An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
-Benjamin Franklin
Today, we’ll dutifully massage sunscreen on our skin, apply mascara to our lashes, and touch up lipstick throughout the day. Tonight we may even run bubble baths for our children. We do these things without a second thought because we assume a reliable network of governmental regulations and industry standards are protecting us. But what happens once we realize that the levels of safety afforded by the FDA and cosmetics manufacturers don’t match our own high standards? What do we do next?
Whether you’ve already begun the process of thinking critically about the personal care products you use, or if you still need convincing that your cosmetics could have an adverse affect on your health, this trio of books is for you.
1. No More Dirty Looks: The Truth About Your Beauty Products – and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics
This book is an excellent introduction to navigating between safe, unsafe, and impostor products. Authors Siobhan O’Connor and Alexandra Spunt have devoted chapters to makeup, skincare, nail and hair products. They even give awesome product recommendations at a variety of prices (I found my favorite $3.99 facial cleanser in the Face chapter).
Although the book was published several years ago and has become somewhat outdated in regards to its product recommendations (hey–beauty products get makeovers too!!), it’s still full of useful information.
Find the guidance you need to green-up your beauty routine by buying the book here.
2. Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry
The author, Stacy Malkan, is a longtime consumer health advocate and a co-founding member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. This well-documented book explores how a lack of regulation in the cosmetics industry has created our current system in which big industry players routinely–and without fanfare–put hazardous chemicals in our personal care products. And the dozens of stories of scientists, activists, cancer survivors, politicians, and everyday consumers is eye-opening, occasionally infuriating, and entirely inspiring.
Learn more about the movement by purchasing the book here.
3. A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, 7th Edition: Complete Information About the Harmful and Desirable Ingredients Found in Cosmetics and Cosmeceuticals
Don’t get me wrong: there are a lot of great online resources for navigating a cosmetic ingredient list. But the straight-forward nature of this reference book is priceless. This dictionary clearly and simply explains popular personal care ingredients, plus relevant terminology. Can’t distinguish between ethylene glycol and ethylene dichloride? Author Ruth Winter will help you out.
Never feel intimidated by an indecipherable ingredient list again. Buy the book here.
