Natural makeup without dangerous chemicals

Showing yourself as you are is part of the ideal of natural beauty, but on special occasions we like to put on a mask of perfection. Showy and obvious makeup has not disappeared, but the dominant trend is naturalness, that is, wearing makeup without appearing so; that’s why brands use slogans like “light foundation”, “natural tone” or “nude look”. The problem is that this naturalness is contradicted by the fact that the products are loaded with ingredients that are not very respectful of the skin and the environment.

Natural makeup: without plastics or endocrine disruptors

According to a Greenpeace report, 75% of make-up contain plastics in solid or liquid form. Plastics not only do not provide any benefit to the skin, but also end up polluting the environment (sewage sludge is used, among other things, to fertilize agricultural land).

Other problematic ingredients are polyethylene glycols (PEGs), which increase the permeability of the skin; perfumes, preservatives and synthetic sunscreens, which can be endocrine disruptors, and silicones, which alter the delicate oil balance of the skin and accumulate without degrading in the environment.

What are PFAS: contaminants in makeup

By putting on makeup we hope to hide or disguise imperfections and enhance the beauty of the face. What we do not expect is that we deposit the same products on the skin irritating and potentially toxic chemicals found, for example, in Teflon pans.

This is the shocking finding of a study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters. Researchers analyzed 231 makeup products and found that more than half contained various perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (known by the acronym PFAS), including some that were not mentioned in the list of ingredients.

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These toxic substances are found in Teflon (the non-stick plastic that covers pans) and stain-resistant coatings. PFASs can be linked, even in small doses, to a number of health problems: they can alter the immune system, increase blood cholesterol, blood pressure and the risk of preeclampsia (a life-threatening complication of pregnancy for mother and baby) and kidney and testicular cancer.

Additionally, PFASs are persistent environmental pollutants so when the face is cleaned once they will continue to be a problem, as they will be washed away by the water to the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

How to choose a natural makeup without toxic products

The most sensible thing to do is to eliminate exposure to these chemicals. The makeups with the highest risk of containing them are lipsticks and products that are presented as resistant to water. To avoid them you can read the list of ingredients: they can appear with names that include “perfluor-” or “polyfluor-“, but often they are not declared in the composition.

The way to get rid of PFAS, plastics, polyethylene glycols, phthalates, and other petroleum-derived ingredients is choose products with recognized natural certification, such as Cosmos, Ecocert, Cosmebio, AIAB, NaTrue, ICEA or BioVidaSana.

Natural make-up uses, for example, beeswax, shea butter, vegetable oils, aloe vera, rice powder, white clay, harmless pigments of mineral or vegetable origin and extracts of aromatic plants.

Certified natural makeup can perfectly hide pimples, dark circles, blemishes and other unevenness on the face.

Makeups that use sustainable packaging

On the other hand, when choosing a product, in addition to the ingredients we can take into account the packaging to reduce the environmental impact. glass is the best And if there is no other choice but to take a plastic container, it does not need to go in a cardboard box. Products that allow content to be replenished are recommended.