February 4th, 2009
By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now
From your Naturopathica balancing mist to your Origins nourishing face lotion, from that fabulous Florestas rose night cream to your favorite Healing Garden anti-wrinkle cream, your bathroom countertop is a showcase of natural, organic skin and body products.
So why are you hiding your makeup? Perhaps because it is very un-green.
Don’t blame yourself. It’s not easy to find high-quality, organic eye shadows, lipsticks, foundation, concealers, mascara and the rest. But now research and demand are bringing more natural cosmetics to the market.
There are plenty of publications, websites and natural beauty blogs telling you all about makeup that’s good for your face and the Earth. They are joined by non-profits and other groups that strive to keep you up to date on what to avoid in your makeup kit.
Organic makeup is a lucrative market: One beauty market analyst told the Chicago Tribune that green makeup sales rose from $43 million in 2004 to $173 million in 2007. Organic Monitor reported the global market for organic and natural products in 2007 was $7 billion, and is forecast to pass the $10 billion mark by 2010.
Just as with other products for the body, the Food and Drug Administration does not hold any sway over products that use the words “organic” or “natural” on their labels. The U.S. Department of Agriculture does, however, hold cosmetics, beauty and health products to the same standard as it does food. An eye shadow or lipstick cannot say it is 100 percent organic unless it truly is (it can call itself “organic” with 95 percent organic ingredients, and “made from organic ingredients” if it is 70 percent organic.) A black or green USDA circle on the product can attest to its purity.
The NSF Public Health and Safety Company, a non-profit that has been developing safety standards for products worldwide for more than 60 years, developed a more stringent certification standard for “organic” personal care products last year. There are other certifications available for products that want to label themselves organic, from the California Organic Products Act to Ecocert from France (which bans mineral oil, silicon, parabens and animal testing).
Make Your Makeup Certifiably Green
A complete list of all standards and their accompanying logos can be found at I Buy It Green.
So what should you be concerned about in your lipsticks and concealer? The Environmental Working Group has compiled a cosmetic safety database of more than 41,000 products that allows you to search by item to learn its safety ranking, ingredients, potential health hazards and whether it has any certification labels.
Another non-profit group, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, has a website with detailed information about cosmetics, their ingredients and potential health and environmental threats. Those suspect ingredients include nitrosamines, heavy metals (lead has been found in lipsticks), parabens (found in lipsticks), phthalates (often found in nail polish), hydroquinone and 1,4-dioxine – most of which have been linked to cancer, hormone changes and skin problems.
The Organic Consumers Association lists dozens of manufacturers they consider “organic” or “natural.”
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