Free The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances by Julie Gabriel Page B
Authors: Julie Gabriel
dermatologists with perfect credentials endorse beauty products that are making me sick? Could they be doing it to keep themselves busy?
These are all perfectly good questions, and getting the right answers is an important part of your green coming-of-age. To follow all the leads and examine all the underlying reasons may be beyond the scope of this book, but some issues have to be explained. The beauty industry is one of the most profitable of all industries, and as in every business, you may be surprised to find out that the information is governed by the same old Golden Rule: those who have the gold make the rule.
So who has the gold? One of the world’s largest and most profitable industries, which will start losing millions of dollars if people start asking uncomfortable questions about what goes into their favorite moisturizers and perfumes. The formulations smell awesome and perform well; they are proven to sell, and the whole process runs smoothly. The financial health of this industry depends on what the public knows about risks associated with many of their products. Like any reasonable business (the cosmetic manufacturers didn’t generate this much money by being unreasonable), the beauty industry is doing everything in its power to protect its profits and please its shareholders.
Science and business have long been aware of the links between cosmetics and the meteoric rise of cancer, asthma, diabetes, and a host of other systemic diseases. However, the industries responsible for producing synthetic chemicals have long been seeking, with much success, to downplay or dismiss them.
Things aren’t as dramatic as you may think. No one is paying the scientists to shelve the research results. No one is bribing the media. Things are much more subtle. If a cosmetic company buys a certain number of magazine ads, it’s very unlikely that the editor-in-chief would be happy to read a story about peanut oil that wasn’t mentioned on the label of a sunscreen triggering potentially deadly allergies in hundreds of people, including children—especially since this cosmetic company regularly delivers a boatful of full-size freebies for review and personal use.
Media, government, science, industry, medicine—keeping the status quo is vital for all of them. Too many people would choose profits over health and technology over nature. Using airless packaging that prevents contamination requires fewer investments than spending years in researching and developing another preservative. Thousands of people would lose their jobs, tons of moisturizers would be left unsold, whole manufacturing processes would have to be revised, a few class-action lawsuits would be filed—and this means millions if not billions of dollars lost. Once a product is on the market, the burden of legal proof required for its removal is extremely high.
NOT-SO-GREEN FACTS
• Results of the Female Beauty Survey of Great Britain, commissioned by New Woman magazine, revealed that only 18 percent of women said they were “happy with their skin,” with 44 percent admitting that it was oily, 32 percent saying it was dry, and others complaining of freckles and wrinkles.
• Cosmetic companies spend more on TV advertising than any other group, says the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients.
• According to Euromonitor International’s data, fragrance is the third most dynamic cosmetics and toiletries sector, behind sun and baby care, and posted an increase of 7 percent to reach $30.5 billion.
• In the United Kingdom, the total cost of an adult lifetime of beauty products and treatments was calculated to be £182,528 (US $365,000), or £3,000 a year, of which £600 is spent on facials, massages, and antiaging treatments. About 43 percent of women do not inform their partner of how much they spend, notes New Woman ’s survey, conducted in 2006.
• The global market for cosmetics and toiletries ingredients will enjoy growth of the ingredients around
These are all perfectly good questions, and getting the right answers is an important part of your green coming-of-age. To follow all the leads and examine all the underlying reasons may be beyond the scope of this book, but some issues have to be explained. The beauty industry is one of the most profitable of all industries, and as in every business, you may be surprised to find out that the information is governed by the same old Golden Rule: those who have the gold make the rule.
So who has the gold? One of the world’s largest and most profitable industries, which will start losing millions of dollars if people start asking uncomfortable questions about what goes into their favorite moisturizers and perfumes. The formulations smell awesome and perform well; they are proven to sell, and the whole process runs smoothly. The financial health of this industry depends on what the public knows about risks associated with many of their products. Like any reasonable business (the cosmetic manufacturers didn’t generate this much money by being unreasonable), the beauty industry is doing everything in its power to protect its profits and please its shareholders.
Science and business have long been aware of the links between cosmetics and the meteoric rise of cancer, asthma, diabetes, and a host of other systemic diseases. However, the industries responsible for producing synthetic chemicals have long been seeking, with much success, to downplay or dismiss them.
Things aren’t as dramatic as you may think. No one is paying the scientists to shelve the research results. No one is bribing the media. Things are much more subtle. If a cosmetic company buys a certain number of magazine ads, it’s very unlikely that the editor-in-chief would be happy to read a story about peanut oil that wasn’t mentioned on the label of a sunscreen triggering potentially deadly allergies in hundreds of people, including children—especially since this cosmetic company regularly delivers a boatful of full-size freebies for review and personal use.
Media, government, science, industry, medicine—keeping the status quo is vital for all of them. Too many people would choose profits over health and technology over nature. Using airless packaging that prevents contamination requires fewer investments than spending years in researching and developing another preservative. Thousands of people would lose their jobs, tons of moisturizers would be left unsold, whole manufacturing processes would have to be revised, a few class-action lawsuits would be filed—and this means millions if not billions of dollars lost. Once a product is on the market, the burden of legal proof required for its removal is extremely high.
NOT-SO-GREEN FACTS
• Results of the Female Beauty Survey of Great Britain, commissioned by New Woman magazine, revealed that only 18 percent of women said they were “happy with their skin,” with 44 percent admitting that it was oily, 32 percent saying it was dry, and others complaining of freckles and wrinkles.
• Cosmetic companies spend more on TV advertising than any other group, says the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients.
• According to Euromonitor International’s data, fragrance is the third most dynamic cosmetics and toiletries sector, behind sun and baby care, and posted an increase of 7 percent to reach $30.5 billion.
• In the United Kingdom, the total cost of an adult lifetime of beauty products and treatments was calculated to be £182,528 (US $365,000), or £3,000 a year, of which £600 is spent on facials, massages, and antiaging treatments. About 43 percent of women do not inform their partner of how much they spend, notes New Woman ’s survey, conducted in 2006.
• The global market for cosmetics and toiletries ingredients will enjoy growth of the ingredients around
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