We Went Green
It seems to me like the big “Go Green” push began around 2011. It started with food and everyone wanting to buy organic, and has since pervaded every other area of life. At that time I was still purchasing cosmetics blindly, blissfully unaware of the chemicals I was subjecting myself to daily in the form of my makeup and skincare. All that changed when I found myself leaning towards a more holistic lifestyle, and called my cosmetics into question.
Before I get much further, I want to say that there are two sides to every story and the green industry is no stranger to bias and opinion, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Do some research and decide for yourself — you do not have to feel the same way I do about it and I won’t judge your decision, I just want to make sure people aren’t blindly following anyone, even me ;).
Why Cosmetics Are Risky
Back to the point. Go look at your favorite makeup products ingredients lists. Chances are, they’re long and incomprehensible without an extensive scientific background. For years, I just plowed right along assuming that science = safety. But there’s more to it than meets the eye.
The U.S. has banned very few ingredients from cosmetics, whereas the EU has banned 3500+ because they have much stricter regulatory laws. In fact, other than some basic tests, our cosmetics are pretty much unregulated. This means all sorts of nasty chemicals that are carcinogens, endocrine-disruptors, etc. can creep into our products. While exposure to those chemicals infrequently isn’t a big deal, lots of women put on at least a little makeup every.single.day. And that’s where it becomes no bueno.
So maybe at this point you’re thinking, shit Sarah, you sound like a hippie nut job. But if what I’ve said so far strikes any chord with you, you may be ready to run out and replace all your products with chemical-free alternatives. The problem is that it really isn’t as simple as assuming that all natural is better than synthetic chemicals.
There is a middle ground. It’s called chemically safe, and it’s the direction I feel our industry is (and should continue) heading toward. The idea of chemically safe products frames my own upcoming product line, as well.
Chemically Safe: The Grey Area
All natural cosmetics aren’t inherently better than their conventional counterparts, just like with food – Oreos are vegan, but you probably shouldn’t eat a whole pack of them on your diet, right? Same thing applies to natural cosmetics. For one thing, there are tons of naturally occurring irritants used in makeup and skincare, like Peppermint Oil. (If you’ve kept up with the EOS lip balm scandal, a lot of those cases were due to their products containing menthol for fragrance.)
Speaking of fragrance, I need to go on a tangent here: fragrance is the biggest cover-up the cosmetic industry has and doesn’t want you to know about. If your makeup lists just “fragrance” as an ingredient without any additional information as to what is actually including in that, you may have reason to worry. Fragrances are 100% unregulated and the easiest way for companies to slip in nasty chemicals for reasons other than the smell.
But I digress.
Not all chemicals are bad. Water is a chemical. I know that from a consumer standpoint, that isn’t what you mean when you say you’re concerned about chemicals, but I mention it just to make a point that all chemicals are NOT equal. Some are really well studied and found to be very safe even for daily exposure, and sometimes using those makes sense. A good example of a synthetic chemical that is great for skin and has been deemed safe is Ubiquinone (aka CoQ10), an enzyme with antioxidant and anti-aging properties. They aren’t all bad, so don’t walk away thinking that!
Another example is preservatives. Preservative systems [somewhat rightfully] got a bad rep because of parabens. Once the public demanded paraben free makeup products, some fantastic and SAFE preservative systems have been developed. These are necessary, because while there are certain natural ingredients that have preservative properties, real preservation to the standard people expect is impossible without some type of chemical. (When food companies first responded to the demand for greener alternatives to classics, for example – Capri Suns, they obliged without properly educating their consumers first. All Natural means a product won’t have any preservatives and is harder to match consistency batch-to-batch, and people didn’t realize that meant their Capri Suns would be MUCH less stable. Up shot the incident rate of angry mothers ranting on Facebook about finding mold in their child’s Capri Sun that was stored in a muggy pantry for four months, and I guarantee you on the other side of that was a baffled scientist thinking, “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too! Do you want natural, or predictable and safe?”)
It isn’t as black and white as that. In my mind, there is middle ground, hence chemically safe. This means using synthetic chemicals only when they’re necessary or have a real impact on your product and not just as cheap fillers, only using ones that have been studied and deemed safe by a variety of third parties, and purchasing from companies that exercise total transparency regarding what is going into your product.
It’s important to do your research. If you’re struggling to find an ingredients list for a product, that’s a bad sign. If you’ve found it and are thinking, what the hell is all of this stuff, Google each ingredient. Groups like the EWG have created robust databases of various ingredients that distill multiple resources and studies into a simple numeric rating system — 1-3 is little risk, 4-7 is moderate risk, 8-10 is dangerous. Apps like Think Dirty then take the EWG and use it to rate entire products and make recommendations for cleaner alternatives. While their rating systems have flaws, they’re a great place to start.
Over time we will find the right balance of synthetic chemicals vs. natural elements. In the meantime, thousands of women are with me as we usher in the beginning of a revolution within the cosmetic industry. Join us, or don’t — that is fine. But please, do enough research to make an informed decision!
xx
