Beauty Without Consequences
"Most people assume cosmetics and personal care products are tested for safety before being stocked on store shelves. In truth, personal care products are one of the least regulated industries in the U.S. "
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FDA Regulation:
* “FDA does not have the legal authority to approve cosmetics before they go on the market.” As well, it acknowledges, “cosmetic companies may use almost any ingredient they choose.” Worse yet, the agency lacks the authority to recall possibly unsafe products.
* FDA cannot require companies to conduct pre-market safety testing of cosmetics products and ingredients.
* FDA cannot review or approve cosmetic products or ingredients before they are sold to the public.
* FDA cannot effectively and efficiently regulate cosmetics products without facing cumbersome legal proceedings with manufacturers.
* FDA cannot require product recall. The agency must go to court to remove misbranded and adulterated products from the market.
* FDA cannot require manufacturers to register their cosmetic establishments, file data on ingredients or report cosmetic-related injuries. Instead, FDA relies on voluntary reporting of ingredients, injuries and establishments -
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Safety Reviews
" In the absence of government authority, the safety of personal care product ingredients is evaluated through a voluntary industry program known as the Cosmetic Ingredient Review process. Not only is this program run by the very industry it is intended to oversee, but compliance with CIR recommendations is totally voluntary. "
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Educate Yourself
1. Simplify
Choose products with simpler ingredient lists and fewer synthetic chemicals. Avoid synthetic fragrance by skipping products with “fragrance” on the label, and use fewer products overall. Discover why you want to use the products you do with this worksheet : "My Beauty Why's". You may find that you can achieve the same results another way, or learn from the concepts that your "why" is bringing up.
2. Be a Leader, Not a Follower
Develop the next "fad" by researching your own products, having fun with them and make them a new craze. This way you can be responsible for your health, your look, and make a difference.
3. Research Products Yourself
Since the beauty industry is largely unregulated, it’s up to you to do your own research to find the safest products. There are no legal standards for personal care products labeled as “pure,” “natural” or “organic,” so look beyond the marketing claims and read labels carefully.
For more resources, check out:
Learn tips on buying safer products
Shop safer cosmetics companies
Learn! Start with our program to get started by clicking the announcement bar at the top of this website.
4. Find out what's in your products
Do your own research. Just because it is on the market does NOT mean it is safe nor advisable to use.
Here is a list of the red listed ingredients to look for to avoid
Use the Toxic Cosmetics Database to research ingredients, brands, and/or product names.
4. Use apps like Think Dirty
To find out whether your go-to products are safe or not, try Think Dirty’s shop clean app. This easy-to-use resource ranks the safety of specific products on a scale of 1-10 and offers up cleaner solutions.
5. Get Involved
The solution: help us change the rules of the game! It shouldn’t be legal to sell cosmetics that contain dangerous ingredients. We need to help those who are working to pass new laws that protect our health and give consumers better information to make smart choices.
Stay informed, speak up and spread the word. Start with yourself, and then spread the word to your friends..Keep up to date on news, and sign up to receive a guide from EWG's skin deep toxic cosmetic database on choosing safer products