I used to be a Makeup Artist and for over 25 years I unknowingly used toxic products every time I opened my makeup kit. I learned makeup back in the 80′s when they said know your ingredients but only taught us that some people were allergic to certain things so we were to do what is called a “skin test” which is applying the product to a small area and seeing whether there is an allergic reaction. In all my years of doing makeup I think only once did I notice an immediate change. I once applied makeup on a bride that was also pregnant and I used an eyeshadow that was a a light rusty brown but after I applied it and it set it changed color to a purple color. I couldn’t understand it until I found out that she was pregnant so I realized it reacted to the hormonal changes in her body. I was using MAC eyeshadow which is not tested on animals and is considered the top of the heap in the Professional Makeup World but I realized that some people will react differently and are super sensitive to certain products and their ingredients. Over the many years I think the only thing that I know of that happened was the occasional breakout. I always cleaned my brushes after every use so I am sure that prevented a lot of the problems.
I found with myself on 2 occasions I realized that my eyes were sensitive to products. Once was with a sample that I got from a dermatology department, I used to do billing for dermatologists in a hospital so I had access to samples so I once tried one of them and had a red itchy eye reaction. I stopped using it and it went away.
Another time I had purchased a drug store product that I had purchased before and liked very much but I am assuming they changed the formulation because when I purchased a new jar I had another reaction on my eyes. It was a product that was cucumber looking discs that you put on your eyes for cooling and to reduce puffiness. The first time I purchased it I had no problems and recommended it to a lot of people. The second time I purchased it and had a reaction I contacted the manufacturer to let them know that I had a problem with it and they sent me a letter and discount coupons to buy other products which I never ended up using. I suppose my letter and possibly other complaints may have done something because shortly thereafter the product was discontinued. So I suppose they never corrected the problem and sales decreased forcing them to stop making it. That’s why it’s important to contact manufacturers when you have problems with your products. That is the one and only time I had to do that. Most products just don’t do what they claim to do so I just stop using them. I have tried I don’t know how many different shampoos and as it turns out the so called “Green shampoo” which may not be as clean as they say it is, but it worked horribly on my hair. I use “Tresemme” while I am pretty sure there are really bad chemicals in it I also know that it works the best on my hair so I would like to find an alternative to it that is totally free of toxic chemicals but I would prefer if the manufacturer would just swap out the toxic substances for similar ingredients that aren’t toxic.
I would like to know that when I buy a product that I don’t have to have a PHD to figure out what’s in it and also have to risk my health in order to have “good Hair” days. I was trained as a makeup artist and have certificates to prove it but in all my years of experience I am finding out more lately about what I was doing all those years. I have officially retired from doing makeup in the past year because I lost the passion for doing it and wasn’t earning a fair wage doing it so I have moved into concentrating my artistic pursuits to filmmaking instead but I wish I had known about some of the things I know about beauty products now when I started in the 80′s.
I am working on a new Documentary that explores Eco waste and packaging and weight loss but in the research I am coming across a lot of connected information to other areas.
I just saw this David Suzuki Foundation report about Cosmetic Products even though I have been hearing about some of these things for the past couple of years and that has partly influenced my decision to stop doing makeup but it’s pretty clear that even though I was a makeup artist and people assume that I am an expert there was no way for me to know what I was doing with the practices that are allowed in the Cosmetic Industry and their labelling practices and the laws that allow them to keep their trade secrets from the general public.
Have a look at this report and use it as a reference when purchasing any new Cosmetic Products. The only way to change things is to stop buying the Dirty Dozen toxic loaded products and shop the Clean ones. If you put the bad guys out of business it will open the doors for the good ones.
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/downloads/2010/DSF-report-Whats-inside-that-counts.pdf
There is also a book by Gillian Deacon called “There’s Lead in My Lipstick” that will give you information about Cosmetic Products.
I have spent thousands of dollars trying new products and trying to find the best products to do the things I needed them to do. I can honestly say that if I had put al the money I spent on cosmetic products over the years into a financial investment it would probably have paid for a house by now. You don’t know what the impact of something is until you look back 30 years later and can see the big picture. I can’t take back what I did in the past but I can change what I do in the future. So I would like to pass on this information to you so that you can be informed and make better decisions for your future.
I currently know 3 women who are good women and have all done the right things in their life but they are all fighting cancer right now. I would hate to think that the act of washing their hair and putting on some lipstick was the cause of it.
We are living in a Toxic Soup of live these days. i would like to see manufacturers stop producing toxic chemicals, packaging, products and become Environmentally responsible. Health over Profits.
Products I would recommend and use or have used include KISS MY FACE and PHILOSOPHY. What I can recommend about MAC Cosmetics is their Eco Packaging and interest in making better products and doing good in the world by establishing their “Back to Mac” program where they will take 6 Mac product packaging back and give you 1 free lipstick or eyeshadow in return. It’s a start and I hope they will continue to make positive changes. By the way in researching trying to recycle all of my old cosmetic packaging Mac was the only company in Canada that had this policy. Origins in the US will recycle all packaging but it isn’t available in Canada. I would like to see these companies take responsibility for their packaging as well as the ingredients in the products.
Do what you can to influence the change. You have the power by the decisions you make when you purchase a product. I hope this information will help you make the right decisions to change the future for future generations.
