The FDA Can’t Prevent Asbestos in Your Beauty Products

I heard a disturbing story this week. It’s one of those stories that seems like a no-brainer, but for some reason, it isn’t.

In 2017 the FDA confirmed the presence of asbestos in makeup sold in the stores Justice and Claire’s. These are stores known for selling products to tweens and teenagers.

If this were food, the FDA could issue a recall on these products. Because it was cosmetics, all the FDA was able to do was recommend the stores recall these products. If they chose not to, the FDA could do nothing. Not a thing!!

Justice immediately pulled the products from their shelves when the FDA issued their recommendation, but Claire’s initially refused to remove the products. Claire’s has since changed their stance and removed the products, but I personally will think twice before shopping at Claire’s. (click here to read the FDA’s recall recommendation).

The National Department of Health has classified asbestos as a human carcinogen. That means it can cause cancer! Yet we have no government regulation that can prevent it from ending up in our skin care. So basically, companies can give you products that result in you rubbing a carcinogen all over your face and there’s no law to stop them. That blows my mind!!

The law that currently regulates cosmetics is the “Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act” and has not been updated since 1938. That’s over 80 years! The highlights of this law say that the FDA can suggest a product be removed from shelves if it’s deemed dangerous, but cannot order it. The law also gives the responsibility to test the safety of the products to the cosmetic companies. Also, when it comes to ingredient labels on cosmetics, whole groups of ingredients can fall under titles like “fragrance.”

Currently, there is a proposed bill to change this. This law would require cosmetic companies to disclose all ingredients and amounts, and require the FDA to test just 5 cosmetic ingredients a year to determine their safety. Sadly, this bill has not made it through. Click here to find out how to contact your congressmen to get this bill passed.

So what do we do?! There are so many products on the shelves that go unregulated, how do we know what to put on our bodies? We go with the companies that are open with what they put in their products. We vote with our dollar by not supporting companies that use harmful ingredients and by supporting companies that go the extra mile to ensure their products are safe.

Also, one thing you can do to protect yourself is download the free app “Healthy Living” from the Environmental Working Group. This app lets you scan products or search for them by name. It then gives the product a score based on how toxic it is in and on your body. One is the safest rating while 10 is the worst. It even breaks down the product ingredient by ingredient to show you which ingredients give the product its rating. Arm yourself with this app when you’re standing in the beauty isle trying to decide what to buy.

All that said, this will be the first blog post in a series of posts about my favorite cosmetics. All the products I list are ones I’ve personally tried, researched and love. These are by no means the only safe, effective products out there. There just the ones I’d recommend based on personal experience.

Today we’re going to talk about makeup. Now I’m going to be honest. I rarely wear makeup. It makes an appearance 2-3 times a week maximum. Some weeks that’s down to 1. But when I do use a product, it better look good and not poison me. Here are some of my favorites.

Foundation:

I love a tinted moisturizer as a foundation, especially one that acts as a sunscreen. My favorite is MyChelle tinted sunscreen (click here for the product). It’s goes on smoothly and matches my skin well. It doesn’t feel heavy or greasy. Plus it’s gluten free, cruelty free, and made of natural ingredients. I’m a fan!

If you like powder, I prefer the Gabriel Cosmetics powder (click here for product). Some people aren’t fans of mineral based makeup, but I’ve found it’s one of the only foundations that doesn’t make my skin break out.

Eyeshadow:

My favorite eyeshadow is from Beautycounter (click here for product). It’s fairly expensive so I don’t buy it regularly, but since I wear makeup so rarely (and eye shadow even less), it lasts quite a while. I feel comfortable recommending any product from Beautycounter. Not only do they ban over 1,500 ingredients from their products, but they are working hard to change laws to protect us from dangerous cosmetics. Like I said, it’s a bit pricey so I like to have other alternatives, but I feel comfortable putting anything from Beautycounter on my skin.

Mascara:

Like the eyeshadow, I recommend Beautycounter mascara (click here for product), but it’s not the only one I like. My current favorite is from Mineral Fusion (click here for product). This company is certified by the Environmental Working Group and is amazing! Seriously! this product makes my lashes look awesome.

Lips:

This one is a bit low in information because I don’t wear a lot of lipstick. When I do, my son tells me I need to go wash my face. Kids are great on the self-esteem. Again, I’ve heard AMAZING things about the Beautycounter line, but I haven’t tried any of the lip products myself. I can vouch for the clean ingredients though. My very favorites are just a little tinted lip shimmer from Toms or Burt’s Bees. I can’t 100% vouch for all the ingredients, but they are pretty darn clean, especially compared to other lipsticks or even lip balms. My new favorite is one by Well People (click here for product). It’s not sticky, but stays on and looks fabulous. Seriously. I look great.

Other makeup brands I have tried and feel comfortable with are Pacifica, Andalou, and Zuzu.

Hopefully you are now armed with a bit of better information when it comes to choosing makeup. Later we’ll talk about my favorite skin care, soaps, and lotions. It’s easy to think it’s not as important to be as choosy with products that go on our skin as we are with what goes in our mouth, but it’s just as important. Our skin is our largest organ and is like a sponge. It’s going to soak up what you put on it.

I’d love to hear below if you have a favorite, natural makeup product you love.