Wearing cosmetics can be hazardous to your health unless you are careful about the brands that you buy and use. While the FDA is checking our food, they are not given the authority to check the cosmetics we wear. It is up to each consumer to be proactive and seek out safe products, assuming that most cosmetics manufactured by traditional big-name brands are made up of toxins. When you consider that most women wear cosmetics on a regular basis, with the makeup on their face for the entire day, there is no question that these products need to be safe.
It is estimated that 1 in 8 of personal care products contain industrial chemicals. These ingredients include pesticides, known carcinogens and hormone disruptors. This fact is frightening enough on its own, but what makes matters even more disconcerting is that cosmetic manufacturers do not have to list all of the ingredients on labels. Considering this unregulated environment where everything goes, the only way a family can be sure they aren’t putting their health at risk is to buy from a trusted cosmetic company that has made it a point to sell safe and natural products as an ongoing pledge to customers.
You can’t always take a company at its word. Similar to the food industry, the use of the word natural is being distorted for marketing purposes in the cosmetics industry now too. Since reading labels is not really a big help when you consider that all ingredients aren’t required to be listed, finding companies that are devoted to offering natural cosmetics is a good place to start. Doing some research on the company also makes sense to ensure that they have a good reputation for delivering on promises of offering natural cosmetics.
Some of the worst ingredient offenders are parabens, which are preservatives. Parabens are damaging to health since they interfere with the endocrine system. Given that the endocrine system is responsible for regulating organ function, anything that impedes this important system in the body is likely to have a negative impact on overall health.
Whether you are shopping for anti aging creams or lipstick, as a consumer you have a right to feel that the product you are using is safe. This growing demand for safe cosmetics has fueled the development of many new companies claiming to sell only organic or natural cosmetics. Like organic food, organic cosmetics do not use plants or ingredients that have been sprayed with pesticides. The claim that a company sells only organic products does not necessarily mean that the products they sell are free from other toxic ingredients. The terminology being used in the industry is confusing and often ambiguous.
Specific questions that you can ask before purchasing a product include whether there are any filler chemicals, preservatives or dyes used in the product. Another good question for animal lovers to inquire about is whether any of their products were developed using animal testing. Knowing what to ask is a good way to find out more about the companies making your cosmetics and other personal products.
The author writes articles about health, home and garden topics. Her resume includes many articles about safety as it relates to consumer issues. She recently started writing for L’eclisse.
For consumers seeking the best and safest anti aging creams check out the natural cosmetics at L’eclisse.