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I’m back after an incredible weekend in Los Angeles [2]. I was in LA to speak at ShiftCon [3], a social media conference focusing on wellness, health, and the environment. This is the second year for this conference [4] and it did not disappoint [5].
This year my panel [5] was called “Beauty and the Beast: Navigating the World of Green Beauty [3]“. I spoke alongside Lindsay Dahl of Beautycounter [6] and Lindsay Dahl’s Blog [7]and Micaela Preston of Mindful Momma. Our panel tackled the confusing world of green beauty and what we as consumers, advocates and writers can do to help transform the beauty industry.
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The confusing world of green beauty
In 1938 congress passed a law regulating the cosmetics industry. Unfortunately, the United States has not passed a federal law to regulate the ingredients used in personal care products since that 1938 law passed. Although there’s been tremendous growth in the beauty product marketplace, the regulations governing personal care products have changed very little in the last eight decades.
The cosmetics and personal care marketplace is extremely confusing for consumers. The government does no safety testing of products or their ingredients, nor does it approve new products before they’re placed on the shelves in our stores.
Shoppers shouldn’t have to be chemists or experts to find safe shampoo, mascara or blush!
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How can we help the marketplace shift towards safer beauty products?
Consumer pressure works! As more and more of us understand the impacts that toxic chemicals have on our health there is a huge drive for safer products. Each time we buy a safer product we’re casting a vote. We are demanding safer beauty and personal care products.
A few BIG changes are happening because consumers are demanding safer products:
- Johnson & Johnson. After intense public pressure [10] Johnson & Johnson agreed to remove 1, 4-dioxane and quaternium-15 from nearly all of their toiletry and cosmetic products worldwide by 2015. In 2014 they did it.
- Clorox (Burt’s Bees) made a statement that in 2015 it will expand its ingredient disclosure program.
- Target. Target Corporation, the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, has new sustainability standard for the household cleaners, personal care and beauty, and baby care products it sells.
Encourage companies (green, natural and conventional) to disclose ALL ingredients.
- Skip the most toxic ingredients when you buy personal care products-use the Skin Deep app [11] as a starting point.
- Get to know your products. Contact the company and ask questions. Don’t be afraid to do this! Be an educated consumer.
Use your voice to encourage members of Congress to pass a strong Personal Care Products Safety Act.
- Join forces with some of the powerful organizations already doing good work: Campaign for Safe Cosmetics [12], Breast Cancer Fund [13], EWG [14]and Beautycounter [6] . Get on their email lists to remain updated.
- Call members of congress.
- Call local politicians and let them know that we deserve safe cosmetics and non-toxic personal care products. Let them know that we them to stand up for meaningful reform.
Join Safer Chemicals Healthy Families Mind the Store campaign [15].
In 2013, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families launched the Mind the Store campaign. The campaign was created to ask our nation’s top ten retailers to avoid carrying the Hazardous 100 [16]+ [16] toxic chemicals. I went to Walgreens [17]several times to ask them to carry safer products [18]. Walgreens has finally committed [19] to developing a chemicals policy!
Take a look at my picks for-
- Non-toxic body lotion [20]
- Shampoo [21]
- Nail polish [22]
For more helpful information check out Micaela’s post over at Mindful Momma on how to buy better beauty and personal care products.
We all deserve safer cosmetics and personal care products, don’t we? How do you find safer personal care products?
P.S. If you liked this post you might enjoy our Groovy Green Livin Newsletter [23]. Receive new posts and special opportunities delivered right to your inbox! Sign up HERE [23].
photo credit: my new isadora 1 [24] via photopin [25] (license) [26]