I was pretty excited when I found and was offered a review copy of “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.”
The book is a intense look at the safety concerns that many beauty and skincare items, from the point of view of one of the co-founders of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Stacy Malkan.
Bringing Out Concerns
I’ve swing between wanting effective products and wanting the greenest possible products. As I’ve tried to green my life I’ve gone through tons of “green” and “safe” face products. Lots of them were mislabeled. Many of them didn’t’ work. Some of them were fantastic.
I found a big list of ingredients that I wanted to stay away from because of health concerns. It was slightly disturbing to learn that some of the brands who sport a pink ribbon for breast cancer also have products that contain pthalates and other concern causing ingredients that have been linked to cancer.
Let’s take a step back here. I will agree with the notion that some natural and green brands will use this type of information to fear-monger. In reality, a lot of natural-based ingredients can make people with sensitive skin freak out. Just because it is natural doesn’t mean that you can’t have an allergic reaction to it.
So on one hand, I was throwing out freaky old nail polish, but I took all of the book with a grain of salt. Thankfully, the author does point out that a lot of the ingredients that she talks about may not have a huge affect in the small quantities that you see in cosmetics. However, there is the idea that there is no reason to expose yourself to that to begin with, no matter the risk.
Like anything, the ideas in this book are something to weigh in your mind. Yeah, I threw out some nail polish and I will continue to avoid SLS (sodium laurel sulfate) and similar ingredients because I am person that would rather not take the risk.
But, and it’s a big but, I will not get rid of products like my Avene Retrinal, which works perfectly well and is so effective that it is worth the risk to me.
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
One slight thing to keep in mind. Malkan, like I said above, is a co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. A good portion of this book is spent on the story of the CFSC, which really is an intriguing story. You are not really signing up for a book like The Skin Type Solution, which gives you specific things to go out and buy.
You’re getting the story of a worthy cause and why they are working for it. I am glad I read it, because I’m a big fan of researching your purchases and I do use the database set up by the CFSC.
Overall
A great quick read at just over 150 pages, if you’re concerned at all about what you put on your face every day, I would get the book. Prefer to stick with what you know and not get alarmed by all the things that could cause you cancer? Keep walking.
Bonus!
Want to read the book after listening to my rambling? Like a true greenie, I’m going to pass on my copy. It’s got some dog-ears, but totally readable. Just tell me your favorite beauty product (green or not) in the comments and why you’ll use it regardless. I’ll randomly pick someone on July 18 and you’ll get this lovely copy.
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