Cosmetics Essay

2084 Words5 Pages

What’s in your cosmetics?

For centuries civilizations have used forms of lotions and potions in

religious rituals or to enhance beauty and promote good health. Cosmetic

usage throughout history mirror a civilization’s realistic concerns, such as

protection from the sun, class system, or its conventions of beauty.

Take a look at the pages of a magazine or the latest music video, it is no

surprise that beauty is a multi-billion dollar industry and the business

of beauty is pervasive in American society. A quick glance at any school

yearbook will lead to discussions about the hair, makeup, and clothes of the

day and how those fashions have changed and ultimately shaped our society.

Ad campaigns for beauty products often promise to change lives, attitudes and

simply make you feel good by mere product application. But in the wild-west

world of personal care and cosmetology has been largely unregulated and the

matter of safety has become a focus of concern.

However people will still go to great lengths to be beautiful without thinking

about the hazards and cosmetics companies know it. What consumers may

not know is that many risked death and disfigurement for the sake of beauty.

American history is rife with tragic stories of beauty gone awry.

In 1933, a woman was hospitalized with agonizing eye pain. Doctors watched

in shock and horror as her eyes were literally eaten away as though by acid.

The cause turned out to be an eyelash-darkening treatment called Lash Lure

that contained paraphenylenediamine, a toxic coal tar dye.

Another product used for hair removal, Koremlu, contained rat poison thalium

acetate, was also widely marketed throughout the 1930s. Regardless of the

steep $10 a jar, th...

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...hich was established in 2004 out of concerns about the presence

of phthalates in personal care products.

Phthalates are industrial chemicals, which soften plastics that are used to

make common consumer products including fragrances, cosmetics, plastics,

and building materials. Phthalates are endocrine-disrupting chemicals;

exposure has been linked to early puberty, a risk factor for later-life breast

cancer; reproductive harm in males; DNA damage to sperm and decreased

sperm counts; and asthma.

What you can do about the future of these products.

Concerned consumers may call the 1-800 number listed on products made

by these companies and ask them what ingredients they are hiding from

their customers. They can also ask by tweeting the companies by following

@women4earth and using the hashtag #nosecrets or tagging the companies in

Facebook posts.

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