Scents are important. Probably more important than you (or most) think. Especially when it comes to memory, sensations, and even the bonding experience between baby and mother. We are triggered by the past and introduced to the new, but what exactly is at the heart of these olfactory (smell) experiences? Often, toxic chemicals!
On January 8, I joined 24 women in Sacramento to ask members of the California Assembly to support the California Toxic Free Cosmetic’s Act (AB 495). This bill would ban 13 of the most toxic chemicals currently being used in cosmetics in America; all of these chemicals are banned in the EU.
While I’ll never really know what caused my breast cancer (I have no genetic link), the thought of potentially harmful ingredients being in the products that I used, makes me really angry. We shouldn’t have to wonder if the cosmetics or personal care products we used, caused our cancer.
California bill SB 574 would have been the first bill in the world to force companies to publicly disclose the fragrance and flavor chemicals in their beauty and personal care products. Though it did not pass in 2019, a new federal bill, the Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Act of 2019 introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, would require full fragrance and flavor ingredient disclosure on a company’s website and disclosure of a product’s toxic fragrance and flavor ingredients on the product label. One bill after another, we’re stopping at nothing to move the needle toward cosmetics safety, transparency, and full ingredient disclosure.
This is Lucy. Lucy represents thousands of little girls of color in the U.S. who are unjustly exposed to toxic chemicals, like formaldehyde, in their hair products. We know that black women are…
The goal of the California Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredient Right to Know Act of 2019 lobby day was to sit down and share these views with legislators in Sacramento. The stories of women who have been directly affected by toxic ingredients in beauty care products were paramount in explaining to legislative aides why we need fragrance and flavor disclosure.
We tested 32 of the most popular beauty products from around the country to find out what exactly is hiding in these products. Grab a beauty product of yours, flip it around, and look at the label. Most likely you will see “fragrance” or “parfum.” Did you know that dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of chemicals can hide under that one little word on beauty, personal care products, and cleaning products? And that scent could lead to serious health consequences.
