Sadly no. Neither the government or the major cosmetics companies take steps to ensure that our cosmetics are safe, and as a result there is a whole range of dangerous cosmetics and skin care products on the market which contain dangerous ingredients including lead, 1,4-dioxane and paraben.



Doesn't the FDA do something about this? Sadly again, no. The FDA does not test or examine cosmetic products to establish that they are safe for human use and don't contain harmful ingredients, and even admit to this on the FDA website. The government does not act in our best interests by ensuring that the cosmetics that millions of American women use every single day are safe to use, and as a result we have dangerous cosmetics on the shelves of our major department stores.

This situation has even spawned whole organizations committed to pressuring government and industry to use only proven safe ingredients in their products. The primary organization is called the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics.

Unfortunately neither the government or the cosmetics industry are listening to the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics, and nothing much is happening to improve the safety of those mascaras, blushes, eye shadows, face creams, lipsticks, bronzers and many more that most of us use, unaware that we may be damaging our health.

Here's a couple of examples of unsafe cosmetics for you, though there are many.

The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics initiated laboratory testing of major brand name lipsticks in 2007. The report was astonishing. More than 50% of big brand name lipsticks, including some of the biggest names that you may well use now, contained lead. And you're not even immune if you buy the most expensive brands, they were represented amongst the lipsticks that contained lead as well.

In 2002 laboratory testing found Phthalates, a family of industrial chemicals linked to birth defects and abnormalities in male genitals and feminization of males, in the majority of 72 common brand name personal care products, beauty products and cosmetics that we all use day to day. These included products by some of the biggest names in the industry, including Revlon, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein and Proctor and Gamble.

And included common household use products like shampoos and toothpastes as well as beauty and cosmetic products.

Of the 72 tested 52 contained Phthalates, and of course the labels didn't disclose this.

Scary isn't it?

Can you get safe cosmetics? Certainly you can, in fact the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics has a register of companies who sign it and commit themselves to producing cosmetics and skincare and beauty products using only safe ingredients. There are plenty of high quality safe cosmetics available, but they aren't generally found on the shelves of your local department store.

And the companies that make them aren't household names, in fact chances are that you've never heard of them. But their products, including their safe cosmetics, are first class.