11 Reasons You Need to Go Green with Your Beauty Routine

by Phillip Picardi

April is Earth Month, so now is a perfect time to start thinking about everything from recycling to healthy eating, reducing our carbon footprints to how much time we spend in the shower!

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But this month is also the perfect time to start rethinking your beauty buys. There are a whole lot of amazing beauty brands out there that pledge allegiance to green packaging and cleaner ingredients. This isn't to say that you need a complete overhaul of your routine, but maybe you can start with a couple of things and move on up from there.

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The world of green beauty has a long way to go-we're just starting to see some convincing mascaras, for example-but the odds are, you can be doing better. Check out the (kind of scary) list below for the 11 reasons you should consider cleaner products.

1. It's as simple as packaging. We all know there's a pretty big waste problem happening in the world, and recycling is more important than ever. Many eco-friendly beauty brands have made it their mission to only use ethical and recyclable packaging as well as bona-fide clean ingredients. A couple of examples include Ilia Beauty, whose lipsticks and cheek tints are housed in recycled aluminum casings, and Eminence Organic Skin Care, which utilizes containers made of recycled, non-toxic plastic and boxes made of post-consumer recycled material. Can your other beauty products make the same claims?

2. Your skin is absorbing your beauty routine. "Sure, you're using small amounts of personal care products every day," says celebrity makeup artist and green advocate Katey Denno, "but what we put on our skin can accumulate in our systems over time." Actually, the FDA disputes this fact, firmly claiming that it's not true. Denno thinks differently. "Think of the nicotine patch," she says smartly. "It's proof of transdermal penetration." And unlike other things we process (like food), cosmetics work differently. "They're unfiltered by the digestive system," Denno notes. Therefore, there's no bodily function for eliminating potential toxins.

3. Parabens are further proof of absorption. And they're scary. "Parabens are a group of compounds used as preservatives in creams, lotions, ointments, and other cosmetics, including deodorants," says Mia Davis, the head of health and safety at the brand Beautycounter. "They have been identified in biopsy samples from breast tumors." What does that mean? Ingredients from your daily beauty products could be linked to breast cancer.

4. Those synthetic products are affecting your hormones. "Studies have found over a dozen cosmetic chemicals linked to potential health effects including cancer and hormone disruption in the bodies of teenage girls," Davis adds, citing research from the Environmental Working Group.

5. The United States Food & Drug Administration isn't testing cosmetic ingredients for safety. Beauty products aren't a food or a drug, you know? So the U.S.A's standards for cosmetics are significantly lower than our friends over in the European Union. For example, parabens (see #3) are banned in the E.U., as well as phthalates (found in fragrance compounds), petroleum (found in everything from eyeshadow to hairspray), and octinoxate, which is found in many SPF products. On your next trip to Europe, pop into a pharmacy or a drugstore and see what you can find. Odds are, their inexpensive beauty aisles look a lot different than ours.

6. It's speculated that women can consume up to seven pounds of lipstick in a decade. "Where does all that product go, the bit that's not kissed off or left on a glass?" asks Kirsten Kjaer Weis, founder of Kjaer Weis cosmetics. "You end up eating most of it, so it only makes sense to use lip products that are filled with organic-not questionable-ingredients." Try her very own wonderful lip tints, Ilia, Burt's Bees, Bite Beauty, or RMS.

7. The boys are getting off easy. OK, so not really, but think of it this way: Most women use more personal care products than most men. "This article by Dr. Mercola confirms that women have a higher percentage of chemicals in their blood than men," says Weis. "It's not proven, but it only stands to reason this is because women are using more cosmetics."

8. Brands don't have to disclose what "fragrance" means. "It could be just a couple of essential oils," says Davis, "but it's more often dozens or even hundreds of chemicals. Some of these can be harmful to our health and cause problems like reproductive issues or allergies." Makeup artist Christy Coleman points out, "Young girls are drawn to a trend perfume. But they should be wary of the potential side effects later on."

9. Going natural means more bang for your buck. "Most cosmetics are full of mineral oil fillers and preservatives," says LUSH North American product trainer Erica Vega. "When you use cosmetics with simple, more natural ingredients, you're paying for a higher quality."

10. You're also helping animals. You know those cute little kitties and puppies you like to look at on Buzzfeed? "More brands than you think are testing on animals," Vega says. LUSH doesn't test anything on animals. Look for the bunny seal on product packaging to make sure you're choosing wisely.

11. The ingredients in natural products are super-yummy. "The ingredients in organic makeup are actually nourishing," Weis points out. It stands true for her brand, but also for RMS, which uses a base of coconut oils that imparts a dewy sheen. (And, as you know, is favored by Miranda Kerr.) If you really want makeup that also treats your skin, your best bet is to start exploring greener pastures.

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