> Environmental and Health Concerns > Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)

I’m the marketer’s dream: always believing I’m one more purchase away from being younger, brighter, firmer, and prettier. And the cosmetics industry wouldn’t be pulling in the kind of profits it does if I were the only one who felt that way–or who perked up a lousy day by buying a new lipstick.

But as outcry about toxic and unsafe ingredients in cosmetics grows louder, I’m increasingly unable to ignore it. I can read food labels like a pro, but when it comes to my lotions and potions, I’ve always resented having to be equally vigilant.

If I occasionally swiped on some mascara a couple of nights a week, I probably wouldn’t worry. But I’m hardly what you’d call a “casual user.” Nope, I’m a full-blown beauty junkie, with the giant multidrawer makeup organizer to prove it. Did I mention that I have a large plastic popcorn bucket full of nail polishes under my bathroom sink?

When tallied up, that’s a lot of toxic–or at least questionable–things going on and in my skin and hair. But with the enviro-conscious trend raging full tilt, there are a lot of new products out there for concerned makeup mavens. Gone are the days when “natural” beauty products were hard to find and smelled of spoiling yogourt. Now that some major players are getting involved, we’re seeing organically grown, green-packaged, and botanical products everywhere from the health food store to Holt Renfrew.

The problem is that some of these companies are relying on buzzwords and the relative trust of the consumer to sell something that might not actually be much better for us. Natural ingredients can sound delightful, but some botanical extracts can irritate or sensitize skin. Recycled packaging can be really cute, but if what’s inside is still full of endocrine disruptors, then I think I’ll pass.

The ideal solution would be to use fewer products overall–but that’s not going to happen anytime soon. So, I’ll be trying out some of these new products and doing my best to make sense of all the conflicting information that’s out there. But it’s frustrating to have to keep lists of multisyllabic ingredients in your head when all you want to do is grab a bottle of shampoo or lotion.

If our government could take the lead in regulating the cosmetics industry and push for more serious labelling and testing of these products for their safety and efficacy, we’d all be better off. After all, I like being gorgeous; I just don’t want to die for it.

Jenn Farrell is a Vancouver writer who spends a lot of time putting on makeup to try and look as though she isn’t wearing any.

Source: alive #308, June 2008