Teens Question the Safety of Beauty Products

Safe Cosmetics Campaign

by Jessica Assaf

I am 15 years old and growing up, I thought that all of the answers to perfection would be found in the stacks of magazines my friends and I read weekly extolling the virtues of the hottest new beauty products. Looking at the same ads now, I realize that what isn't shown in the ads is what really goes on behind the hidden doors of the beauty industry -- an industry where there is hardly any truth in advertising. I used to believe that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," not realizing the hidden cost to our health in this notion. Do we really know what we're putting on our bodies 24/7?

I became involved in the Safe Cosmetics Campaign, a campaign initiated by the Marin Cancer Project. The Campaign is made up of a group of teenage girls from different high schools trying to engage their peers and the community at large in making safer and healthier choices in the products we use daily. We have accomplished much this past year as we have educated our peers and parents, lobbied legislators, created a Safe Cosmetics Bill of Rights and engaged the general public around this issue. We spent days in Sacramento attempting to convince Senators and Assembly members to VOTE YES on SB484, The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005, a bill that demands that cosmetic companies disclose any carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductive toxins in their products and is a first step to protecting our right to health.

I soon learned that everything, from soap to mouthwash to deodorant, could actually be pushing me further away from beauty and closer to cancer and reproductive problems. I began to see the sheer ugliness behind beauty.

When I first heard about the Safe Cosmetics Campaign and learned about the toxic soup that makes up our products, I was horrified. Personally, I use about 20 beauty products daily from the time I get up in the morning to the time I go to bed. When I learned that everything, from my toothpaste to my lipstick, could be putting my health in danger, I did not know what to think. As teens, we are sucked into the idea that these products will make us more beautiful--perfect. But I ask - as the consumers of these products, should we be blindly coerced into choosing beauty over health?

The creators of these dangerous products should have the courage to tell the world the truth about their products. Labeling dangerous products full of toxic chemicals, as "healthy," or "natural" is unfair and misleading. If these companies are the ones deciding to use unsafe ingredients, they should have to stand up for their actions and face the consequences. Abbottstown, PA Women should not have to go through breast cancer, reproductive problems or infertility as a punishment for attempting to look like a girl in a magazine. We demand to know the truth behind these products. If companies cannot put the truth about their products in their ads, then they should change their ways. They should not hide toxic ingredients behind words like "other ingredients" on their labels.

After educating myself through the Safe Cosmetics Campaign, these advertisements disgust me. How can companies go to such an extent to falsely portray a toxic product as "healthy" and "guaranteed to improve" when really, they are damaging all of us, inside and out? As readers, we are being punished for believing these ads. In a lip-gloss ad, it says, "Be whatever you decide. It's beautiful." How is it logically possible to be whatever we decide when our health is being put in jeopardy by using the product? These ads tell us half of the effects of the products. Is striving for glossy lips and painted nails worth a lifetime of health problems?

It is amazing to me that teens can make such a difference in the world. I want to educate my community about this campaign and tell all teenagers that anything is possible. Just because we are not of voting age doesn't mean that we cannot inspire change for the better. I want to improve the world for generations to come.

Safe Cosmetics Campaign: Marin is a teen-led coalition, a program of the Marin Cancer Project. Our mission is to raise awareness about cancer-causing chemicals present in cosmetic and personal care products and to advocate for healthier and safer products for the consuming public. Safe Cosmetics Campaign: Marin teens have been working as a coalition since January 2005 educating, advocating and played a key role in the passage of the first Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005 signed into law in California by Governor Schwarzenegger in October of this year.

The Safe Cosmetics Campaign Teen Summit will take place on February 24-26, 2006. The hosts of this Summit include campaign members from Marin County High Schools; local and national representatives from safe cosmetics companies, Community Leaders and partnering non-profit youth based organizations. Visit www.marincancerproject.org for more information.