Teens for Safe Cosmetics

The more immersed into the environmental movement I become, the more I see how surrounded by artificiality we are. Walking down the street has become a tour of plastic forms and smelly gases, a literal man-made maze. I was recently shopping and the “new” cloths smell was driving me nuts (what is that smell anyway?). Trusting my surroundings is more and more difficult… which is no way to live.

There are women out there who feel the same way. Here’s a movement out of the bay area that is working to clean up the beauty industry. In fact, members of Teens for Safe Cosmetics played a significant role in the passage of an unprecedented bill in California: The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005.

This cause is not only bonding mothers and daughters, it’s also getting the word out to young women that they don’t need to sacrifice their health for beauty. Their goals include promoting truth in advertising, labeling standards and requiring that ingredients are thoroughly tested before they are brought to shelves.



Teens for Safe Cosmetics recently held a fun rally in San Francisco’s Union Square called “Project Prom” where participants wore their prom dresses while educating the public about their cause. They educated young girls about the 6,000+ chemicals found in many beauty products. Chemicals like Cocamide Dea/Lauramide Dea which is used in cosmetics as a foaming agent. It’s found in shampoo, body wash, facial cleansers, liquid hand soap, saving products, moisturizer, hair dye, hair spray and much more. There is insufficient toxicity data to determine safety, but some of the compounds are known cancer causing carcinogens.

For decades, American’s have trusted that companies and scientists have the consumer’s interests at heart and that the government would never jeopardize the public’s health, but as we have seen over the past generation, this is not true. It is up to the consumer to protect their own health in the face of tens of thousands of man-made chemicals floating around our lives, in our homes, and in our bodies!

Elle magazine (may 07) published an article about the chemicals in our blood. As compared to European levels, American’s have astronomically more chemicals floating around inside of them. I’ve started doing the Kitty Sniff Test… Otis and Tito (my kitties) don’t mind the smell of rotting food (which man finds gross and unhealthy… eek bacteria!), but they squint and grimace when they sniff antibacterial soap, moisturizer or window cleaner. Try the Kitty Sniff Test today, it's very telling.