Video Professor

Ladies, let’s be honest, we put a lot of stuff on our faces. From facial washes to lotions, blush, mascara, eyeliner and foundation, it’s a wonder the pores on our faces can breathe at all! And what’s more, do we read the labels about what exactly we are putting on our faces? Chances are, no. Just like I don’t like to eat things with ingredients that I can’t pronounce, I don’t want to put harsh chemicals on my skin or in my body.

So, what to do? Using “green products” these days isn’t reserved for those of us wearing Birkenstocks and eating granola. In fact, there are several cool and upcoming companies selling environment-friendly cosmetics. Take a look at companies like Lush, Aveda, Cargo, and Bert’s Bees, to name a few. From biodegradable lipsticks to organic face wash, you skin will thank you, as will the planet.

Environmentally friendly cosmetics will cost more, but there is a reason for that. Loopholes in the US federal law allow the $35 billion cosmetics industry to put virtually unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products with no required testing, no monitoring of health effects, and inadequate labeling requirements. So cosmetic companies don’t need to change their products to make them healthier for the planet and for you. In fact, one third of personal care products contain at least one chemical linked to cancer, according to the Skin Deep report by the Environmental Working Group, a partner of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

And speaking of environmentally friendly cosmetics, are we still living in a world where animals need to undergo painful testing just so our mascara looks its blackest and our shampoo makes our hair its shiniest? Animal welfare groups say that over 38,000 animals die needlessly every year in tests for new products. I, for one, say no thank you, there are plenty of companies that no longer test on animals. I have yet to hear of a person getting sick or dying from shampoo that wasn’t tested on a bunny.  

Overall, I think industries that have a large impact on the economy, like the cosmetics industry, should take responsibility for what they put into their products. And things are looking up, the natural personal care market had, “…an estimated value of $5 billion in 2004 and has grown by 50 percent since 2000,”according to safecosmetics.org. So we should be celebrating. The future is looking bright for environmentally friendly cosmetics. And all those anti-aging creams might just disappear from the shelves once people realize that their skin looks the way it does because of all the chemicals in the cosmetics and face wash they use.

Next time you go shopping, look at the labels. If you see “Active Ingredients” or “Derived From,” that means the company isn’t telling you the whole story. Watch out for petroleum in cosmetics and try to avoid products that test on animals. Environmentally friendly cosmetics are better for the earth, but they are also better for you. So, all the time and money you spend on creams and washes to make yourself look your best could be saved with a few products that bring back vitality to your skin and bring you back to a more natural and clean state of being.