This month’s stupid plastic crap is vibrating mascara. Yes - it vibrates. Not only is the mascara tube made of plastic, but it has a battery that is guaranteed to last 130 applications. Then what? It will be in a landfill for centuries. Lancome has one for $34.00 and Maybelline has one for $15.00. I think both are pricey.. It vibrates 7,000 times per minute and is advertised as the ultimate beauty tool.
I have nothing against mascara. I have some myself. The issue is not just that this is a completely wasteful product. It is also that cosmetics like mascara are the most unregulated products in our lives. We put personal care products on every inch of our bodies. Cosmetic manufacturers may use any ingredient without approval from the FDA. Many of the ingredients that are in these products are suspect in contributing to asthma, early onset of puberty in girls, feminization of boys, cancer, as well as other problems. Cosmetic companies maintain that none of their ingredients are health risks because of the small amount that is used in each product. They may be right – we just do not know for sure. Keep in mind that we put these products on our skin, in our eyes, in our vaginas, on our lips. This is what makes them personal! We use many of these products everyday. How do the chemicals in multiple products interact? That issue is a big unknown.
If you want to know how your mascara is rated, go to Skin Deep, a website by the Environmental Working Group, that scientifically tests personal care products and rates their safety. I looked up the mascara with the best rating which is 2 out of 10, 100% Pure Ultra Lengthening Fruit Pigmented Mascara. (Ten is the worst.) I have Ecco Bella Botanicals which is rated 3 out of 10. The big four chemicals that you have to avoid in cosmetics are fragrances, phthalates, parabens, and Triclosan.
Check your brand out on Skin Deep. After all, you put it very close to your eyes. It can be risky. Buy beauty products that have little or no plastic packaging. Be good to yourself and the earth.
Blogs » Environment and Society » Recycling & Reusing
Comment on this Article
October's Stupid Plastic Crap
Posted on October 23, 2009
by Linda A.
Vibrating mascara joins the ranks of useless plastic products that will still be around long after the consumers who bought them are gone.
Get Started
| Write a Review | Post to SustainLane | Add Green Products & Businesses |
Written by Linda A.
After 20 years of teaching I want to do something that benefits the environment. One of the ways that I have chosen to do that is to write this blog about reducing my use of single-use plastics. More About Linda »
Share eco-tips, news, how-tos,
or just blog it.
Advertisement
Email This
Send a Message
Copyright ©, 2004-2009 SustainableCircles Corp. All rights reserved.
Elli A. says:
Linda where do you find that stuff? The monthly stupid plastic crap is becoming my favorite!
What is sad is that they would not make it if someone would not buy it. I wish they can come up with productive products to work on.
Economists can say that the industrial world has much more production capacity than what people actually need. So we are making up stuff that we don't need.
Linda A. says:
I read the 2 websites that you sited. The FDA site specifically says, "cosmetic ingredients are not subject to FDA premarket approval authority". That is my point. The chemicals listed on that site are not the usual suspects on cosmetics labels. There are a lot of unknowns involved in cosmetics. One is the interaction of the chemicals in the dozens of products that women used daily. Consumers need to be aware of this and need to be educated about the suspect ingredients in their everyday personal care products.