The beauty industry is no stranger to bad business practices. Despite an increased effort by companies within the industry to turn to more sustainable and environmentally friendly methods, certain beauty products still contain toxic materials. The Environmental Working Group found that 88 toxic chemicals have been found in more than 73,000 products since 2020.
According to The Huffington Post, these toxic materials aren’t as obvious or have provided advancements, including water resistance and longer shelf life. Materials like Per- and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS), DMDM hydantoin, Methylene glycol, Isobutyl, cyclotetrasiloxane, and cyclopentasiloxane can have negative effects on the human body.
Some of those include allergic reactions, hormone disruption, neurotoxicity, disrupt hormones, or even increase the likelihood of liver toxicity and cancer. Not only can these materials negatively impact the environment, but they can also stay in the body for a lengthy period.
While regulations have done a great job weeding out bad ingredients from makeup products, like the food industry, some loopholes allow companies to get away with what they put in their products.
Harsher restrictions and more safety screenings will need to be implemented on beauty companies to improve the safety of their products. That said, customers will likely have to become more proactive when choosing what makeup to use. That includes reading the full list of ingredients on the packaging, finding companies that are open to the public about their sourced ingredients, or following third-party organizations that track the practices of these companies.
Customers need to keep letting their voice be heard and put their money where their mouth is. Companies, at the end of the day, will make their choices depending on where the buyer’s interest lies.
