What does ‘Chemical free makeup’ mean?

The chemicals that are important ingredients of traditional makeup are starting to become more and more the subjects of adversity. There has never been a lot of openness about Makeup Ingredients, but the appearance of natural, organic mineral makeup has made people more aware.

A list of 12 commonly used ingredients was first published in 2008 and shows that these chemicals include chemicals (pathogens) that are well known to cause cancer and even genetic mutations. The list has nothing to do with the fda cosmetic ingredients. Products containing these chemicals are used daily by 90% of women over the age of 20.

So when buying makeup, please read the list of ingredients!

Even if the package suggests that it is a mineral foundation or makeup, it is still necessary to check the mineral makeup ingredients and the chemicals that might be used. It is not all 100% mineral cosmetic ingredients that are used in these products. Unfortunately it is quite cost effective for producers to replace part of the ingredients with non-natural chemical ingredients and fillers. Many of these are toxic in some way and therefore should not be a part of an natural organic, chemical free makeup. For some making money is more important than being honest and as is understandable, the real good minerals that result in a fantastic soft natural makeup are not the cheapest. They are mostly found in the United States, so need to be mined, treated with respect and shipped.

So be aware if a product claims at first sight to be chemical free makeup as it looks like a real good natural organic product, but it is still a bit on the cheaper side. Often this means trouble! Read the list of ingredients. We have listed what can be found in a good Mineral Makeup on our page about this, click here.

It is also important to get the names of the minerals right: For instance Titanium Dioxide sounds very dangerous, but is one of the 5 ingredients of good mineral makeup and can therefore be used.

The original list of 12 chemicals, sometimes referred to as the Toxic 12 List, is the following:

Toxin	Effects
1. Dioxin	High hazard (cancer,genetic)
2. DEA (diethanolamine) and MEA (monoethanolamine) and TEA (triethanolamine)	High hazard (cancer, genetic, allergy)
3. Benzoyl peroxide	High hazard (allergy, irritation)
4. DMDM hydantoin and imidazolidinyl urea	High hazard (allergy, immunotoxicity)
5. Triclosan	High hazard (endocrine, irritation)
6. Parabens (methyl, butyl, ethyl and propyl)	High hazard (cancer, genetic, organs)
7. Synthetic Colors and Pigments	Various high hazards
8. Suncreen chemicals (avobensone, benzphenone)	Various high hazards
9. Sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate	Moderate hazard (organs, irritation)
10. FEG (polyethylene glycol)	High hazard (reproduction, irritation)
11. Propylene glycol and butylene glycol	Moderate hazard (organs, skin, absorption)
12. Phatalates	Moderate to high hazards

*Information from: www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

As is very clear from this list, many ingredients of makeup can not only have an effect on cancer or cause irritation of the skin, but it can even have a long term effect on reproduction and other processes in the human body that are regulated by hormones. This all has only recently really been proven by scientists. The trouble is that the processes in the human body that are regulated by hormones are very fine-tuned processes. To regulate these processes, the body reacts to very small amounts of the hormone. So, if something is in a product that you put over a larger area of your body like your full face and neck, there is actually a lot of this product on your body. If you do this every day, it does add up. And some of these chemicals have a direct or indirect effect on your hormones, so it is not really hard to understand that chemicals in makeup can have a big impact on your health.

And we now have not even thought about covering your whole body with sunscreen!

Since the first publication of this list a lot of research has been done, so a lot of information is available. We think though, for the purpose of making sure that you actually get chemically free makeup when you want that, the above list is enough. It still needs to be doable to check the packaging, without having to take an encyclopedia!

If you are interested in knowing more about traditional makeup and the chemical content.

There is an interesting book available by Stacy Malkan: Not Just a Pretty Face, The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry. Tracy describes the beauty industry and one of the things highlighted is that only 11% of all chemicals used in makeup is tested. So we actually still have no idea what we put on our body if we do not use chemical free makeup.

It is obvious why millions of people are looking towards using bare mineral makeup as this essentials makeup is 100% natural and it is very obvious and clear what you put on your skin.