Junk Food Cosmetics

Consider this a warning about the dangers of mass manufactured cosmetics. Not to be an alarmist, but in the past few years the opportunity arose to educate myself on this topic and the information is worth paying attention to. Here in the United States, the consumer mindset is to value convenience, the fast and easy. Fast and easy drive-through food, fast and easy on demand digital TV, fast and easy downloadable music, fast and easy cosmetics from the local drugstore or mall. The majority of us don't stop to investigate what is in that food, where does it come from, whether the claims being made by the manufacturer in fact, true? We tend to rely on some unknown governmental agency to be on the lookout on our behalf. When it comes to cosmetics, reliance on the FDA is misplaced.

The FDA is underfunded. Very few of the ingredients used in makeup are tested for their safety. Only when a substance has been proven harmful is it studied for removal. The exact cause and effect must be proven as directly related to that ingredient in isolation. Even when substances are tested, they are viewed in isolation. Determinations are made about how safe or unsafe that particular substance is, without taking into account multiple exposure. In a typical morning, an average female might perform her morning routine, including: brushing her teeth; showering and washing her hair with shampoo containing sodium laureth sulfide; rub on deodorant/anti-perspirant with heavy metals; apply makeup containing talc, mineral oil, bismuth oxychloride, nanoparticles, parabens, synthetic fragrance, synthetic FD&C colorants and lead; use hair spray or gel. Products, let alone individual ingredients, are not used one at a time.