For a minute, imagine you’re an environmentally- and health-conscious person. If you’re a frequent visitor to The Mindful Word, it’s likely that this is already the case. You’re in the shampoo aisle and you reach for your usual, a bottle of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration™. You take pride in the fact that you use a natural herbal formula to wash your hair—none of that chemical-filled stuff of the L’Oreal or Pantene variety for you. Suddenly, a woman taps you on the shoulder. “Did you know that’s full of petrochemicals made with oil?” she asks. You’re so surprised, you almost drop the bottle on the floor. Granted, there are quite a few words on the label that you don’t understand, but you’ve trusted the word “herbal” emblazoned across the front. That should be representative of the whole product, right?
Wrong. According to the short 2010 documentary film, The Story of Cosmetics, created by The Story of Stuff Project, words like “herbal,” “organic,” and “natural” have no legal definition in the United States (which, as you probably know, exports a great deal of personal care products to other countries). Therefore, they can be slapped on any label. If you’re wondering how the cosmetic companies get away with this, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t even test cosmetic products, since the industry has its own safety committee. To make things worse, adherence to the committee’s standards is strictly voluntary. So you could theoretically be applying anything to your hair or skin. That being said, there are some companies that make products that are truly organic. You can read more about them in “A sampling of some of the most natural body care products available.” According to the film, chemists are furthering their exploration of “green chemistry,” which means they are developing more non-toxic substances which will offer similar effects to those of toxic chemicals without being, well, toxic.
To learn more about the invisible dangers which may be lurking within the products in your own bathroom, watch The Story of Cosmetics here:
[su_panel background=”#f2f2f2″ color=”#000000″ border=”0px none #ffffff” shadow=”0px 0px 0px #ffffff”]by Erica Roberts
image: Timothy Greig (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA)
