The Ugly Side of Beauty

An interview with Stacy Malkan, author of Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry

In the late 1990s, Stacy Malkan was working as a journalist for a community newspaper. A controversy erupted in the community she was working in when the county started implementing a plan to spray weeds along bike paths with pesticides. “It was a relatively small community, but 200 people showed up for a meeting. There were high tensions around this topic, and it ended up a melee of screaming and tears. People were very upset about the public use of these toxic chemicals on the parks where their kids run and play, and their pets run around.”

     Stacy started interviewing locals and experts to better understand the story, and quickly saw that the government officials knew a lot about the weeds, but not much about the chemicals they were planning to use. Her research, bolstered by a nagging recognition that she and many of her friends from high school were experiencing weird health problems for their age, sent her off in a new career direction: in 2001 she became the communications director for Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), an international coalition of hospitals and health care systems, medical professionals, community groups, and others, "dedicated to transforming the health care sector worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment." In 2002, staff and supporters of HCWH launched the nascent Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, and Stacy took on communications efforts for the Campaign.

    In November (2007) Stacy’s first book, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry came out. Stacy starts the book with a confession: “I’ve always been obsessed with cosmetics. When I was a Seventeen–magazine reading high school cheerleader desperate to fit in, the Osco Drug cosmetics aisle was my comfort zone. With each measured purchase—cobalt blue eyeliner, soft rose blush—I was one step closer to that girl I dreamed of: the confident, lovable version of me.”

    What woman can’t identify with Stacy’s confession? We all have looked at beauty products as something to bring out our best. But the truth is, the beauty industry is bringing out something far uglier than it is giving us in return.

    I chatted with Stacy the other day, and here’s what she had to say.

Carol: What was the most surprising thing to you, personally, when you began getting involved with this issue, and as you wrote the book?

Stacy: A couple of things took me by surprise. I would say the most disturbing is the resistance of industry to making obvious changes. So many companies are entrenched, they have a ‘we have to keep doing things this way because it’s how we have always done it,’ attitude that flies in the face of the growing and obvious understanding that we need to do things differently. Many things—global warming, peak oil, the ubiquitous toxic exposures in the environment— have clear links to health problems that so many of us are experiencing. So this needs to be a time of great change.

     I also find it surprising, and hopeful, that there are such positive and powerful models of successful organizing. We’ve seen some major changes happening, especially with the cosmetics work. The organizing that is happening with teenage girls is particularly uplifting. They show a real interest in asking deep questions about the products they are using. They are learning about science, organizing, lobbying—none of which I thought much about when I was in high school—and that makes me feel very hopeful about the younger generation. I think they are a more sophisticated bunch than we were. I think of myself as a pathological idealist, so in that context it is fun to do this work.

Carol: You talk about Pinkwashing in Not Just a Pretty Face. What is pinkwashing, and what can people do to avoid being pinkwashed by unscrupulous marketers?

Stacy: Basically, pinkwashing is companies marketing themselves as being very concerned about women's health, but not stepping up to do the right things. I think it’s outrageous that beauty companies market themselves as friends of breast-cancer awareness if they are not willing to question their own use of carcinogenic chemicals. To look into the details of that is very disturbing, and that was actually the hardest chapter for me to write, because it was the most personally upsetting. My grandmother had breast cancer and I have friends who have had breast cancer. It is a huge epidemic, and these industries that are purchasing chemicals that are linked to cancer—and especially the beauty companies—should be at the front of the line, working to end the epidemic, rather than making excuses that it’s OK to keep using hazardous chemicals.

    There is no need for carcinogens to be in personal care products. Companies are using the pink ribbon as a marketing device, but they are unwilling to really do what’s needed to protect women’s health. The science [linking toxic chemicals to] breast cancer is very compelling and very important: we know that the longer a woman is exposed to estrogen during her lifetime, the higher her risk of breast cancer, and the evidence is strong on that. So what can we do to reduce these exposures? It is not just one thing, it is not just beauty products. We are exposed by so many things, but beauty products is an obvious first place to do something about it.

    These products are so intimate and we use so many of them. The average American uses ten personal care products per day. Carcinogens shouldn’t be in them. The beauty industry really could do a service for women’s health, for all people’s health, by making a public commitment to eliminate their use of carcinogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals from their products, and to demand that the chemical industry that supplies them innovate safer alternatives. These companies can do better. They should do better. There is no reason why beauty products have to be toxic.

Carol: If you could shout one message from the rooftops, what would it be?

Stacy: Question everything! We can change things and we have to; we really don’t have a choice, but the important thing is that we have the power to make the change. I think it is the most exciting time to be alive. We know the consequences of our actions in a way we have been able to ignore in the past. This is not just one problem, chemicals in cosmetics, but all of these problems—global warming, global poisoning—are interconnected. They have the same roots and the same history: After World War II, we learned how to rapidly process petroleum and use the byproducts to make petro-chemicals, and these chemicals became the building blocks of our entire material ecomony. Now they have became ubiquitous in our environment, in our homes, and also in our bodies. Every baby born on Earth is contaminated with man-made petro-chemicals.

    Global poisoning and global warming have the same solution. We need to reinvent our economy and the way we do business. The focus has to be on human health and societal impacts, and go beyond the focus on the bottom line.

Carol: Can you talk about your Keep It Simple advice? What can we as individuals due to protect ourselves and our families?

Stacy: My best advice is “keep it simple”—fewer synthetic chemicals, the fewer ingredients, and fewer products overall. Personally, I am avoiding synthetic fragrances as much as possible (that can be hard), and I’m avoiding known estrogenic-substances, such as parabens and phthalates. I am eliminating some product categories altogether. For example, I don't use bubble bath any more. Many mainstream bath products contain heavy fragrances and multiple toxins, and you’re sitting in these chemicals for long periods of time. I gave up hair color, which I admit was really difficult. Now people actually ask if I’m dying my hair darker [she says with a laugh]—that’s how expected it’s become in our culture to color hair.

    How are the companies I am supporting with my money contributing to the world? I can’t support the mainstream beauty companies—the L’Oreals, the Revlons, the Cover Girls, and other products that I grew up with, and that frankly, I loved. They are not allowed in my house, because I am outraged that these companies won’t take women’s health seriously. Unfortunately, many of the multinational corporations are under pressure to keep costs low, so they use cheap petrochemicals and spend their money finding ways to sell us the same old products, with the same ingredients they have been using for 20 years. It’s time for change.

Stacy’s book is excellent, and I think it should be required for all women, but particularly young women. I am giving copies to some of the young women in my life. I want them to know about the ugly side of beauty.

Gifts for the Season

Cut down on the consumption this holiday season: donate some percentage of what you would usually spend on stuff to put under the tree to a good cause, and make conscientious choices for the gifts you do give.

Most of us are guilty of spending too much on holiday shopping. We run credit cards up, and pile packages in a small mountain under the tree. Christmas morning comes, everyone tears through all the ribbons and wrappings, and we are left feeling dull, almost hung over, with guilt and worry, and more stuff to store in already overflowing closets, garages, sheds, and storage units.

Just about everything under the tree is imported from a country with a less-developed economy and legal system than ours (can you say, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka...), so with every purchase we are adding to global environmental and social problems. We are also adding to our own health problems, since our own regulatory system isn’t doing the finest job of keeping unsafe products out of our carts.

Gifts of Giving

This year, consider buying a little less, and donating some of the money you would typically spend on gifts to one or more good causes. Feed someone who is hungry: buy a chicken through Heifer Project International, or meals through America’s Second Harvest. Consider a gift to a local environmental group that works in your backyard. Support the arts or libraries, parks or wildlife. Worried about health issues? Then consider making a gift to The Breast Cancer Fund, Physicians for Social Responsibility, or The Children’s Environmental Health Network. (Links for all of these groups and the businesses that are mentioned in today’s post are at the end of the post.)

Researchers have found that giving to charity is actually good for the giver. For example, a group of scientists at Oregon State University studied brain wave activity of people using MRI, and showed that there is a clear increase in positive brain activity when people were making donations. And, a survey by a Syracuse University professor showed that “people who gave money charitably were 43 percent more likely to say they were “very happy” than those who didn’t give. Better health and increased wealth—for both the individual giver and the nation as a whole—are also linked to charitable giving.”

Gifts for Family and Friends

Of course, you don’t have to stop giving gifts to family and friend, nor should you. Of the gifts you do give, though, start making conscious buying choices that are good for the recipient and the world. Consider giving some really good, organic foods and body care products. Numerous studies show that organic and naturally raised foods, such as grassfed meat and dairy products, are significantly more nutritious and have fewer pesticides on them. Plus, good food is a great present. The place to search for good food? Local Harvest, a wonderful asset for finding real food from real farmers., or across the country, has a zip-code based database that allows you to search for farms, farmers’ markets, and restaurants that focus on local and/or organic food near where you live. Use the “Store Categories” to search for products from real farmers and artisan foodies who ship products nationwide, ranging from chocolates and desserts, to fruit and flowers, pet supplies and preserves, seeds and soaps, or wool and fiber.

As for body care products, the more edible the ingredients list, the better. My new find is ProductGoat, from a relative newcomer in the field. As the name implies, this Colorado company’s specialty is making great skin-care products with goat’s milk, though they also use a wide variety of plant-based oils and essences. The list of things not used in their products is impressive. My fave in their lineup: the Serene face cream. Lemongrass gives it wonderful scent, and it is truly luscious for your skin.

I’m also partial to Pangea Organics and Grateful Body. Pangea is another Colorado company, and Grateful Body hails from northern California. I interviewed both Pangea’s founder/CEO, Joshua Onysko and Grateful Body’s founder/CEO, Shannon Schroter, a couple of years ago. Both emphasized the importance of high quality, natural ingredients.

Onysko said, if you can’t eat it, he doesn’t really want it in his products. “I tell people to follow the if-you-can’t-pronounce-it you-probably-shouldn’t-be-smearing-it-on-your-body rule.”

Schroter got into making all natural skin-care products after his two sisters died within a year of each other from cancer. He told me, “Having two sisters dying of cancer makes me very sensitive to people dropping off left and right of cancer. So our aim is to lessen the toxic load in our children. You have breast milk that has 67 toxins in it, you have umbilical cord blood of newborn children that has hundreds of chemical in it, so our first goal is to lessen the toxic load.

“Skin care is like eating,” he added, “just eating through your skin instead of your mouth. So I say, ‘clean up your diet’. These chemicals you put on your skin go into your body and there are negative effects.”

My favorite item from Pangea is the Italian Red Mandarin with Roses skin cream, which is pricey but lasts a long time. And, I hate to admit it, but my regular investment from the Grateful Body lineup is 30Plus Hot Flash Splash... a cooling mist that really does the trick.

Links to Groups

America’s Second Harvest

The Breast Cancer Fund

Children’s Environmental Health Network

Heifer Project

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Links to Products

Local Harvest.

Product Goat

Grateful Body

Pangea Organics

Get the lead out—of lipstick

Last week the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics published A Poison Kiss: The problem of lead in lipstick. According to the report, the average woman eats four pounds of lipstick in her life, and some of that lipstick may be very high in lead. For example, LʹOreal's "Colour Riche True Red", which tested the highest of the 33 lipsticks that the campaign sent to an independent testing lab, had 0.65 parts per million of lead in it. At the other end of the spectrum, 13 of the tested lipsticks had no detectable lead in them.

Most people assume that the FDA, EPA, or some other alphabet soup agency, regulates and tests cosmetics, but that assumption is plain wrong. FDA has authority over some coloring agents used in cosmetics, but beyond that, they have very limited authority over the cosmetics' industry. They have never set a limit for lead in lipstick or other cosmetics, yet numerous studies point out that there is no safe level of lead.

The report's findings include:

Lead is a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, language and behavioral problems such as lowered IQ, reduced school performance and increased aggression.

Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to
lead exposure because lead easily crosses the placenta and may enter the fetal brain, where it interferes with normal development.

Lead has also been linked to miscarriage, reduced fertility in both men and women, hormonal changes, menstrual irregularities and delays in the onset of puberty.

Lead builds up in the body over time and lead‐containing lipstick applied several times a day, every day, combined with lead in water and other sources, could add up to significant exposure levels.

A 2004 survey of cosmetics use by 5,856 U.S. girls aged 7 to 19 found that 63 percent of the girls aged 10 and younger reported using lipstick.

Check out the report, and let the manufacturers of cosmetics you use know that you don't want toxins in your beauty products!