There remains a voice inside that fights against No Make-up Week. It’s mantra: but I don’t wear very much! And it is true, I used to spend hours applying lip pencil, three different lipsticks and two glosses over it. Now, I probably use 3-5 make-up products total. But, the little I do wear, I realize, I have become very attached to.
Feeling like you can’t leave the house with at least a little something on doesn’t feel good. But self-esteem aside, is there any harm in taking 5 minutes to darken your brows or bronze your cheeks?
Well, today is about addressing a dark side of make-up, it’s toxicity. As an experiment, I am using Skin Deep’s data-base tool to assess just how toxic my little 3-5 products are. I highly recommend conducting your own experiment and reporting on your findings– here are mine:
Kiss My Face Moisturizer: This is something I can’t leave home without, it has an SPF, PLUS it says “natural” on the label. Well, with only a 4 out of 10 on the toxicity rating, it’s not the worst.. but it is linked to cancer…wait what?!
Mabelline Great Lash: I don’t know that you could pry Great Lash from my cold, dead hands. As many a teen magazine has said, this mascara is “classic.” It’s also a 5 out of toxic 10. I am trying to google what exactly “Biochemical or cellular level changes means”. Do you think maybe that could be good? Is it “classic”?
MAC cream eyeliner It’s a tiny jar of black stuff that cost over $20 and I love it. TURNS OUT THOUGH it rates 7 out of 10 for toxicity. Granted, this is the 2005 formulation, and the newer ones might have taken care of the whole “cancer, reproductive toxicity, organ system toxicity, etc, etc” things. But, yeah, I was using this then too!
CoverGirl Eye Pencil Giiiirl, I go through eyebrow pencil like crazy. This stuff makes me look like an, ahem, natural red-head so I stock up everytime I’m at Target. It rates 5 out of 10 with emphasis on the reproductive/developmental toxicity.
MAC lipstuff in general I swear by Lady Danger, Viva Glam and Big Kiss gloss. I couldn’t find those specifically. I did find this page about MAC products in general. But really, it seems like all of the major brands are about the same, most have products that contain carcinogens and rarely do we see the products drop below a 4 on the toxicity scale.
Looking in the mirror with this new knowledge has slightly changed how I see myself. It’s gone from “eww. I look bad without make-up” to “this is actually something good I am doing for my face.” It’s this aha I’ve found– not wearing make-up can be something good you do for yourself, it can be self loving, a part of self-care.
So am I going to stop wearing these products? Maybe not. But now I can’t help but to be more conscious when caking on cancer-linked foundation or mascara. With this new knowledge, maybe I will wear it less often, or ask myself do I need this?
So what do your must-have products rate?
5 Comments
There are plenty of low-risk rated products out there too, you just need to go a bit out of the way to find them. I´m gradually replacing all my old conventional products with ones with better ingredients. It´s doable !
Mmm, actually I found only few of them, and the results were…errr….discouraging.
But luckily I have recently started using mineral makeup, which is waaay better. And I mean real mineral makeup, those with only two or three ingredients:)
Ops! I had forgotten to present myself;P I am Bianca and, although I have started reading your blog only since two-three weeks, I have seen that many things you say resonate with my thoughts:)
Part of my post on my relationship to makeup is going to discuss toxicity, etc. After watching Story of Cosmetics I wanted to wear it even less.
I’m really enjoying your no make-up week posts. This one in particular resonated with me. In truth, I’ve always poo poo-ed those who talked about the importance of knowing what goes into your makeup. I didn’t really view it as something that was terribly important. If it’s only going on my skin, so what, what harm can it do? Having given it a bit more thought, I’ve just realised how silly that thought is, on so many levels, so thank you! I didn’t find that much of the makeup I use on the Skin Deep site (but I’m from the UK, so I guess the products all differ for the different markets) but it was a definite eye opener. I will be much more conscious regarding what’s in the products I use now. I was pleased to see that a brand I use regularly does quite well overall though, so this gives me some hope! I look forward to reading what you have to say for the rest of the week!
I’ve discovered you have to use the Cosmetics Database with a grain of salt…sure it does provide great information…it also categorizes coffee as a carcinogen, so be careful with some of their guidelines. It’s a sure bet that most commercial cosmetics bought out of the grocery, discount, or even department stores are toxic. Sometimes the most expensive lines are THE most toxic! Glad you decided to check into yours so you can make better choices! By the way, love your blog and I will visit back often!
Robin