Toxin-Free Cosmetics Expand Market-Share

 

Toxic chemicals have been removed from some makeup, but the ugly truth is that these ingredients persist after a decade of controversy. The good news is that consumer resources are coming to the rescue.

Credit: _Frankenstein_ on Flickr, under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

(WOMENSENEWS)--PixieDust. Triple Pearl. Infinity Cream.
If these words sound magical, to women's health advocates, they are: the names of cosmetics that are specially brewed to be free of harmful chemicals.
"Natural" products like these new 2013 ones (a nail polish by Zoya, a face powder by Jane Iredale and a moisturizer by Josie Maran) have surged in popularity in recent years.
The U.S. market for natural skin care, hair care and makeup products spiked 61 percent from 2005 to 2010 and now generate $8 billion in annual sales. This market is projected to reach $11 billion by 2016, with 1-in-8 women using natural products, reports Packaged Facts, a market research firm in Rockville, Md.
In the past decade, toxin-free cosmetics have been introduced by major companies (such as L'Oreal, Revlon and Chanel) as well as mid-sized ones (such as Dashing Diva and Dr. Hauschka). Small businesses that specialize in natural products (such as Badger, Suki and Good for You Girls) have burgeoned, then flourished.
Still, scientists and grassroots activists say cosmetics companies and federal regulators are failing to do all they should to keep makeup free of problem ingredients such as the neurotoxin toluene (used to help nail polish adhere smoothly) and a class of carcinogens called parabens (used as preservatives in face powders and moisturizers alike).
"The existing system for regulating our industry is overdue for a makeover," says Lezlee Westine, president of the Personal Care Products Council, a trade group in Washington, D.C.
The Safe Cosmetics Act, which would mandate full ingredient disclosure and phase out the use of carcinogens, failed to pass in Congress in 2011. Lawmakers such as Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., and Reps. Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Edward Markey, D-Mass., hope to reintroduce it later this year.
For now, though, health advocates urge consumer vigilance.