Cosmetic Safety

Concerned for the safety of the public, and especially for nail technicians, many city and state governments across the country are showing greater interest in nail salon safety standards. In San Francisco, for instance, the recently passed Healthy Nail Salon Recognition ordinance calls for the city to identify salons that use toluene-, DBP-, and formaldehyde-free polishes (three free).

In New York, a new law makes certain that salon owners supply staff with gloves and masks if requested. And in Washington state, officials in King County have been out educating nail salon staff members about utilizing better safety practices.

Some of the change is met with resistance, as a portion of owners feel that the act of covering up in masks and gloves can look bad to the clientele. Also, some say there's nothing really to worry about in the first place, as lots of polishes are already three free. To see more, just keep reading.

Hi gang, an extremely rueful Blondie Bella here. After a weekend of Halloween revelry, I'm currently laid up at home with a corneal abrasion. Apparently, all the Taylor Momsen glittery black eyeliner I kept rubbing on was seriously scratchy, despite its claims to the contrary, and got stuck under my contacts.

I feel like a huge stereotype (I mean, a beauty editor scratching her own eye out with sparkle liner? Seriously?), but to help you avoid my sad fate, I got some tips from my doctor on preventing common eyeliner-related injuries. So to find out if your liner could be leading you to a distinctly unromantic date with the opthamologist, just keep reading.

• Glitter is not your friend: Don't make my mistake. Even if a product claims to be safe for eyes, particulate glitter isn't a good thing, especially if you wear contacts. Microglitter can easily get caught under them and irritate your eyes for hours. If you want shine, opt for shimmer liner instead.
• Keep your liner pencils extra sharp: A soft, smudgy line from dull eye pencils may look good, but the closer your eye is to the wooden pencil casing, the more likely it is that tiny pieces of wood or paint flakes will fall into your eye. This can result in allergic reactions and scraping your cornea and eyelids.
• If you wear contacts, order is important: It's just common sense to put your contacts in before you apply your makeup, but you should also always take your contacts out before you remove it. So remember: Lenses out first, then makeup remover.

The majority of you said you were tired of stores pumping perfumes into the air — particularly Abercrombie and Fitch. Now, Teens Turning Green, a student-led group advocating the elimination of harmful substances, isn't going to take it anymore.

Today at Abercrombie's flagship location on 5th Avenue in New York, the organization plans to stage a protest, claiming that the combination of Abercrombie's Fierce scent being emitted into the air from track lighting is putting customers in danger's way. "We as teens feel it is unacceptable that Abercrombie and Fitch customers are unknowingly being exposed to harmful chemicals by simply walking into the stores," said Jessica Assaf of Teens Turning Green.

As you might imagine, The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics is weighing in, claiming that the scent is formulated with 11 "secret chemicals," not to mention allergy-causing ingredients, and a chemical that's thought to be disruptive to male reproductive health.

In a statement on Abercrombie's Facebook page, the brand responded by saying, "The machines [used to distribute the fragrance] emit a water-based, safe fragrance that complies with local, state, and federal laws. The formulation contains no harmful volatile organic compounds or any chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or any other reproductive harm." There are two sides to every story, but which side are you on?

Source: Flickr User Rob Young

File this under "bad hair news." The Brazilian Blowout, a popular hair-straightening treatment, has been found to contain formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. After stylists at Portland-area salons complained of symptoms such as nosebleeds and difficulty breathing, Oregon state officials tested the formulations in question. Even those advertised as formaldehyde-free contained from 4.85 percent to 10.6 percent formaldehyde. (Brazilian Blowout has released a statement.) We've long been wary of straightening treatments because of possible health risks, and this news is just one more reason we'll stick with the styling iron for now.

Allergan, the company that makes Botox, Juvederm, and Latisse, is paying out $600 million in settlement money on charges that the company illegally promoted Botox to doctors for unapproved uses like pain relief and cerebral palsy treatment in children.

Allergan has admitted that its marketing practices were misleading and that it helped physicians file fraudulent Medicaid and Medicare claims related to off-label use. Does this put you off Allergan products, or are you unsurprised?

In the back-and-forth game of whether or not vitamin A derivatives (specifically, retinyl palmitate) are actually safe when used in SPF, the American Academy of Dermatologists (AAD) has now weighed in. "There is not published evidence to suggest that topical retinoids increase the risk of photocarcinogenesis," dermatologists Henry Lim, Steven Wang, and Stephen Duszain wrote in the Journal of the AAD.

The doctors claim that thanks to its antioxidant properties, retinyl palmitate used in SPF actually helps fight against the formation of free radicals when used on skin exposed to the sun. It's a much different opinion than the Environmental Working Group, who earlier this year claimed that vitamin A derivatives added to sunscreens could actually speed the development of tumors when used on skin exposed to the sun, based on studies from the National Toxicology Program and National Center for Toxicological Research. A month later, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer urged the FDA to make a definitive ruling on the issue. While the FDA has yet to chime in, we're hoping the issue is soon resolved for good.

When it comes to cosmetic regulation, opinions vary on the best way to go about modernizing it. Yesterday, representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 to Congress. "Our cosmetics laws are woefully out of date," Schakowsky said in a statement. "Manufacturers aren't even required to disclose all their ingredients on labels, leaving Americans unknowingly exposed to harmful mystery ingredients. This bill will finally protect those consumers."

Some things the bill hopes to ensure are to phase out dangerous ingredients, to provide better systems to assess ingredient safety, clearer labeling, and for small businesses to be able to compete more fairly. But The Personal Care Products Council (PCPC), an industry group, has a few changes they'd like to see made, too, and has proposed its own plan. To find out more, just keep reading.

Getting a gel manicure? You may want to make sure that's what you're actually receiving. According to an investigation by Consumer Reports, some salons advertise gel manicures that aren't the real McCoy. Even though gel manicure solutions are a specific thing, many salons are marketing glue-and-powder or gel-and-acrylic blends as "gel" manicures.

That's problematic because the fakes can include a host of dangerous chemicals, including nasty stuff like toluene, a nerve-damaging agent. Worse yet, the mix of chemicals in them can cause nerve, kidney, and liver damage, contact dermatitis, and respiratory irritation. So how can we all protect ourselves and find a real, safer gel manicure? For tips, just keep reading.

The topic of sunscreen is a hot issue as of late, and for good reason: the US is lagging behind European regulations. The guidelines for American-made sunscreens are so out of date (they were set in 1978), that the SPF number doesn't measure protection from UVA rays. That means that while you think you're protecting skin from the rays that can cause photoaging and cancer, you might not be. Or you might — there's no way to tell.

To find out what's going on, read more.