Cosmetics Schmosmetics

The universe seems to be talking to me lately about cosmetics. First, over at iVillage, we're doing a 30-day Green Your Routine Challenge. It's largely aimed at the novice crowd, but I've found myself saying "Oooo good idea!" a few times too.

One of the things I haven't bothered to green along my journey is make-up. I don't wear very much, first of all - powder, mascara and lip gloss on a day-to-day basis - and, secondly, I've seen the prices of some of the organic and natural products. Not happening!

When we started talking about make-up and all the junk that's in it though, I conceded that I should probably take the subject a little more seriously. I was pleasantly surprised to find that both my Burt's Bees and Alba chap sticks were very low risk. My mascara and powder, on the other hand, were not. You can check just how toxic (wow that sounds scary!) your products are at www.cosmeticsdatabase.com.

It wasn't until I read the Conscious Shopper's very informative blog post I need....makeup that I actually took some action. After all, if anyone is going to switch to organic make-up I should probably complain the least since I only use three products. So, I bit the bullet and bought some Physician Formula "Organic wear 100% Natural Origin Mascara" (pictured above).

The box had some pretty impressive claims like~

• Revolutionary 100% Natural Origin formula contains the purest ingredients and provides 5x Lash Boosting for lash length, volume & definition naturally.
• 100% Recyclable Eco-Brush defines each lash with ultra-soft plastic bristles.
• 100% Free of Harsh Chemicals, Synthetic Preservatives, Parabens, Clumping, Smudging, Flaking, Fibers & Dyes.

The thing I wasn't very impressed with was the packaging. I guess if it was a green company making green make-up, because they believe in making safe cosmetics and protecting the environment, I could expect better packaging. I guess I have to accept the fact that many companies add green products to their lines in order to sell to another type of consumer.

At any rate, I think it stinks that it had to come in two pieces of plastic inside a cardboard box. So you have not only that waste (the cardboard is obviously recyclable, but the plastic was not), but the waste of the actual tube of mascara. In this instance, the box says that this mascara wand is recyclable, but the plastic tube is not.


Maybe that's part of the reason I never bothered to purchase organic make-up in the past. Sure, the part inside is organic, but there's still so much packaging and waste that it just didn't seem worth it. It's like my local natural grocery store that sells "bulk" products that are prepackaged in plastic bags. It kind of misses the mark.