Woman reading information on a bottle of lotion.With literally
thousands of chemicals and fragrances added to everything from
moisturizer to nail polish, how do you know if your beauty
product is safe? We live in a chemical-infused world. Although
there are some benefits-clean drinking water, for example-when
it comes to beauty products, chemicals are thought by many to
cause adverse health effects. That's because chemicals from
beauty products don't pass through your digestive system where
they might be filtered; instead, they head right into your
bloodstream. It's important for consumers to understand that the
cosmetic industry is not regulated by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). Companies are required to list all the
ingredients in order of use, but they're not required (by
federal law) to test products for safety. The FDA can only act
if they have strong scientific knowledge that a product is
dangerous. That doesn't mean that companies don't have safety
standards, but it does mean that claims like