February 22, 2005

A Trend to Watch for Spring Faces: Safer Cosmetics

By Lorraine Sanders
Special to the Neighborhood Newswire

With San Francisco’s temperate climes, spring's arrival may not bring the same blessed relief it does to those unfortunate folks who've lived through winter’s frost. But that hardly means we don't look forward to the season’s change for another reason: fashion. With every season there’s a fresh excuse to decorate ourselves with the latest, and, as every well-schooled fashionista knows, those trends extend beyond clothing to beauty products and cosmetics. It certainly wouldn't do to sport this year's duds with last year's face.

Major looks for spring 2005 include bohemian skirts paired with chunky jewelry and desert-inspired neutrals mixed with warm turquoise, greens, and corals. African and safari-inspired prints also return this season. Must-have clothing items include cropped tailored jackets, knee-length slim-fitting shorts, shoes with wedges or platforms and bags and clutches in metallic leather.

With so many bold looks on the runways this year, it's not surprising that faces are toned down.
"It's not a play on the full face…. If you're going to do make-up on your eyes, you're probably not going to have a lip on," says Staci Wilson, Vice President of Brand Awareness and Education for Bay Area-based Bare Escentuals, which specializes in mineral-based cosmetics.

Karen J. Bard, Editor-in-Chief of Splendora, says the trend is to keep both eyes and lips subdued. "The look for spring centers around a light eye paired with a coral-y, blush-hued lip. For your lids, try a soft cream or yellowish shadow. It will color correct, as well as prime your eye for when you layer on a touch of color in soft, shimmery peach tones," she explains.

With a little advice and so many product choices, achieving the look for spring is easy. But a fashion-forward face may come with a hidden price tag. Over the past several years, safety concerns about cosmetic ingredients have sparked an international debate. Last fall the European Union banned a lengthy list of ingredients suspected of causing cancer, birth defects and infertility. And the Bay Area-based Campaign for Safe Cosmetics successfully convinced major companies, including L'Oreal and Revlon, to replace potentially harmful ingredients in their products with safer ones.

Perhaps the greatest concern among cosmetic safety advocates is phthalates (pronounced "thaylates"), which are chemicals used in personal care products to soften the skin and add flexibility to nail polish. Phthalates, which have been banned in the EU, can cause birth defects and reproductive problems in laboratory animals, especially males. Kevin Donegan, spokesperson for the Breast Cancer Fund, says phthalates are of special concern because of their widespread use in cosmetics.

While the safety debate continues, and some manufacturers reformulate their products, consumers may have a hard time figuring out which cosmetic brands are safe. The average adult uses nine personal care products each day, each of which typically contains 126 different ingredients.

Legally, cosmetic labels must list a product's ingredients. But there are exceptions for chemicals used in fragrances or in formulas that are considered trade secrets. Phthalates, for example, often fall into this category, so it can be difficult to determine which products contain it. And, if you've ever tried to decipher a product label, you know that many ingredients' have scientific names that mean little to the average consumer. "In some respects, the consumer needs to become a chemist," quips Bare Escentuals’ Wilson.

If you're looking for information about a particular ingredient, a great place to start is the Environmental Working Group's 2004 report, Skin Deep. EWG also maintains a free, online database identifying the potential health hazards associated with each ingredient in 7,500 products (http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/index.php).

While manufacturers claim their products are safe if used according to instructions, more research needs to be done to determine the risks associated with popularly-used chemicals. According to Skin Deep up to 89 percent of the 10,500 ingredients used in cosmetics and personal care products have not been tested by anyone other than the product's manufacturer, and one out of every 120 products contains ingredients the FDA has identified as known or probable human carcinogens. While the FDA regulates the cosmetics industry, it does not conduct studies or testing of cosmetics or personal care products before they can be sold. Instead, a cosmetics industry panel is left to determine ingredients' safety and toxicity.

This may sound like cause for alarm, but the Environmental Working Group simply wants more research about cosmetic ingredients, so the public can make wise choices.

Fortunately for consumers, many cosmetic brands are upfront about their ingredients. Urban Decay, Avalon Organics, Aubrey and The Body Shop have voluntarily removed phthalates from their products, while L'Oreal, Revlon and Unilever announced plans to do so in January. Others are sure to follow. And if you're looking for cosmetics with natural ingredients, David Alford, Director of Sephora's Union Street store, suggests Boscia, Astara, Korres, and Caudalie brands.

But Donegan warns consumers about equating natural with safe and healthy: "Words like natural and organic don't necessarily have any legal meaning when you see them on the label."

If you really want to banish chemicals and untested ingredients from your make-up, mineral-based cosmetics may be the solution. These products rely on ground-up minerals like zinc, iron oxide, mica, and inorganic pigments like ultramarine for foundations and powders. As long as raw minerals and no preservatives are used in mineral-based make-up, the product will be safe for the skin, according to Wilson.

Splendora's Bard swears by Jane Iredale's Loose Minerals, which she uses instead of foundation. As an added bonus, mineral make-up often contains zinc oxide, the main ingredient in many sunscreens.

In the end, you just need to be as aware of potential product hazards when you shop as what’s au courant. Then your quest for the perfect spring face will be as fun, rewarding, and healthy as all your newfound goodies.