Know what’s in cosmetics you’re buying
Mom is ageless, but should she wish to pamper her skin, we want her lotions and potions to be safe.
Avon’s Mother’s Day gift bag contains two creams, ANEW Alternative Intensive Age Treatment SPF 25 and ANEW Alternative Intensive Eye Cream. If Mom were to use both of these creams, she would be exposed to:
- diazolidinyl urea (which may be derived from urine and contaminated with formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical);
- propylene glycol (an ingredient with strong contamination concerns);
- oxybenzone (dangers associated with enhanced skin penetration; linked to cancer, hormone disruption);
- undisclosed ingredients in “fragrance” (may include phthalates, linked to birth defects and cancer);
- four different parabens (which have been found in breast tumors and linked to endocrine disruption); and
- dozens of other ingredients with health concerns or that have never been tested for safety.
These aren’t the only Avon products that we hope mom will avoid. The Skin Deep database contains 356 Avon products, 84 of which score in the highest hazard range (between 7 and 10 on a scale of 1 to 10) due to ingredients linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, developmental or reproductive toxicity, allergies and contamination concerns (impurities linked to cancer, for example).
Why is the “company for women,” the company behind the famous Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, putting unsafe and untested ingredients in products moms use daily? If Avon really wants to support women, it should support their long-term health.
Here’s the heartening news: On May 1, a full 25 percent of Avon shareholders voted in favor of a resolution that requested the company report on policies regarding potentially dangerous, unlabeled nanomaterials in products. The vote shows that Avon shareholders are open to improvement - so let’s push them to make more commitments to women’s health!