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This is an area largely unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration, yet rife with chemicals and additives that can be
harmful. As an example, see the article in the Green Articles
section about lead in lipsticks, “A Poison Kiss: The Problem of Lead in Lipstick”.
Now that greener lifestyles have become mainstream, a plethora of companies and brands have developed environmentally safe and
non-toxic versions of cosmetics, hair, skin, nail and personal hygiene products. While many of these have labeling that claims to
be “organic” or “eco-friendly”, they are not, as numerous hazardous chemicals, parabens and carcinogens are still found hidden in
their product ingredient list. In researching this section, we found that even those products generally thought of as being safe
and natural sometimes contain hazardous ingredients.
It would be impossible to rate just which of all the available brands out there are actually dangerous and which are considered
safe; however, the Environmental Working Group has put together a Campaign For Safe Cosmetics database that compares more than
42,000 products against a list of 50 toxicity and regulatory databases. The website, located at
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com, is very user-friendly.
Anyone can go there and look up their favorite products to see how they rate and also find new ones with minimal toxicity
ratings. It is really up to the individual consumer to decide how extreme they want to go with their chemical intake (Just
remember, if the ingredient list is quite long and filled with words that are hard to pronounce, the product probably isn’t that
natural).
Once you locate a product you like, it will likely be available at a local department or drug store in town, or online. That
said, Sephora, Las Vegas’ largest beauty retail chain, now has a section on its web site devoted to “natural &
organic” beauty brands and products. Visit their website at
www.sephora.com/browse/section.jhtml?categoryId=C17824 to view the full list. Just remember, you may want to check
it against the cosmetics database before you head out to one of Sephora’s four locations in Las Vegas:
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Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort