative, organ system toxicity), polypropylene (human immune system toxicant), trimethylsiloxysilicate (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), nylon-12 (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), acrylates/ dimethicone copolymer (not assessed for safety in cosmetics)… and that’s just in the top 10 listed out of 19, PLUS another 12 that “may” also be in there (depending on the color).
Maybelline Master Drama by Eyestudio, cream pencil bold brown: Isododecane (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), PEG/PPG-19/19 Dimethicone (violation of industry recommendations for use), cyclopentasiloxane (persistent and bioaccumulative, may be carcinogenic, endocrine disruptor, organ system toxicity, ecotoxicity), synthetic wax (also called paraffin wax; limited data), hydrogenated polydicyclopentadiene (not assessed for safety in cosmetics; by the way, also used as a depilatory. In my eyeliner?), C20-40 alcohols (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), nylon-12 (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), perfluorononyl dimethicone (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), polyglyceryl-4 diisostearate polyhydroxystearate sebacate – polyglyceryl-4 diisostearate/ polyhydroxystearate/sebacate (for all that, not assessed for safety in cosmetics), polyethylene (irritant, human immune system toxicant, missing safety data noted by industry review). Again, only the top 10 ingredients out of 12, plus another 9 that may or may not be in there.
Still feel like the cosmetics industry is keeping our health and safety in mind? The bigger issue here is that these same ingredients, plus hundreds more, are bombarding you every day: through your skin, in the air and in the water. No wonder babies are being born “pre-polluted” these days. While it will take legislative action to force companies to take the toxics out, many have already done so, or never did to begin with – its worth the effort to find these ethical manufacturers and support them with your dollars. In the meantime, sign the petitions when they come around, and vote!
www.EWG.org and www.safecosmetics.org are great resources for doing your own research.
I used EWG’s Skin Deep database to find out about these ingredients, and www.goodguide.com for info on the brands.
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