A little Awareness Goes a Long Way: 2 Major Beauty Industry Red Flags

When no one is stopping harmful chemicals and micro plastics from entering your self care products, your awareness matters.

1. Chemicals

The beauty industry is a multi-billion dollar business.
Products like makeup and skin care are everywhere and we tend to think they’re harmless, but the dangerous truth is that the The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations do not stop harmful chemicals from entering your self care products.

While the FDA does require that all ingredients used in cosmetics be listed on the product label, they do not require companies to list them in order of predominance or percentage. The FDA also does not require cosmetic companies to test for safety before putting their products on the market—a process known as "pre-market approval."
This means that the products that you are using could be made of toxic chemicals like phthalates, parabens and sulfates. And you wouldn't know unless you asked the company directly or got a hold of an independent lab test.
The reason for this is largely due to the fact that chemicals are cheaper than natural ingredients. As a result, consumers are often exposed to ingredients that could be harmful.
These toxic chemicals can lead to hormone imbalances, skin irritation and other extreme health problems.

So how can you tell if your products are toxic?
As a rule of thumb, if you can’t pronounce the ingredients, it’s probably not going to be good for your skin. This is especially true if the product has a long list of chemicals that are hard to pronounce.

People are becoming more aware of the harmful ingredients that go into their skin care products, and they're making the change to clean beauty.

Clean beauty is a term used to describe products that have minimal ingredients, are free of harmful chemicals, and aren't tested on animals.
The ingredients used in clean beauty products are free of toxic chemicals and synthetic ingredients, which means they’re better for our health and are kinder to the planet.

2. Plastic Packaging

How many of your favorite "clean" beauty products are still packaged in plastic?
Unfortunately plastic has become the go-to material for most beauty products.
The chemicals from plastic can leak into packaged products and are absorbed by the body. Everything you put on your body goes into the Earth.
These micro plastics get washed down the drain, they end up polluting our oceans, lakes, rivers and other waterways.

Microplastics are found in nearly every personal care product such as toothpaste, facial cleanser, body wash, and even sunscreen.
These chemicals include BPA - which has been linked with cancer, reproductive problems, diabetes and obesity.

Just like the unregulated harmful chemicals found in your beauty products, these big companies are using plastic because it’s cheaper.
There are many alternatives to plastic that are better for both people and the planet.

So what can we do?

Avoid single-use plastics as much as possible.

Ultimately consumers hold control of the products and packaging companies use, because where there’s no market there’s no money to be made.
So support companies making a serious effort to reduce their environmental impact. Look for brands who’s packaging and ingredients are reusable, biodegradable, compostable, and zero waste.

If enough people demand change from these big corporations they will have no choice but to listen up and make some real changes in order to thrive in this era of eco-conscious consumers.

The beauty industry is a huge part of society and it's important for us to understand the effects it has on our health and the environment. There are many different ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint and even save money in the process by using less chemicals, recycling more materials and buying sustainable products.