Do you realize how many products you use a day? Whether it be skin, makeup, or hair?
Do you know what ingredients are in your products?
How does it make you feel that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has NO POWER over the cosmetic industry? Seems a little concerning since the FDA is the federal agency that overseas the cosmetic sector. According to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act of 1938, the FDA basically has no authority regulating the safety of ingredients (FDA, 2018).
In other words, The FDA does not require that cosmetic ingredients be assessed for safety before they go on to the market and they CANNOT issue a product recall (FDA, 2017). This 80 year old Act is dated and insufficient. In a $62 billion industry, the Act only has TWO pages that bans 30 ingredients where as the European Union has banned 1,400.
Beautycounter has banned over 1,500 ingredients.
[line] Why Does This Matter? [line]
The Clean Beauty Movement is about sweeping up all the dirt and coming out clean.
At Beautycounter, we are about transparency. We are telling you what is NOT in our products as well as what is in them. This movement is built by the people. We are changing the world by educating people and providing solutions through products that are safer.
[line] What You Need to Know [line]
- Read your labels and look at your ingredients. Beautycounter’s The Never List is composed of the 1,500+ ingredients that will never be used in our products. These ingredients are linked to allergies, hormone disruption, organ toxicity, carcinogens, and many more health conditions. Take a pocket size version with you as you shop for new products.
- Be aware that products that say organic or natural. These terms are NOT regulated by the FDA, therefore there is no agreed upon definition. Also, any products that have leaves or natural images stating they only use natural ingredients is a MARKETING SCHEME. May look deceiving, because it’s smart to draw in the consumer.
- Fragrance is NOT regulated, either. Even though there may be many ingredients to produce a scent, it is sufficeint to list those ingredients simply as “fragrance.” The issue here is that those undisclosed ingredients are linked to allergies and contact dermatitis. Also, be aware some products may say “unscented” however there could be fragrance ingredients to MASK the unpleasant smells of other ingredients (FDA, 2017). Find something that says fragrance free, instead.
- Check out The Environmental Working Group‘s website. This non profit, non-partisan organization’s mission is to help the public understand their environment and protect the health of everyone. Go to their Skin Deep section and search for the products you use to see how safe they are to your health. They even have an app you can download onto your phone.
- 80% of ingredients have never been tested for safety. Beautycounter is on a mission to change that.
- Beautycounter is a B Corp which means we are a company that does more than sell products, but influences the consumer and the environment.
It’s important that we as consumers, take charge of our health. It is not enough that we buy products that say “natural” or “organic.” We need to start digging and read labels and be aware of what the FDA has control over. The Clean Beauty Movement is still in it’s infant stages but we are growing strong. We’re not setting out to sell you products, we’re changing the world. We are built on education.
The next time you go shopping to replenish your skin care or make up products, I encourage you to take a look at what Beautycounter has to offer. Read my blog post on why I joined Beautycounter. I’m confident it will make you think twice about your cosmetic products.
Toxic chemicals in my skin care? No, thanks. Safer, high performing beauty products? Yes, please.
