![blur-brush-close-up-457704.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPCfwmhUnNheM2BqovZQsyx1iQmfdFAWfb1FSdtdd2wGF/blur-brush-close-up-457704.jpg) We all are pressured by mainstream media to look a certain way and follow the established standard. We love following trends, and cosmetics have become one of the easiest ways to measure up to predetermined ideals concerning beauty. Cosmetic companies are constantly targeting us, saying that we can look better, younger and sexier. Some products even promise a ten year better look, and it does make us feel better, gives us ego boost, enhances our features, besides it is fun and easy. Women are encouraged, and in some instances even required to wear makeup. Little girls grow up wanting to emulate their mothers and idols and start using makeup from an early age. Just for a fact, an average female applies 12 personal care products a day, containing 170 different chemicals, while most men use fewer products. An estimated 90% of girls age 14 and older regularly use cosmetics. We are advised to put on creams, moisturizers, cleansers among other things to protect our skin from sun damage and pollution, however many of the ingredients in personal care and beauty products are hazardous chemicals. U.S. researchers have found that one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients are toxic. This means that 10,500 industrial chemicals are used as cosmetic ingredients, many of which are pesticides, carcinogens, reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors among others, and these go on our skin, enter our bloodstream even change our DNI, gives us headaches, damages central nervous system and makes us infertile. We are ignorant about the cosmetic products that are used every single day. Lots of products starting from lipstick, shaving foam to sunscreen and even baby shampoos contain chemicals linked to cancer or other problems, such as: learning disabilities, asthma and allergies. In addition, research that was conducted in 2004, detected more than 287 synthetic chemicals in the cord of babies, most of them linked to birth defects or abnormal development.

Pick up a bottle of Old Spice, Nivea or any other body product, and try to decipher the list of ingredients. What you will find a list of words that are composed of 13 plus characters and are hard to pronounce. Most of us are sure that the products in stores must be safe. They would not sell things that are harmful, or would they? However, more than 11 billion personal care products are sold annually in the U.S. and 98 percent of these contain one or more ingredients never assessed for safety. The truth is, the cosmetics industry is practically unregulated. It is making the rules and then deciding whether to follow or not. Some of those chemicals are cheap and they maximize profit. Also, the people in charge of the health system do not care about our health, because it thrives on the profit generated by illness. Manufacturers are legally allowed to hide chemicals under the name fragrance or perfume, as they want to preserve their trade secret and do not have to list them on the ingredient label. That is why most companies promote misleading information and add cheap and toxic ingredients to everything we consume. There is nothing more profitable to the health care and pharmaceutical systems, than those who are sick. I personally have discovered, that you cannot trust a label saying organic, natural, or herbal, because they still contain toxic ingredients. In defense, the big cosmetics companies say that the doses of poison in their products are small enough to be harmless. For example, parabens have estrogenic qualities and are said to be safe in small amounts. Typically, the concentration is very low and when used in moderation are considered safe. However, we use many products daily and combine them with others. A little does under your arms, a little more on your hair, on your face, lips, skin and a voluntary chemical experiment is in progress.

You are only one person in a world of 6 billion. How can your actions make a difference? Best, you say, to leave it to decision makers. And so, you do nothing. However, we can choose what we put on our bodies. As consumers, we dictate the marketplace, if we stop buying something then they will stop making it. We are not helpless against these big companies, it is up to us to change the system. There are resources online, and several great applications for your mobile phone that we can use to protect ourselves by identifying the best possible choices of products in stores. Many responsible cosmetics organisations are already putting safer products on the market. We have a choice among thousands and thousands of products, but the most important choice to make is the choice to be safe and healthy. You might lose a couple minutes of your life while looking for detrimental chemicals on product labels, but is that any match for the healthier years you will add to your life, the illnesses you will avoid, and the example you will be in support of a more sustainable world? Being informed will allow you to make intelligent and conscious choices and the planet.

So, now that you have finally faced up to the terrible damage you have inflicted on yourself and environment, it is up to you to make a change. There is a great deal of information and sources available that can guide. We do not have to buy products from companies with bad environmental policies, safety risks and animal testing. Even companies that are known only for profits and pollution will have to change. If we, as consumers, will not buy their products, they will have to adapt to our needs. Exposing yourself to so many chemicals is unnecessary and dangerous. If we want to stay healthy and out of the hospital, we must read ingredients labels and make sure we avoid toxic ingredients.

References:

Graves, Louisa. Age-Proof: Beauty alternatives You Need to Know. U.S.: Archieboy Holdings Publishing Co., 2016. Google Book Search. Web.

Gray, Sonny; Gray, Christine. Eat Your Way to Good Health. U.S.: Luxury Media, 2016.Google Book Search. Web.

Jeffreys, Sheila, Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West. U.S.: Routledge, 2015. Google Book Search. Web.

Mellowship, Dawn. Toxic Beauty: The hidden chemicals in cosmetics and how they can harm you. U.K.: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, 2009. Google Book Search. Web.

Newcomer, Laura, Are Cosmetics Dangerous, 2. Oct. 2012. https://greatist.com/health/cosmetics-dangerous.

Stonge, Elina. 5 Reasons why We are Getting Sicker & how to Reverse it. Collective Evolution. 10. April. 2012. http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/04/10/5-reasons-why-we-are-getting-sicker-how-to-reverse-it/.

The Alternative Daily, 3 Chemical-Filled Personal Care Products You Should Avoid and How to Make Them Safely Yourself, 2017. http://www.thealternativedaily.com/3-chemical-filled-personal-care-products-avoid-make-safely/.

The Artifice, The Feminist Makeup Culture: Reconsidering Cosmetics, 1. Jan.2016. https://the-artifice.com/the-feminist-makeup-culture-reconsidering-cosmetics/.

U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Fragrances in Cosmetics, 29. Dec. 2015. https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productsingredients/ingredients/ucm388821.htm

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