Do You Know What Lurks in your Make-up Drawer?

Make-up is an issue that I wrestle with every day.  The words, ” natural and organic,” are not synonymous.  Many products tout that their products are made from natural or organic products could contain  1,4 dioxane, in which the Environmental Protection Agency has declared a probable human carcinogen.

According to the Los Angeles Times article,

“The compound is not intentionally added to products; it is a byproduct of a process used to soften harsh detergents. It is formed when foaming agents, or surfactants, are processed with ethylene oxide or similar petrochemicals.”

Having read “Not a Pretty Face, ” I quickly learned that the make-up I have been using for years could be very toxic to my health.

When you go to the make-up counter, do you ever ask, can I see your products that contain toluene in them or phthlates, a hormone disruptor?  How about a little heavy metal for my eye lids?  I did not think so.   Make-up just scares me, but I have to admit I look better with a little color on my face.

So, what is a woman to do?  I can research until the cows come home the ingredients in a product, provided the Company provides  me with all the ingredients (and hidden byproducts) by using the Skin Deep Database, but I am still left with the question, does the organic make-up that I choose work?

Honestly, I am not a beauty brat so I have to rely on other people to tell me what works and doesn’t work.  I went so far to put  a query on Make-up Alley in the green board to ask people what they liked.  The answers were all over the board.  I spent an hour in a local Whole Food store looking at their make-up and bugging the saleswoman to death as to what ingredients were in the products.   I was so hesitant to buy anything because the make-up was so expensive.  I walked out of the store with a eye liner pencil by Dr. Hauschka’s organic eyeliner pencil and an Hemp Organic lipstick.

Thoughts about the two products?  Love the pencil. It is so easy to apply color around my eyes.  My old Clinque pencil always seemed dry. However, on the Skin Deep database, this product received a 4, moderate hazard score.  The database suggested that there were 40% more eye liners that had less hazardous scores.  So,  am I confused? Yes.  (Need to buy that blackberry so I can google the Skin Deep database and pray the product is listed.)

I  liked the color of the lipstick but wish it had more moisture in it.   My lips feel dry. (Note, their lipsticks received a 2 rating on the scale.) So, now you know why I am so hesitant to buy make-up products from companies that I know nothing about  or the ingredients in their products.  So, I remain blotchy  faced at the moment.

Beautorium sent me a quick email and told me to watch the above video about the myths that surround organic make-up. I am not endorsing any of the make-up that they used in the video, but the show featured some interesting companies mentioned.  On the video, Jami used her Tastee cosmetics’ lip balm as well as products from Beautorium, including Afterglow Cosmetics, Marina Cosmetics, Revolution Organics, and Juice Beauty.  I found the Revolution Organic product very interesting because I liked that you can use their product for many different make-up applications:  eye, lips, and cheeks. (Saving you some green.)

So, my advice is do your homework.  Ask any company for the list of ingredients and check them on the Skin Deep Database. Note, anything with a “eth” in the ingredient may contain 1, 4 dioxane.  Ask the Company if this byproduct was stripped from the product when manufacturered.   Make sure your product does not contain any of the following chemicals listed on the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ website:

Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde-releasing Preservatives
Nitrosamines

Lead and Other Heavy Metals

Parabens

Phthalates

Hydroquinone

1,4-dioxane

So, readers,

Which organic make-up lines do you like? Lipstick, blush, foundation, eye shadow, mascara, the works.  Please let other Green Talk readers know your coloring so they know if that product might work for them. (I would consider myself to be fair skinned and I have dark brown hair (thanks to my hair colorist who applies Organic Hair Color Systems on my all gray head) and green/brown eyes.)

Have any of you extensively researched so called organic products?

If so, which ones do you recommend?

What score would you be happy with on the Skin Deep database?  3 and under?

What is your system to know if a make-up product is safe?

Do you consider the packaging as well when your purchase organic make-up?

(Note, for full disclosure, Green Talk is an affiliate of Beautorium, which means that for every product you purchase through their ad on my site, I get a small percentage.  Every little bit helps to keep the site going.  However, purchase what you are comfortable with after you made an informed decision.  Use their site as a starting point, but do your own homework.)

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• EWG Guide to Healthy Cleaning. Helpful or Confusing?