UK consumers spend a whopping £5 billion a year on cosmetics. Younger women are particularly vulnerable because of their relationship with the media to the non-achievable ideal. Lily Bourke, a 22 year old, student says that cosmetics “give me a lot more confidence and make me feel and look a lot better.”
The Women’s Environmental Network publishes lots of information about beauty products and the truth that lies beneath them. Their research shows all sorts of nasty, dark realities, such as the fact that nail polish and nail polish remover are essentially mixtures of toxic chemicals. Also WEN reveals that current legislation does not restrict the quantities or combinations of fragrance chemicals put in perfume. According to the cosmetics industry, a typical perfume often contains between 50 and 100 fragrances. The skin, which is the body’s largest organ, is made up of about 15 layers of flat, dead cells and this can be penetrated quite well by some oils and alcohols, so they are often used in skin products to help carry the active ingredients into the deeper layers. Also over half (57 percent) of products contain the preservative paraben, which can be found in human breast tissue and can mimic the female hormone estrogen. Another nasty is triclosan which can be found in most cosmetic products and has been linked to cancer.
A Study by WEN Found Phthalates in Nearly 80% of Products Tested
WEN is the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and Health Care Without Harm. They found that phthalates are controversial because high doses of many phthalates have shown hormonal activity and large amounts of phthalates have shown damage to the liver and testes and cause birth defects. With current legislation, manufacturers do not have to state whether phthalates are present in their fragrances or not. Most phthalates are used to make vinyl soft and flexible. They save money for consumers. For more than 50 years, they’ve been a key ingredient in fragrances and nail polish. One kind of phthalate fixes the fragrance in perfumes and other products to make it last longer.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom and there is some positive progress happening in the cosmetics industry. Dr Alexa Kimbell, assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School is encouraging about the value of products: “Over-the counter skincare has made tremendous scientific advances in recent years.” The Body Shop is definitely doing its bit to improve the skincare market and is a great example of how natural cosmetic products are easily obtainable and extremely satisfactory. The Body Shops ethos is “We believe there is only one way to be beautiful, nature's way. We’ve believed this for years and still do. We constantly seek out wonderful natural ingredients from all four corners of the globe, and we bring you products bursting with effectiveness to enhance your natural beauty. Whilst we’re doing this, we always strive to protect this beautiful planet and the people who depend on it. We don’t do it this way because it’s fashionable. We do it because, to us, it’s the only way”.
REACH is Also on The Bandwagon to Improve Cosmetics
REACH is a new European Union regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of CHemicals. It came into force on 1st June 2007 and replaces a number of European Directives and Regulations with a single system. REACH has several aims, such as improving the protection of human health by an earlier identification of chemical substances and to make the manufacturers and importers who place chemicals on the market responsible for understanding and managing the risks associated with their use. Also REACH aims to allow the free movement of substances on the EU market and to promote the use of alternative methods for the assessment of the hazardous properties of substances such as the quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR).
So it appears that beneath all the dark, hidden truths and frightening realities of what people are smothering themselves in, there are some encouraging changes taking place to make improvements and bring awareness to individuals about what’s actually put into the products they are using. Authors and regulation companies are realising how dangerous these products are. More cosmetic companies, such as The Body Shop, are adopting the organic approach with their products too. With the work that WEN and REACH are doing, hopefully it will increase awareness on the dangers of what is actually in a lot of cosmetics and people will start to gain more understanding about what they are actually putting on their bodies.
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