Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry

( 11 )

Overview

Lead in lipstick? 1,4 dioxane in baby soap? Coal tar in shampoo? How is this possible? Simple. The $35 billion cosmetics industry is so powerful they’ve kept themselves unregulated for decades. Not Just a Pretty Face chronicles the quest that led a group of health and environmental activists to the world’s largest cosmetics companies to ask some tough questions:

  • Why do companies market themselves as pink ribbon leaders in the fight against breast cancer, yet use ...
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Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry

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More About This Book

Overview

Lead in lipstick? 1,4 dioxane in baby soap? Coal tar in shampoo? How is this possible? Simple. The $35 billion cosmetics industry is so powerful they’ve kept themselves unregulated for decades. Not Just a Pretty Face chronicles the quest that led a group of health and environmental activists to the world’s largest cosmetics companies to ask some tough questions:

  • Why do companies market themselves as pink ribbon leaders in the fight against breast cancer, yet use hormone-disrupting and carcinogenic chemicals that may contribute to that very disease?
  • Why do products used by men and women of childbearing age contain chemicals linked to birth defects and infertility?

As doors slammed in their faces and the beauty myth peeled away, the industry’s toxic secrets began to emerge. This scathing investigation peels away less-than-lovely layers to expose an industry in dire need of an extreme makeover. The good news is that while the major multinational companies fight for their right to use hazardous chemicals, entrepreneurs are developing safer non-toxic technologies and building businesses on the values of health, justice and personal empowerment.

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Editorial Reviews

KLIATT - Nola Theiss
The author of this book does not paint a pretty picture of the almost totally unregulated cosmetics industry's use of dangerous chemicals. As a cofounder of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Malkan uses her journalistic skills to expose the dangers of make-up, baby shampoo, deodorant, and other hundreds of "beauty" products we all use. How does she know that these chemicals are affecting us? By the statistical analysis of blood studies of babies and women, which often show dangerously high levels of chemicals like phthalates that can cause birth defects, cancer, and other diseases. Two of the biggest offenders are nail polish and lipstick. Malkan discusses the irony of cosmetics companies that sponsor campaigns against breast cancer using chemicals that may actually cause breast cancer, or their generous offers of beauty makeovers for cancer patients that may expose them to the same chemicals that may have led them to become ill in the first place. Much of the book urges action on the part of consumers and tells what people are doing to fight the use of chemicals in beauty products, including teenage girls who have organized the Teen Safe Cosmetics Campaign. Malkan includes a chapter on what we can all do to eliminate some of the dangers, even while we campaign our lawmakers to fight the $35-billion-dollar cosmetics industry. The book features extensive notes along with many b/w photographs and charts. Reviewer: Nola Theiss
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780865715745
  • Publisher: New Society Publishers
  • Publication date: 10/1/2007
  • Pages: 192
  • Sales rank: 431,205
  • Product dimensions: 6.00 (w) x 9.00 (h) x 0.50 (d)

Meet the Author

Stacy Malkan is communications director of Health Care Without Harm, and a media strategist and cofounding member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition working to eliminate hazardous chemicals from personal care products. Stacy is a former journalist and newspaper publisher, and a longtime environmental health advocate who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Table of Contents


Acknowledgments     ix
Prologue     xi
Indecent Exposure     1
Not Too Pretty     15
Because We're Worth It!     35
Skin Deeper     51
Beauty Myth Busters     65
Pinkwashing     75
Because We're Worth It Too!     87
Tricks of the Trade     99
Unmasked     107
A Healthier Foundation     119
The Face of the Future     133
Extreme Makeover     143
Epilogue     151
Notes     155
Index     171
About the Author     177
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 11 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 11 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 13, 2008

    An Eye Opener

    It was surprising to learn all the unlisted hazardous ingredients lurking in the products I use every day. Just because their stated purpose is to keep me clean and groomed does not mean they are good for me. What this book has to say is so important that I plan to send it as a present to friends and family members. As a nurse, I plan to spread its message of warning to all my patients.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted July 26, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances

    Beauty at a Price

    Before reading this book I had confidence in my beauty products b/c I work in the pharmaceutical industry. It was eye opening. I can't believe what the beuty industry has gotten away with. A lot of reagents that I work with in the lab are used in our everyday products that we put in our mouths & skin. Definetly recommend to read & pass on to anyone you care about. Also check out www.cosmeticdatabase.org to find out about most consumer products.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 20, 2007

    It will open your mascara-ed, eye-lined, and shadowed eyes.

    I had no idea what all those ingredients on my shampoo bottle meant, or even how to pronounce them, let alone what they could be doing to my body. As someone who seems to have a pretty simple morning routine, this book made me realize that my 10 'beauty' products (from shampoo to lotion) could cause more harm than good in the long run. This book gives you the resources (websites, databases, history) to find out what exactly the cosmetics industry is putting in your products, without anyone's over-site. They 'regulate' themselves, and thereby play by their own rules. It's time to make your own rules, and take control of what you put in and on your body. Stacy Malkan puts this info in your hands so you can make an informed decision. I highly recommend this book for all the women in your life.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted May 31, 2012

    A must read if you wear makeup!

    This book will open your eyes to the unexceptable ingredients we and our family and friends use everyday. Something must be done to change what is allowed. Canada and Europe already have much stricter laws and won't accept make made in the US unless they remove the "bad" stuff. Why should we be exposed? Read and find out what is being done. Book could be updated, but work continues to help us all.
    Thanks Stacey Malkan!!! and EWG, Environmental Working Group!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 5, 2009

    This book is great because it offers productive ways to make changes to your life.

    I thought this book is great because not only does it provide information about the beauty industry and some of the harmful chemicals that they use (even when there are safer alternatives available); but it also offers tools, to help consumers purchase safe alternatives and information on companies, who are doing better. After reading this book, I don't feel like that the beauty industry is unchangable. The way the information is presented shows that changes are possible and within our power as consumers to change. Happy Reading!

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    Posted August 11, 2010

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    Posted June 30, 2009

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    Posted April 11, 2010

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    Posted July 7, 2011

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    Posted December 27, 2011

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    Posted May 8, 2013

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