Beautiful But Toxic

For years, people have been buying personal care products and beauty products without really knowing what ingredients they may contain.

Most individuals continue to be unaware of what chemicals their lipstick , foundation, shampoo, deodorant, mascara, and other products contain, and how those chemicals could affect their health.

Eluxe Magazine reports the chemicals that are found most often in personal care products are mercury, lead, parabens, phthalates. Many people might believe the stuff they are putting on their skin is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, but it is not, at least not to the extent people might hope.

“If we are talking about personal care products, we are talking about thousands of compounds that our bodies are exposed to on a daily basis,” CSUN Chemistry and Biochemistry professor Gagik Melikyan said. “It is almost impossible to check for all them to the full extent, because we are talking about human resources and financial resources .”

Melikyan, who is the author of a book on the subject called Guilty Until Proven Innocent, said these chemicals can potentially disrupt hormone production and lead to miscarriage or infertility, and may cause cancer and skin irritation.

Women are the gender most affected because they buy more beauty products, but men are also vulnerable to the side affects of the personal care products they buy.

The variety of organic or vegan personal care products in the United States has been slim for many years, and some consumers of beauty products say that needs to change.

“It is also the consumer’s responsibility to educate themselves on these products,” said professional makeup artist Fabulous Jason.

Freelance make-up artist Betsy Rodriguez said purchasing new products for her clients has become difficult because some of them are fine using inorganic products, or just they prefer certain products whether they’re toxic or not. At the end of the day, many make-up artists need to make their clients happy.

“I was selling these products,” Rodriguez said, “and in order to sell these things, I had to put them on myself, and they weren’t working for me. I see these products, and I see these ingredients, and I [think], if I am not their side with [them], why should I [sell them?] — and yes, I stopped doing a lot of things.”

Moderator: Darya Hariri

Producer: Karissa Preciado

Anchor: Christopher Farias

Social Media Editor: Jamontae Hickman

Reporters: Gloria Alas, Enrie Amezcua, Christopher Farias, Darya Hariri, Jamontae Hickman, Coraima Hurtado and Karissa Preciado