Not Just a Pretty Face: A Review and Interview

If you are reader of this website, then you are probably committed to living a greener life in a greener world. Perhaps you have made strides in recycling your cans, eating more organic food, or driving less and walking more. But, do you know that the shampoo you are using may contain formaldehyde or that the lipstick you buy contains lead? Do you know that your lotion may contain cancer-causing agents? Yes, the lotion you put on every single day to nourish your skin may, in actuality, be causing your body harm. According to the book, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of The Beauty Industry by Stacy Malkan, this is the sad truth about the personal care products we use. Women are the major consumers of personal products, but men are consumers as well. This issue affects our bodies, our families, as well as our global community.

First, let?s address the issue. Through Malkan?s extensive research, she has written a scientifically based and socially responsible book about the fact that the cosmetic industry is NOT regulated by the FDA and that there are dangerous ingredients in our personal care products. Many major companies claim that using “low levels” of toxic chemicals in beauty products is safe. This is a great concern of mine, and I addressed this question in an interview with Malkan. She states, ?Their argument is that hazardous chemicals are safe to use as long as the levels are low. The problem with that logic is that none of us is using just one product at a time, and the low levels of toxic exposure are adding up. My view, and the view of many scientists, is that we need to be concerned about the repeated exposures to the multiple toxicants found in personal care products.? Think about how many products you use on your body a day! This is a scary reality.

Now you know that there are dangerous chemicals in your products. But what are they and how can you avoid them? According to Malkan, “The best advice is: simpler is better. Choose products with fewer synthetic chemicals, shorter ingredient lists, and avoid synthetic fragrance. I look for marker chemicals. If a product contains fragrance, parabens, sodium laurel/laureth sulfate, PEGs, diazolidinyl urea, petrolatum, or things like that, I don?t buy it because I know the company could be making a higher quality, less-toxic product.” There are also phthalates, lead, formaldehyde, and dioxanes in our products. The problem is also that they are not always listed, but rather cleverly hidden under the term fragrance. This is a term of which to be wary.

Now that you are aware of the names of these chemicals, you can further research them in the book Not Just a Pretty Face. Also, there are two excellent websites that Malkan recommends visiting: The Compact for Safe Cosmetics
and Skin Deep. Go into your bathroom closet, look at the products you use, and research them on these sites. Are they safe enough for your body? Could you buy from a more responsible company? We all want a quick answer to this question, but the truth is we have to be willing to do the work. Malkan does not buy products from: “Avon, Estee Lauder, Revlon, L?Oreal, Proctor & Gamble and the others who are not responding to legitimate concerns about toxic chemicals.” Although Malkan does not want to endorse specific companies, I would put my stamp of approval on Burt?s Bees, Kiss My Face, and all the companies of the products I have reviewed on Leafygreen.info. I now have slowly started to replace many of my personal items with safer alternatives.

Lastly, what can we, as consumers, do about it? At the end of my interview I asked Malkan this question and she replied, “We need to boycott, lobby, write letters, educate our daughters, talk to everyone we know about what we are learning ? we need to reclaim our health, our environment and our democracy.” My advice is to first buy this book, next, reevaluate your products, and last, educate others about the “ugly side of the beauty industry.” Horst Rechelbacher, founder and former owner of Aveda, states in the book that, “Cosmetics should be safe enough to eat.” The philosophy behind this statement is the goal Malkan hopes we can one day achieve.

Thank you to Stacy Malkan for her tremendous insights and research on this significant topic!

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Click below to read the full e-interview.

With your extensive research and knowledge of beauty products, what do you use on your face and body everyday from shampoo to makeup to lotions?

I don?t like to promote specific brands, but I can tell you there are many wonderful companies making safer products, and there are a wide range of brands in my make-up kit and shower stall. All the companies I buy from are signers of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, http://www.safecosmetics.org/companies/signers.cfm, and they all make products with low toxicity ratings on Skin Deep, http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/.

Beyond the ingredients, I think it?s also important to look at a company?s values and business philosophy ? how to they treat their workers and their communities? What do they stand for in the world? I can tell you which companies I don?t buy from: Avon, Estee Lauder, Revlon, L?Oreal, Proctor & Gamble and the others who are not responding to legitimate concerns about toxic chemicals.

In your opinion, what are the safest companies to buy from? What are the companies that only you would purchase products from?

See above. The best advice is, simpler is better. Choose products with fewer synthetic chemicals, shorter ingredient lists, and avoid synthetic fragrance. I look for marker chemicals. If a product contains fragrance, parabens, sodium laurel/laureth sulfate, PEGs, diazolidinyl urea, petrolatum, or things like that, I don?t buy it because I know the company could be making a higher quality, less-toxic product.

What would you say to readers who feel your book is ?alarmist? and ?scientifically unfounded?? Some people still don?t believe there are dangerous chemicals in our everyday products! What would you say to them?

The book is backed up by rigorous research that has not been disputed. The companies do not disagree that some of the chemicals they put into personal care products are hazardous. Their argument is that hazardous chemicals are safe to use as long as the levels are low. The problem with that logic is that none of us is using just one product at a time, and the low levels of toxic exposure are adding up. My view, and the view of many scientists, is that we need to be concerned about the repeated exposures to the multiple toxicants found in personal care products.

On http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/ It seems that almost every product is linked to cancer. Most products have ingredients/chemicals that ?could? be cancer causing. Do you suggest we clean out our medicine cabinets and start new?

Many products do contain chemicals linked to cancer ? this is according to government studies or other peer-reviewed information sources. We know that there are many sources of exposure to carcinogens in today?s industrial society. In my view, the shampoo and face lotion shouldn?t be one more source of exposure, because it?s possible to make these products without carcinogenic chemicals. When we look at the cancer statistics ? the fact that the risk of breast cancer has tripled in just 40 years and now strikes 1 in 8 women in the U.S.; the fact that testicular cancer is rising in young men, and childhood cancer is a leading cause of death among children ? it?s obvious that we need to do everything we can to reduce the load of carcinogens in the environment and in our bodies. So I would say that we not only need to clean out our medicine cabinets, we need to clean out our entire industrial economy. As a society, we need to shift away from toxic chemicals and polluting technologies and switch to safer alternatives across the board.

Pg 124 you claim that companies can use the word ?organic? on their products just like they use the words: ?pure,? ?natural? and ?gentle.? What truly makes a product and company organic? What is the true definition of the word in your opinion?

Consumers expect that products called ?organic? are made with certified organic ingredients grown according to federal standards, similar to organic food. However, there are no legal standards for personal care products, so some companies are using the word as a marketing gimmick. The gold standard for organic certification is the US Department of Agriculture seal, which some personal care products carry.

On page 119, Horst Rechelbacher states that, ?Cosmetics should be safe enough to eat.? Do you think we will ever get to that place of having affordable and safe cosmetics for our families and ourselves?

The philosophy makes sense because what we put on our bodies gets into our bodies. Cosmetics should be regulated more like drugs, where companies are required to understand the health effects of their products before putting them on the market. In order to ensure that safer products are available to everyone, we need to fix the federal regulatory system. We need new laws that require companies to safety test products, fully disclose ingredients, and use the safest ingredients possible; and laws that put legal standards in place for ?natural? and ?organic? products. Then, consumers will have the information to make better choices, the companies making better choices will have the advantage, and economies of scale will drive prices down.

In your book, there are undertones of chemically loaded cosmetics linked to women of specific races, and income level. Do you think there is an outright link to racism, sexism and class-ism in product marketing?

Absolutely, there is rampant sexism, racism, age-ism and other isms in the marketing of beauty products. We are all made to feel like we?re supposed to look a certain way: our hair should be straighter, our hair should be blonder, our skin should be lighter, our skin should be darker with spray-on tans, our lips should be plumper, and no wrinkles allowed! We are held up to unrealistic standards of beauty, to models who don?t even look like themselves. Take a look at this U-Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

We all know that air brushing goes on, but the extent of it is astounding. I have interviews in my book with men who airbrush photos for the major beauty companies ? they talk about how they reshape body parts, change skin tone, and make all sorts of computer manipulations to create what are, in the end, inhuman images. It?s all done to keep us feeling ?less than? so we?ll keep buying more. In her very important book ?The Beauty Myth,? Naomi Wolf writes about how the beauty culture is used as a form of social control, to keep women feeling disempowered and in the dutiful role of consumers.

But the good news is that each of us has the power to choose which products we put on our bodies and which companies we support with our money.

Phthalates. lead, formaldehyde, and dioxins?it?s ?dioxane? (dioxin is different) seem to be major target chemicals that we should not put in/on our bodies. What others would you highlight that we look for on our labels? What would be a cheat sheet for readers?

These toxic chemicals are, unfortunately, often not listed on product labels ? even though many products contain them! This is one of the problems with the weak regulatory system: companies are not required to disclose fragrance ingredients or product contaminants; therefore, many products contain hidden hazards. See above for cheat sheet.

What will it take for the FDA to start regulating the cosmetic industry? What is your best advice to women? Boycott, lobby, letter writing, education? All of the above?

We need to reclaim our government and go back to the days when the FDA and EPA had the power and resources to protect the common good. FDA is an incredibly important agency in charge of the safety of the nation?s entire supply of food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices ? yet the agency has been underfunded, disempowered and eviscerated over the past decade, as the government has given more power and control to the corporations. Yes we need to boycott, lobby, write letters, educate our daughters, talk to everyone we know about what we are learning ? we need to reclaim our health, our environment and our democracy. There?s a lot of work to be done! But I also think it?s the most exciting time to be alive. Women in the U.S. today have more economic and political power than we?ve had in millennia. We are the primary shoppers and the largest block of voters in the U.S.; and we have more information at our fingertips, and networking capabilities like never before due to the power of the internet. I believe women will be the leaders of the next economic revolution ? the creation of the new green economy that is compatible with life and living systems.