Dear Amina Leslie and the Safe Cosmetics Australia team,
I just wanted to write to you to tell you how pleased I am to not have to go to an American website now to get my propaganda. Everyone here likes ‘Australian Made’ so I am sure that you will do well. While I support the move to a greener, cleaner and more sustainable future (which by definition means less toxic) after checking out your website and documentation I was left confused and it’s mostly down to one thing. Evidence.
There is no doubt in my mind (as a chemist, mother, tree-hugger and person who doesn’t want cancer- who does?) that we, as a cosmetics industry could do better. However, to make bold claims such as saying that “Chemicals have been known to trigger allergic reactions including skin rashes and asthma attacks” is, absolute nonsense based on how you are communicating it. Do you even know what a ‘chemical’ is? I would be very interested to hear how you are planning to rid the world of such filth but won’t ask you directly as I can’t imagine that you would give me much air time……..
Further I am concerned about the focus on heavy metals – yes I do know that the guys in the states have been running a highly successful ‘get the lead out’ campaign and I have to agree, if people were putting lead into my lipstick I would wish to grab them and shove it where the sun don’t shine (on them, not me of course) but nobody DOES put lead in their lipsticks. For just under $200 per sample my lovely friends at a local testing facility will run any of your ‘certified toxin free’ lipsticks through their machinery and show you the lead. It would be present in pretty much all lipsticks using metal oxide colours (the natural ones usually contain more actually because they less highly refined) because it is natural. OK too much lead is a bad thing and no lead would be amazing but it is practically impossible to do and the levels showing up are in the parts per million rather than bucketload that your responses allude to. Still, there is no need to respond to this because I can already see it coming so I’ll go and say goodbye to my husband and kids now and then bury my (probably toxic) body underground so that your mission to rid the world of chemicals continues unimpeded.
I could go on but doubt that there is any point as hitting people over the head with common sense has the same effect as hitting them over the head with a big hammer. They don’t like it. Therefore I will just carry on doing what I’ve been doing for the past fourteen years and that is learning day by day about how to make things better, safer, more effective and more economical by referring to real, solid scientific evidence.
Before I go I will say this. I am a fair, honest and open-minded person who works as an independent chemist in a world full of ego’s and fear-based prejudices (OK so that doesn’t sound very fair or open-minded but at least it is honest) and as such I would be the first to welcome the body of evidence that you have called upon to draw your conclusions. In the meantime I will not be advising any of my customers to apply to your scheme, to pay money to have you ‘certify’ them or to help you ‘spread the word’. I held off writing this for a good few months (I saw you pop up some time ago but you have been really quiet until the last few weeks) because I am acutely aware at how passionate your supporters can be and I haven’t really felt like starting a fight but now that you have got yourself into the media as an ‘expert’ and that my customers are asking my opinion I feel that a comment is necessary.
I am not against a toxin-free world but I am against any campaign, group or other activity that uses fear as it’s motivator, especially when it is unsubstantiated.
Most of all I am terribly sad about this whole thing because it gives me further evidence (as if I need any more, the stories I could tell you) that the newspapers, media and general public are so easily conned by all of this and rather than question the basis for your assumptions go ahead and give you a platform.
This isn’t a battle. I do not want to ‘win’ but what I would like is to see people wake up. However, I am under no illusion that is going to happen in my lifetime.
Oh, did you know that fear can also give you cancer? No, thought not.
Amanda
PS: If you want to find out more about this group please google them. I am not posting a link as I don’t want to give them any more publicity. Thank you.
A very good letter, Amanda. It is unfortunate that Amina Leslie appears to have little understanding of chemistry, as many of the entries in both the “restricted list” and “prohibited lists” are incorrect, either in the description of the chemical itself, or the assignation of toxicological effects. This will detract greatly from any credibility of the SCA as a whole. Indeed, one substance (at least) is listed on both the restricted AND the prohibited lists, albeit under different names, which underlines my belief that there is a lack of scientific rigour associated with the campaign.
I actually wrote directly to Amina (or, rather, her company) to explain that they cannnot describe phenoxyethanol as being nature-derived, as they do on their web site. I did receive a very polite response, but my follow-up comments were, effectively, fobbed off.
I share your sentiments about the industry being open to improvement, but it is essential that it is done in the right (realistic) way – whatever country you live in. SCA is not the way forward any more than the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics are in the USA.
And so say all of us 🙂
I wouldn’t mind so much if there was evidence to back up the claims OR if there was some logic to the arguments but sadly no. However, I know all too well how the world works and expect to be burned at the stake for pointing out the obvious. I am a chemist therefore I am evil.
I know how you feel, Amanda – as I write, there’s a mob armed with pitchforks and burning torches outside my house 🙁
Stay safe 🙂
Amanda and Dene, you both have a fan in me! I believe in the truth and nothing but the truth. Fabulous article, Amanda and kudos to you for writing the truth!
I will not be bullied by any one person or organization, by fear mongering, misinformation or half truths. The activists need to step up to the plate and supply responsible, truthful and science backed information. Consumers, wherever they may be, deserve it, so they can make informed decisions about the products they use on themselves and their family members.
If you’re an individual or organization spreading misinformation and fear, it’s nothing more than lip service, in my book and you should be ashamed of yourself!
Have a great day!
Lisa
I’m sorry to see these Scare Campaigns making their way through the world and finding a voice in what I used to regard as thinking, intelligent societies. We have our very own government-funded version of the EWG now here in Denmark, and it is depressing to see all this misinformation spreading. Thanks for an excellent post.
PS. I am not a chemist or scientist
Hi there Lisa,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I think that it really is time for us to all start calling out sloppy and misplaced activism as all it does is maintain fear and confusion without making the world a better place. If the groups put even a quarter of their marketing efforts into funding legitimate research or reporting on real studies then we might get somewhere but they don’t. You don’t need to be a scientist for this, you just need to sit for one minute and think rather than sucking it all up. What the world needs right now is a greater level of consciousness and it’s truth not fear that wake people up.
Again I agree, Amanda. We need more people to call out the nonsense and scaremongering so that “ordinary” consumers can see there’s more to the situation than they would otherwise be told. I also wish that more people from within the industry would call out companies that make false claims. The worst offenders are those who claim “100% natural” – a huge proportion of them are not telling the truth (although not all!). It would be great to have a central point of reference where these companies are exposed – they damage the credibility of the entire industry, imho.
Being a rebellious (ass) soul I am not a fan of collaborated ‘call out’ sites as all that finger pointing tends to leave me feeling bruised. I think that the public are capable of drawing their own informed conclusions about individual brands once they have gained some confidence and feel like they have some support. Nobody wants to be the proverbial ‘turd in a swimming pool’ so what I am hoping is that the work that is done here helps to give the public another friendly couch to sit on, think and ultimately draw their own conclusions. That is all we should do and yes, I wish that more from within the industry would talk about the many, many great things that are going on.
I beg to differ, a scientist is just someone who is curious and who seeks to understand. Chemistry is on way to investigate stuff we don’t know and clearly you have an interest in that 🙂 A degree is just a formal training, we need to feel it and live it to fully understand.
Great post, Amanda! You and Dene both have a fan in me. I greatly appreciate anyone who supports the truth and isn’t afraid to defend it!
If the activist groups expect me to take them seriously, then they need to provide science based facts, not misinformation, hype and scare tactics. This is one gal who won’t jump on the fear wagon and is disgusted by those driving it!
Keep sharing the truth and exposing the fear mongers for what they are!
Have a great weekend!
Lisa
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Just to mention that the claims on the SCA website are unscientific, scaremongering AND ungrammatical! The first two I could just about take, but …
Seriously, thank you for your intelligent rebuttal of the site – unfortunately, you and the few sane people who are left in the world seem to be lone voices in the wilderness.One result of this is the ridiculous “free from” advertising by “natural” companies. As a small cosmetics maker myself I want to sell based on the lovely ingredients that ARE in my products, not by quoting a long list of “nasty chemicals” (which seems to include ALL chemicals – why don’t we just all wash with saponaria officinalis?) and slagging off other companies who don’t reach the Moral and Ethical Heights that I aspire to ….!