![]() ![]() In fact, an increasing demand for organic cosmetics and biocosmetics is one of the biggest shifts happening in the personal care landscape. A similar shift is likely to occur in cosmetics as consumers become alive to the environmental costs of their beauty spending. While the skin-enhancing and product-preserving properties of these chemicals are hard to beat, there is increasing reason for manufacturers to find alternatives.įashion has come under growing scrutiny for its sustainability practices only in the past half decade or so. This is a film-forming agent that underlies smooth-as-silk application and that soft-touch skin feel after a freshly applied product. Between 10, 000 to 100, 000 tonnes of the preservative phenoxyethanol are imported or made in the EU each year.Įven though the safety profile of phenoxyethanol is still debated, it can be found inside almost every item found in an average cosmetics bag: eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner, foundation, concealer, and blushĪcrylates copolymer is another common petrochemical ingredient found in eyeshadows, mascara, eyebrow pencils and lipsticks. Global production capacity for polyethylene glycol, a fossil-based moisturiser and emulsifier used to combine water and oil, is around 21 million tonnes. The idea that non-essential consumer items marketed as carefree luxuries sustain the most environmentally destructive industries is particularly discomforting for consumers, driving increasing numbers to greener choices.Īlthough millions of tonnes are produced every year, most of us are unfamiliar with the arcane petro-molecules that pad out cosmetics purses the world over. It makes up the third largest cosmetics sub-market after skin and hair care. The overwhelming majority are petroleum derivatives.Īlthough oil-based ingredients are found across all personal care segments, the fact that even decorative cosmetics rely on petro by-products is perhaps most surprising.ĭecorative cosmetics cover any chemical formula that alters the colour and accents of facial features: foundations, lip colour, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and blush. Since a typical cosmetic contains about 15–20 ingredients, using at least five cosmetic products a day means putting around 75–100 chemicals on your skin. Although not a product category we immediately associate with the petrochemical industry, cosmetics are arguably where many of us have the closest, most regular contact with fossil chemicals over our lifetimes.
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