Whats in YOUR make up bag?

Keyword Organic skincare products, natural skincare products, organic makeup summary Youve made the switch rom non!organic to organic ood, you opt or eco detergents and cleaners, recycle all your waste and generally consider yoursel "green, you may also use natural skin care# $ut what about when it comes to your make up bag? %his seems to be the point where even the most ardent natural and eco! ans can all down#

& that sounds like you, youre not alone# &t seems that we are beholden to our make!up and the magic it can bestow on our aces and so are loathe to have to give up products we may think we need# 'owever, research in to the cosmetics industry in the U( reveals a staggeringly high number o chemicals that are potentially harm ul and yet present in our cosmetics# )urthermore, some o these are actually industrial chemicals# (imilarly to the UK, the U( ederal government does not legally re*uire chemicals in beauty products and make up to be tested irst# +s a result, ,-. o over /0,000 substances which ind their way in beauty products are not checked to see i they are sa e# +nd its not 1ust the chemicals coming in to contact with our skin, either 2 up to 30. o them are absorbed by the skin and in to the blood stream# On this side o the pond, not! or!pro it organisation (a e 4osmetics 4ampaign aims to redress this problem and raise awareness o the chemicals that are going in to our make!up bags and bathrooms# $elow is a list o chemicals which are regularly used in products but that which may be potentially ha5ardous6 $utyl acetate $utylated hydro7ytoluene 4oal tar 4ocamide 89+:laurimede 89+ 8ia5olidinyl urea ;chk< 9thyl acetate )ormaldehyde =arabens ;methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl<

 =etrolatum =hthalates =ropylene glycol (ilo7anes (odium laureth (odium laurel sulphate %alc %oluene %riclosan %riethanolamine

+ *uick scan o your make up bag may reveal a worryingly high number o these chemicals> perhaps its time switch to organic and natural here too? $e care ul when shopping however as labels can be misleading6 an organic label doesnt need to have /00. organic ingredients, similarly a "natural tag may only re er to some o the ingredients in the product# )or e7ample, i a cosmetic uses a plant e7tract it may be deemed to be natural yet still include a number o man!made chemicals# ?ook or speci ically /00. organic cosmetics and make sure you look at the ingredients list so that you can weed out any with unwanted chemicals# Usually its pretty easy to determine what is a chemical 2 it will be a word that is entirely un amiliar to you 2 however to be on the sa e sound theres now an app that can check or you# "%hink 8irty allows you to scan the barcode o any product and it will rate it based on three areas o chemicals that may be harm ul to you ! carcinogenicity> developmental and reproductive to7icity> allergies and immunoto7icities#

$etter yet, i you source all o your natural skincare products and organic make up rom a specialist retailer such as %he @atural (kincare 4ompany, you can be sa e in the knowledge that no nasties will ind their way in to your make up bag#