The cosmetic sector is a $445 billion dollar industry which is vastly unregulated. Earlier this year, even famous celebrities in the United States were calling on congress to see new regulations be implemented. Even reality t.v. star Kourtney Kardashian met with congress to see change happen in the cosmetic industry. She is working alongside an environmental non-profit that would like to see change in the cosmetic sector. Also, a huge trend within the cosmetic industry is greenwashing which advertises ' natural ingredients' but are still harmful to the environment in hopes of appealing to people that are seeking more natural products. This is both deceptive and dangerous as it makes individuals believe that they are helping the environment instead of hurting the environment.
I decided to look into some of my makeup products that I bought believing that they were green/ and or good for the environment.I tend to purchase a lot of Tarte Cosmetics as I believe that they are green? but are they actually really.
Tarte Bronzer: According to the website contains Talc, Mica, Zinc, Crosspolymer, Titanium Dioxide, Disodium EDTA and Phenoxyethanol just to name a few.
According to the advertising campaign, I am told to believe that these cosmetics are great for the environment and natural. They are good for your skin too. However, upon reading the ingredients above, I am rather disgusted as these seem like they are not great for either your skin or the environment. For example; Titanium dioxide has been proven to cause damage to fresh water snails and can change phytoplankton. Yikes! So every time I wear bronzer and wash my face, Titanium dioxide is going down the drain, not treated in a waste water system and eventually ends up in streams, lakes, rivers and the ocean.Titanium Dioxide is also dangerous to humans. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified it as a carcinogen which can lead to cancer. Talc, like Titanium Dioxide has also been linked to cancer causing by the International Agency for Research. The cosmetic industry places such a high demand on Talc that some animal sanctuaries are being illegally mined. In India, this has been hurting tigers and destroying their habitat. The mining of Mica is often done by child labour in India. Many children are unable to go to school as they have to work in the Mica mines.
Tarte Highlighter: I use this almost every day contains many of the same ingredients as listed in the Bronzer. This makes me think twice about buying Tarte Cosmetics. I tend to be a socially and economically driven consumer, and got duped into thinking that I was buying products that were great for the environment.
Okay, lets look at another brand that I buy often: Pacifica Beauty Products
When reviewing their website I noticed that their products still contained Mica, but the their products did not contain synthetic or other chemical ingredients. I also really liked that this company had a recycling program for their product cases. They will email you a prepaid shipping label for you to send the product casing back to them, so it can be properly sanitized and reused or if not reused then it can be properly recycled. Overall, really impressed with this company, it is not perfect but will continue to support a company that is stepping in the right direction instead of forcing you to believe it is green when it actually is not.
References:
https://www.allure.com/story/kourtney-kardashian-meets-congress-cosmetics-safety-regulations
https://cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/2628/2725
https://tartecosmetics.com/en_CA/makeup/cheeks/bronzer/amazonian-clay-matte-waterproof-bronzer/183.html?dwvar_183_color=hotel%20heiress%20%28deep%20bronze%29&cgid=bronzer#start=3
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0030321
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/01/20/titanium-dioxide-nanoparticles-health-risks.aspx
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jun/22/world.antonybarnett
https://www.theage.com.au/national/indias-mica-mines-the-shameful-truth-behind-mineral-makeups-shimmer-20140118-311wk.html#ixzz3K6x41I2t
https://www.pacificabeauty.com
https://www.pacificabeauty.com/pages/recycle