Over the years I’ve spent a good deal of my time battling the endless bombardment of inaccurate and absurd information disseminated by cosmetics companies and cosmetics salespeople from every corner of the industry. Over the past several years the Internet has given rise to another form of cosmetics insanity, coming from grass-roots organizations trying to keep the cosmetics industry from killing us.
These Web sites and possibly well-intentioned people take a piece of information, a piece of a study, or a scientific point of view and make it sound like fact. They also tend to only use information that “proves” their point (that is, most cosmetics are killing us) by selectively using only the data that show they are right while ignoring any evidence to the contrary. I wish the world was that black and white, because decision-making would be so much easier, but that isn’t the case. Issues are more complex than the answers that are often presented, and getting to the facts can take a masters degree in way too many disciplines.
What almost always complicates matters is that there is a grain of a truth that gets blown out of proportion. Trying to balance out seemingly contradictory information is a challenge. It’s one of the reasons I get criticized for being long-winded and writing too much. My goal is to get all the facts out on the table and that takes a lot of words.
Although I am extremely critical of the cosmetics industry I also prefer a rational, balanced point of view. I prefer fact to supposition, I prefer critical analysis to a knee-jerk reaction, and I absolutely prefer reality to fiction. There is no question the cosmetics industry has its faults, but trying to kill us is not one of them.
It doesn’t take much to make a consumer afraid of just about anything; a little bit of science can sound so dire. For example, dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) is a colorless and odorless chemical compound, also referred to by some as dihydrogen oxide, hydrogen hydroxide, hydronium hydroxide, or simply hydric acid. Its basis is the highly reactive hydroxyl radical, a substance that has been shown to mutate DNA, denature proteins, disrupt cell membranes, and chemically alter critical neurotransmitters. The atomic components of DHMO are found in a number of caustic, explosive, and poisonous compounds such as sulfuric acid, nitroglycerine, and ethyl alcohol. Dihydrogen oxide? That’s simply H2O— plain, everyday water.
We need to use safe ingredients that work on our skin to make it look and feel better. The cosmetics industry overwhelmingly complies with “safe” ingredients. Finding effective products (regardless of their origin) and getting past the fear-mongering generated by so many earnest as well as unscrupulous companies and Web sites can go a long way to helping you do that.