We’ve talked about dangerous skin care products. Are cosmetics safe?

In a word, no.

Unfortunately you’d expect that our cosmetics would be safe, just as you’d expect that our skin care products would be safe. But you’d be wrong.

Dangerous cosmetics sit there on the shelves of our department stores just like dangerous skin care products sit there on the shelves. Manufactured by big brand name companies like Christian Dior, Revlon, Proctor and Gamble and L’Oreal.

That’s why the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics exists. To try and put pressure on our government and our cosmetics and skin care companies to make cosmetics and skin care products that don’t contain harmful ingredients.

Companies like those we’ve listed above.

So, sadly, when you apply that mascara, or lipstick, or blush, or eye shadow, or bronzer, or blush or foundation or mask or face cream you are, if you’re using mainstream big brand name cosmetics, taking a risk with your health.

Here’s just a few examples of dangerous cosmetics:

1. In 2007 the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics commissioned tests by an independent laboratory on some of our biggest names of lipstick. These included those from Christian Dior, Revlon and L’Oreal.

The results were frightening. Over 50% (52 out of 72 tested) contained lead, including

L’Oreal Colour Riche “True Red”
Christian Dior Addict “Positive Red”
Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor “Maximum Red”

And we’re sure we don’t need to tell you why you don’t want lead sitting on your skin all day.

Finally in May 2007 the California senate voted in Senate Bill 1712 to ban lead in lipstick saying :

“In the absence of federal regulations requiring safe cosmetics, some companies are making very poor decisions about product safety.’

2. In 2002 another study of common household cosmetic and beauty products, including such common products as toothpastes and shampoos as well as cosmetics, found Phthalates in over 70% of them. Phthalates are industrial chemicals that are linked to birth defects, amongst other things.

And there’s more, but we’re sure you get the picture. Our government and the major cosmetics companies are failing to protect the health of the public by allowing dangerous cosmetics onto the cosmetic shelves of our major department stores.

What do you do about it? Buy safe cosmetics.

Many cosmetic companies have signed the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics pledge to use only safe ingredients in their products. Our pick is Ferro Cosmetics, a small niche company making safe cosmetics which has signed the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics pledge, and which makes a niche range of SAFE cosmetics.

But you won’t find Ferro Cosmetics products on the shelves, you’ll have to buy direct from Ferro, and you’ve probably  never heard of them. They don’t have the budget to compete on TV against big names like L’Oreal, but they  make high quality safe cosmetics. Read the rest of this entry

More about the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics.

If you’re looking for great skin care products then you want to know 2 things. Firstly they work. Secondly they’re safe. Not all work. Not all are safe. (For the best, and safest, skin care products, click here.)

We wrote recently about the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. I talked about the fact that there are suspect or even known dangerous ingredients in our skin care and anti aging products and cosmetics.

And that there is a way to tell if your skin care or cosmetics company is committed to the safety of it’s products. If it has signed the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics pact it is committed to the safety of it’s products to it’s customers.

But I wanted to write a bit more about the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and what it is and where it came from.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics started in 2002 following the release of a report entitled Not Too Pretty: Phthalates, Beauty Products and the FDA.

In this report a group of environmental and public health organizations gathered together and commissioned a test by a major US laboratory of 72 well known brand name beauty products. They tested for the presence of a substance, or specifically a group of substances, called Pthalates.

Pthalates are industrial chemicals linked to, amongst other things, birth defects.

The tests found that there were Pthalates in roughly three quarters of the products tested, including deodorants, hair gels, mouses, hair sprays and body lotions.

In particular it found Pthalates in ALL fragrances tested. You would have read elsewhere here that we suggest that when you buy skin care or anti aging products you avoid any with fragrances in them. You see why.

There is much more in the report than that, but that’s the basics. If you want to read it the link is above.

So the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics was started. It’s a “coalition of women’s, public health, labor, environmental health and consumer-rights groups” that seeks to “protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out the use of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems, and replace them with safer alternatives”.

A very worthwhile goal.

It has a pact that cosmetics and skincare companies can sign to commit themselves to producing safe products, and so if you want to use skin care products that are safe use products from a company that has signed the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics pact.

It’s been busy and in 2007 released a report into lead found in many of the major brands of lipsticks, including some of the biggest names in the business.

Personally we firmly believe that the best skin care products are made by a company called Xtend Life. It is a signatory to the compact and makes stunningly effective, safe and cost effective skin care and anti aging products. Read the rest of this entry