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The chemical that each cosmetic product carries. Ingredients proves to be devastating as the product carries dangerous elements which affects the consumer.

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The use of Toxic make-up in spite of knowing the defects and effects of it.

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Watch Next: Is Your House Toxic? https://youtu.be/JVoGS-8cKlo?list=PLZd3QRtSy5LNHaeS8Ker-ygW-AQwqdg1t American cosmetics are full of toxic chemicals. But hey, at least you look good.

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This video showcases the production and consumption of beauty products in the ancient history. In that period the beauty products were created out of lead and arsenic and other substance mostly and their primary focus is for the eyes and skin

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They are definitely not Eco-friendly as they lurk with chemicals inside the products that they produce.

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The Hidden Dangers of Makeup and Shampoo

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A new study shows that people report a number health and safety issues concerning their cosmetics, makeup and hair care to the FDA.

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Cosmetics leading to cancer.
There is been a huge debate as the scientists has found the chemical aspect of the products which are been used would lead to cancer and other mainstream issues.

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Wanting to "perfect" our appearance is a natural human desire. Since the beginning of recorded humanity, there were depictions of men and women using various products to appease the fashion of the time.

You will find makeup everywhere you shop (as well as online) from grocery stores to your local mall. Anything you want to "fix" or "change," there is likely a product for it. All the products in fancy packaging are targeted to consumers who want to look and feel good.

Pressed powders, shampoos, moisturizers, lipstick, and toothpastes are created to make your skin smoother, give your hair more volume, your teeth whiter, and so on.
How can we be sure that we are not being exposed to toxins in our cosmetics?
There have been discussions over the last decade about our beauty care products and if they could possibly contain cancer-causing ingredients.

Unfortunately, many of these fears are well founded and such a possibility should not be taken lightly. After all, anything applied to our skin is quickly absorbed through our pores directly into our bloodstream.

What's the real story? Let's examine a few of the most common beauty products and the ingredients that have researchers concerned.

Common Toxins in Cosmetics

Parabens: Many products - such as spray deodorants, facial creams, hair products, and toothpaste - contain chemicals called parabens, which mimic human estrogen. In one study conducted at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, 99% of study participants with breast cancer had paraben accumulation in their tumors. Even women who didn't regularly use products known to contain parabens presented with parabens in their tumor tissue. More research needs to be done but considering the increasing use of parabens in pharmaceutical drugs and as a food additive, it should be avoided if at all possible. The word "paraben" is sometimes combined with methyl, propyl, isobutyl, or ethyl - so read your labels!

Lead: The toxic heavy metal lead was found in more than 60% of popular lipsticks investigated by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While mercury has been an issue with cosmetics manufactured in China, the FDA findings shine a bright light on "trusted" companies such as Revlon, L'Oreal, and Maybelline - bringing cancer-causing ingredients that "weren't our problem" directly into our local stores. Chromium, cadmium, and aluminum were some of the other metals detected during the study. The FDA announced that they do not consider their findings to be a safety issue. In fact, a representative from the Personal Care Products Council said of the findings, "Food is a primary source for many of these naturally present metals, and exposure from lip products is minimal in comparison." Indeed.

Formaldehyde, et al: Hair color, relaxers, straighteners, shampoos, conditioners, and hair extension glue contain a host of toxic chemicals. Some of the worst include formaldehyde, (an internationally classified carcinogen), toluene (banned in Europe due to the danger to developing fetuses), hydroquinone (which increases sun sensitivity), and phthalates (linked in several studies to reproductive problems). Many of these chemicals are also found in sunless tanning lotions and hair removal creams.

Triclosan: Toothpaste, body wash, and deodorant are using antimicrobial chemicals such as triclosan to prevent bacterial growth. However, not only is standard soap and water just as effective, triclosan is considered an endocrine disruptor. Use of products containing this chemical can lead to reproductive issues, thyroid malfunction, and even cancer.

The take-away from these findings is that you should consider switching to natural and organic beauty care products - increasingly available in even big box stores - as an alternative to the products you are accustomed to buying.

Always do your research! If there is a particular cosmetic item that you are loyal to, check it out and make sure that the manufacture is thinking about your health and well-being.

Remember, you apply many of these products to your skin - where it is absorbed directly into your bloodstream. Spending a bit more to ensure you aren't getting formaldehyde and lead in products you may use every day, seems a small price to pay.

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Wanting to "perfect" our appearance is a natural human desire. Since the beginning of recorded humanity, there were depictions of men and women using various products to appease the fashion of the time. You will find makeup everywhere you shop (as well as online) from grocery stores to your local mall.

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As the image illustrates the defects of cosmetic product used by the model and the disadvantages of it through the expression.

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as uses of cosmetics started way from the ancient Egyptians 5000 years before and followed by the Ancient Greece some 2000 years before. They all had have different setup of cosmetics for instance they use Kohl, Malachite paste, copper salts, Henna etc.
They use to highlight their lips using leafs stain and other natural sources. Eventually the poisonous makeup boosted in the 18th century by making use of the substance which were quite harmful and poisonous to the body. Makeup and beauty products have took a long way and it is been regulated as unsafe to some cosmetics.
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Natural is more productive rather than Synthetic. The use of toxic chemicals in the cosmetics are taking a toll in the present generation as it leads to health issues. In the olden days the use of Lead and arsenic were immense but later it turned out to be very dangerous as it lead to various problems like decreased mental function, miscarriage, mental disorders etc. In this 21st century the production of cosmetics which upholds toxic is currently taking a toll and damaging the women's beauty and health.
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Women are often conscious of their beauty and they tend to make over their appearance through different means. The bad part is the cosmetics does have a dark side.

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Throughout history, humans have been willing to try almost any method or product to improve their physical appearance. In response, enterprising businesses and beauty moguls have conspired to sell us almost anything - from water to poison - in the guise of cosmetic treatments. While many cosmetic products have eventually proven to have little efficacy, a significant number have also caused physical harm and even death.

Cosmetics and cosmetic surgery are now subject to more stringent regulation than in the 19th century, when lead-based powders and face creams containing poisons were not uncommon. However, even today there are significant serious side-effects and potential dangers from cosmetic procedures, in particular.

For example, it was recently reported that cosmetic injections, such as platelet-rich plasma injections and facial fillers, are leading to a significant number of patients suffering from chronic, and potentially disfiguring, bacterial infections. While these kinds of non-invasive procedures are common, with over $1 billion spent annually on cosmetic jabs in Australia alone, research suggests that almost one-fifth of patients could suffer from such complications.

Of course, even when the greatest medical care is taken, there are still potential questions about the health risks of utilising Botox (Botulinum Toxin Type A) to combat or stave off facial wrinkles. While a large number of people, primarily women, have embraced Botox and believe it to be safe, in 2009 the US Food and Drug Administration added a warning noting that Botox "may spread from the area of injection to produce symptoms of botulism", such as muscle weakness and breathing difficulty.
Further reading: Safety before profits: why cosmetic surgery is ripe for regulation
Even the most common beauty products still have potential risks associated with them. Consider lipstick, which is placed directly on the thin skin of the lips, readily ingested throughout wear, and reapplied multiple times throughout the day. Manufacturers are not required to list lead as an ingredient in lipsticks as it is regarded as a contaminant, but most contain lead, and some colours in much higher concentrations. An FDA test of 400 lipsticks conducted in 2011 found that every one contained lead. Nevertheless, the FDA advises that up to 10 parts per million of lead is an acceptable level.

In her book Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present, Alison Matthews David explains that lead was a popular ingredient in cosmetics for centuries "because it made colours even and opaque and created a desirable 'whiteness' that bespoke both freedom from hard outdoor labour and racial purity".

In the 1860s, the American face lotion Laird's "Bloom of Youth or liquid pearl" promised to whiten skin, helping "ladies afflicted with tan, freckles, Rough or Discolored Skin". The skin lightener, however, contained such a significant amount of lead that it caused "wrist drop", or radial nerve palsy, in a number of women.

One woman's hand had become "wasted to a skeleton", while a St Louis housewife is recorded as dying of lead poisoning after extensive long-term usage of Laird's and a home-made preparation containing "white flake and glycerine".

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In her book, Matthews David tells how she bought a vintage container of the American face powder "Tetlow's Swan Down" that dates from the 1870s. It had been marketed as harmless and claimed to use whitening zinc oxide powder to replace once common toxic products such as lead, arsenic and bismuth. She had the powder tested with modern methods and found that it contained "a significant amount of lead", which could be inhaled as dust during application.
Further reading: High amount of toxic metals in some cosmetics
A dark history

The serious regulation of patent medicines and cosmetics did not occur until the 20th century. This lack of government oversight meant that manufacturers could bottle and sell almost anything without having to verify their claims, subject their products to the rudimentary testing that was available, or clearly label the ingredients.

The key way in which American and British consumers made their decisions about products was based on the claims made and reputations built in extensive magazine advertising, which became prolific in the late 19th century. The period also saw branded cosmetics rise to prominence, with long-established and well-advertised brands, such as Pears' Soap, providing one of the few indicators of likely quality and safety. Most cosmetic advertising emphasised the purity and healthfulness of products to distance them from well-known examples of harmful creams, powders, and dyes.

"Celebrated American skin specialist" Anna Ruppert (Shelton) provides a ready example of the spurious nature of some cosmetic advertising and the reality of dangerous tonics marketed as "natural" and therefore healthful in this era. Throughout 1891 and 1892, numerous advertisements appeared in British women's magazines, including high-quality publications such as The Queen, for lectures to be held in London by a purported American beauty expert.

The ads mentioned Ruppert's book on "natural beauty", as well as promoting various products including a skin tonic. Her signature tonic was originally marketed as "Face Bleach" in the United States, tapping into the demand for lighter skin not only from white women, but also African American women. The tonic is described in one Queen advertisement as harmless and invisible: "It is not a cosmetic as it does not show on the face after application".

However, the reality was that Ruppert's product was dangerous. After a chemical analysis, the British Medical Journal revealed in 1893 that the skin tonic included the harmful ingredient "corrosive sublimate (bichloride of mercury)", and it was implicated in the mercury poisoning of a "Mrs K". As Caroline Rance discovered, that same year, Ruppert was prosecuted for infringing the Irish Pharmacy Act and her reputation was badly tarnished as a result.

Author provided

Cosmetics originated in homemade preparations, with long traditions of women concocting their own skin remedies. However, the advice and recipes given in beauty manuals were no guarantee of safety. One British "Treatise of the Toilet and Cosmetic Arts" entitled The Practice of Perfumery from 1870 included a recipe for one of the first depilatory creams, poudre subtile. The ingredients call for half an ounce of "sulpheret of arsenic", although the author does warn that the preparation is "dangerous" and that "utmost caution" should be used.

Warnings such as this one indicate that the harmful effects of certain cosmetic products were well known. Another manual, Beauty: How to Get it and How to Keep It, from 1885 advised readers to avoid hair dyes because they "are sometimes injurious to the health; those that contain lead or mercury are especially so, and have been known to cause serious illness." This fear of harmful dyes is reflected in the many magazine advertisements of the period for "hair restorers" that promise to return grey hair to its original shade without the use of "dyes".

Dangerous home-spun beautifying techniques were also the subject of warnings. For instance, Toilet Hints, or, How to Preserve Beauty, and How to Acquire It from 1883 strongly advised women not to toy with the use of Belladonna berries to dilate their pupils. The use of an extract from the berries could cause blurred vision or even permanent blindness with prolonged use. This beauty guide offered up another, less dangerous, method for adding a spark to the eyes:

If your eyes look dull, drink a glass of champagne rather than touch belladonna.

A gendered culture

Disgraced skin specialist Anna Ruppert wrote in her A Book of Beauty in 1892 that a woman could never neglect her appearance, as even "[t]he most noble beauty, if unattended, will soon lose its charm". Her comment has several important resonances with beauty culture today.

First, it is still primarily women who seek out cosmetics and cosmetic procedures. Ruppert's advice to the Victorian woman was that maintaining her looks was vital to maintain a happy marriage. Our modern, postfeminist view is that women now make the "choice" to follow beauty and fashion norms.

Second, beauty is still understood as a process of ongoing work and maintenance. Procedures like Botox can be used pre-emptively to ward off wrinkles and sagging, but it requires continuous usage over time to maintain its effects.

Third, and most importantly, the gendering of cosmetic use means that women are most affected by dangerous products and procedures. As Matthews David points out, cosmetics and dyes continue to be less stringently regulated than products like shampoo and deodorant, which fall under the category of "personal care".
Further reading: Health risks beneath the painted beauty in America's nail salons
Several centuries of lax attitudes toward the composition of cosmetics and now non-invasive cosmetic procedures add up to not only a collection of macabre or grotesque stories.

From lead-filled Bloom of Youth to cosmetic fillers being delivered under questionable conditions, the history of dangerous cosmetics shows us the harms that women have suffered to meet expectations of what is beautiful.
Michelle Smith, Research Fellow in English Literature, Deakin University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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The history of dangerous cosmetics and the harms women have suffered for 'beauty'

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Throughout history, humans have been willing to try almost any method or product to improve their physical appearance. In response, enterprising businesses and beauty moguls have conspired to sell us almost anything - from water to poison - in the guise of cosmetic treatments.