the story of cosmetics

I'm very excited that the team at The Story of Stuff has created a short film with The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The film takes a big, depressing problem and presents it in a concise and approachable way. In the film Annie Leonard describes "how major loopholes in U.S. federal law allow the $50 billion beauty industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products with no required testing, no monitoring of health effects and inadequate labeling requirements—making cosmetics among the least-regulated consumer products on the market."

On a related note, this summer I finally read Not just a Pretty Face by Stacy Malkan. It is a great book which contains much of the same information but in greater detail. Both the book and The Story of Cosmetics film are in association with The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of non-profit groups working to eliminate harmful chemicals from personal care products.

I love the medium of the film, and how it is sure to be shared virally across social media and email to reach so many people. Check it out and pass it on. If you're interested in learning more, pick up a copy of Not Just a Pretty Face and also check out the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.