Greenwashing With Clean Beauty
This ad popped into my newsfeed recently and served as a great reminder to revisit “green washing” here in LWM…
✅ The good news = Consumer demands are shifting as more and more women realize how toxic the beauty industry is!
❌ The bad news is = Companies are using incredibly false claims to market their products in an attempt to keep up with the demands!
It’s important to remember that…
❕Nobody is regulating the use of the marketing claim “all natural”
❕Nobody is regulating the use of the marketing claim “non toxic”
Which only fuels my fire to help create empowered label readers here! Because consumers deserve to NOT be duped by marketing.
In opposition of these marketing claims, a quick scan on this brands cosmetic ingredient lists showcased loads of UN-natural and also toxic ingredients…
✖️Phenoxyethanol •• May harm your central nervous system and cause depression, kidney damage, skin irritation, headaches, dizziness, nausea and drowsiness.
✖️”Fragrance” •• a loophole in the labeling industry that can hide up to 4K chemical ingredients
✖️Mineral Oil •• can be carcinogenic when not fully refined (which is not mandatory in the US)
✖️Parrafin •• Possible contamination with the carcinogen 1,4 dioxin
✖️Synthetic Dyes •• There is nothing “all natural” about artificial dyes
✖️BHT •• the United States Department of Health and Human Services lists BHT as a known carcinogen
✖️Talc •• Linked to various reproductive cancers, asbestos contamination, and the biggest talc brand is currently facing over 100,000 lawsuits.
✖️EDTA •• this ingredient, although not toxic, breaks down the outer layer of the skin to INCREASE penetration of other ingredients. This is of major concern when toxic ingredients are part of the rest of the formula.
✖️Bismuth Oxychloride •• a common ‘filler’ ingredients that mineral makeup companies use in their products because it is inexpensive, however it is synthetically manufactured from bismuth (a metal), oxygen, and chlorine.
✖️”Flavor” •• another loophole in the labeling industry that can hide up to 4K additional chemicals
✖️PEG •• According to a report in the International Journal of Toxicology by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, pollutants found in various PEG compounds include ethylene oxide (used to manufacture mustard gas), 1,4-dioxane, polycyclic aromatic compounds, and heavy metals (lead, iron, cobalt, nickel, cadmium, arsenic).”
✖️Japanese Honeysuckle •• Contains parahydroxy benzoic acid, which is found to behave in a very similar way (with very similar molecular structure) as a paraben in the body.
…See the inconsistency here?
Companies earn my respect when accurate claims are being made. There are so many positive and truthful ways to share brands of all shapes and sizes and we all do better when we stick to the truth!
I know that sometimes reading labels just looks like a foreign language, so please never hesitate to send your labels my way so I can help you decipher if it’s a clean toxin free choice or if it’s best put back on a shelf!
For all your toxin free skincare and cosmetic needs: livingwellmama.com
