Why Do I Care? A Tween’s Perspective. | The Healthy Beauty Project -by Todra Payne

This week, our friend Mia, at The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics sent out this info about Bath & Body Works and the products they market to teens. In case you wondered, the fruity, natural sounding teen products from Bath & Body Works you see in the mall aren’t exactly healthy. No big surprise there.

But thankfully, teens (and tweens) are starting to understand the importance of choosing safe cosmetics. We received an email from an 11-year-old who asked if she could tell our readers about her switch to healthier beauty products. It’s exciting to hear from a young reader who has such passion for this topic. Here’s her story as she wrote it.

At the age of 10, I became seriously interested in the world of mainstream cosmetics. CoverGirl, Maybelline, you name it. I was hooked. Hooked, until I found out the toxic secrets that were hidden behind that new pretty pink lip gloss, and that was when it all began.

One sunny summer’s afternoon, my mother and I were sitting down in front of our old black laptop, bickering about what we always did, cosmetics. She always tried to tell me that makeup was unhealthy for me but, frankly, I couldn’t have cared less. I was too busy thinking about when that new L’Oréal mascara was going to come out. I guess my mother finally got fed up with trying to talk to me with common sense and reason, because suddenly she pulled the laptop closer and told me to pull up Youtube and type in ’Harmful Makeup’. I was confused but followed suit, and soon my mother placed her hand over mine on the mouse and clicked the first video that she saw.

The video explained that some makeup that may sound safe, like Covergirl’s NatureLuxe Collection, could actually have dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer and other problems. I was utterly shocked and afraid. “What if my makeup has some carcinogens in it too?” I thought with fear weaving through it. I always knew there were some chemicals in makeup that weren’t exactly safe, but that video suddenly opened my eyes to the ugly truth, and I knew I had to face it.

Immediately after that video, I ran to my bedroom, wanting to see if any toxic ingredients were in my everyday makeup. I picked up eyeshadow pallets and lipsticks galore, and it seemed that almost every one had an unhealthy chemical in their mist. Mineral oil? Parabens? Talc? My head was spinning.

I then realized that my safety and the longevity of my life depended on the choices I made from there on out. It was a lot for a ten-year-old to take in. I can’t say that I stopped using my cosmetics immediately, but from that day on, I slowly began to use less and less of my toxic cosmetics and, happily, my conscience became clearer and clearer. I finally heard the truth over all that nonsense the cosmetic industry was feeding me, and I really did feel joyous.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope my story inspired you to take control of your makeup choices, too.

Living healthy and happy,
-Valerie T.
Age 11

For great, healthy teen and tween skin care, try Peach Face products. And for fun color cosmetics without the nasty chemicals, we recommend Lauren Brookes Cosmetiques. Perfumes made with essential oils and alcohol (no synthetic fragrance ingredients) can be found at Agape and Zoe. Their Sugared Crush is made especially for teen girls.

The opinions written here are Valerie’s. The products mentioned at the end are recommendations from the Healthy Beauty Project Team. There was no exchange of products or funds for the  mention.

Stock photo of young girl by Wishedauan.