Choosing Safe Makeup and Beauty Products

Reader Contribution by Faith Moser
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Faith Moser is the creator of eco ike {organic baby t’s + cookbooks full of yummy, healthy and quick recipes for kids and grown-ups}! If you want your kids to grow, live, eat & play green, visit ecoike.com.

Lately I have been looking for make up that is free of potentially harmful chemicals. Feeling and looking beautiful should not come with the price tag of our health. It’s important for makeup companies to know that we want beauty products that don’t hinder our well-being in any way. I vote with my money and will purchase products that are free of:

• Benzophenones (oxybenzone): Can cause photoallergic reactions and is a hormone disrupter.

• Paraben (butylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben): The most widely used preservative in cosmetics and personal care products. It can mimic estrogen in the body, may disrupt hormones and possibly increase the risk of breast cancer. (Check out this video from Cornell University on breast cancer and the estrogen connection.) 

• Phthalates: A chemical additive that can disrupt the endocrine system, mimic estrogen and cause thyroid problems, allergies and asthma.

• Sulfates (sodium lauryl sulfate–SLS–or sodium laureth sulfate–SLES):  This thickening, lathering agent is a skin irritant (despite being used in products that you put on your skin!) and can mimic estrogen. SLS has been linked to cancer-causing carcinogens.

A good resource is the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. Just type in your makeup brand and it will give you the lowdown on that product. My one complaint with this site is that it does not state why some products don’t get better marks than others. So, use it–but sometimes question how they came to their conclusions.

Here’s what is in my makeup bag!  I am very happy with all of these products:

Zuzu liquid eyeliner
Gabriel foundation
Mineral Fusion lipstick
Badger lip tint & shimmer
Pacifica Hawaiian Ruby Guava perfume

  • Published on Apr 20, 2012
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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