- Results of the Female Beauty Survey of Great Britain, commissioned by New Woman magazine,
revealed that only 18 percent of women said they were “happy with their skin,” with 44 percent
admitting that it was oily, 32 percent saying it was dry, and others complaining of freckles and
wrinkles. - Cosmetic companies spend more on TV advertising than any other group, says the Townsend Letter
for Doctors and Patients. - According to Euromonitor International’s data, fragrance is the third most dynamic cosmetics and
toiletries sector, behind sun and baby care, and posted an increase of 7 percent to reach $30.5
billion. - In the United Kingdom, the total cost of an adult lifetime of beauty products and treatments was
calculated to be £182,528 (US $365,000), or £3,000 a year, of which £600 is spent on facials,
massages, and antiaging treatments. About 43 percent of women do not inform their partner of how
much they spend, notes New Woman’s survey, conducted in 2006. - The global market for cosmetics and toiletries ingredients will enjoy growth of the ingredients
around 5 percent per year through 2010, with color cosmetics to have the highest average annual
growth rate, says a 2006 report by the leading information analyst, BCC Research. - Online sales of cosmetics and fragrances grew by 30 percent, noted Jorn Madslien at BBC News.
The beauty industry is busy beefing up its ego. We believe our life is void if we have cellulite. Our
personal life may become null if we have dull hair and lips lacking a lick of shimmery pink gloss. We
fear enlarged pores more than job loss. (Otherwise, why would we spend hours in the bathroom
applying makeup, even when we’re hopelessly late for an important meeting?)As a result, we shop
tirelessly, rubbing and sniffing magazine pages and listening to sales blabber, mesmerized and
hypnotized by the promise of instant youth in a bottle. After all, if a salesperson is wearing a white
lab coat, she knows better, right?
Even if you try to do research on your own, the chances of finding unbiased information are scarce.
In the beauty industry, it is almost impossible to examine the long-term health effects of any chemical
substance without relying on research conducted by the beauty industry itself. Finding an expert
without corporate ties is difficult.
“Show us the dead bodies,” cosmetic regulators say when asked about harmful effects of toxic
ingredients. “A pinch of glitter cannot kill. Show us the evidence against parabens or aluminum
involving humans, not rodents or cells in a test tube.” The recent lawsuit filed in California against
manufacturers of 1,4-Dioxane-contaminated personal-care products shows that we are slowly waking
up to the dangers of toxic beauty. But to win a lawsuit against a cosmetic company for causing your
cancer, there must be scientific proof that your disease was caused by your exposure to this exact
chemical. To obtain such proof, series of “double-blind” studies on humans must be conducted. But
who would participate in them?
All of us are eating, drinking, and breathing a chemical cocktail of pesticides, heavy metals, and
plastic compounds. Hundreds of synthetic substances have accumulated in our bodies over decades
while we strived to keep our faces youthful and hair shiny. It’s impossible to find a perfectly healthy,
uncontaminated group of women who would participate in a study proving the harmof 1,4-Dioxane,
aluminum, or paraben preservatives. And even if such women exist, I doubt they will agree to rub
aluminum and nitrosamines into their skin just to prove how deadly these substances are.