Personal care products – everything from cosmetics to soaps and shampoos to hair straighteners – are largely unregulated, with far too many containing toxic ingredients that have been linked to cancer, infertility, miscarriage, poor infant and maternal health outcomes, obesity, asthma, and many other serious health concerns. And a combination of racist beauty standards and aggressive target marketing have led young women and femme-identifying people of color to higher rates of use for these harmful products – on top of already being exposed to disproportionate amounts of toxic chemicals.
New York State’s Beauty Justice Act (S.2057/A.2054), also known as the Safe Personal Care and Cosmetics Act, would ban the most dangerous toxic chemicals from the majority of personal care and cosmetic products sold in the state. This would significantly reduce the adverse health impacts of exposure to these toxic chemicals.
Clean Beauty Database
We began our Beauty Inside Out campaign in 2019 to raise awareness and understanding of the health dangers of exposure to the toxic chemicals in personal care products, and we are now advocating for legislation such as the New York State Beauty Justice Act to ban these harmful ingredients. We have even had some success with our bill banning PFAS and other toxic chemicals in menstrual products being unanimously passed by the New York State legislature.
The question was are most often asked is what cosmetics and other personal care products are safe to use. To help our community answer that question, we have assemble a database of products that do not contain toxic chemicals and yet are accessible to consumers. However, WE ACT does not officially endorse these products or brands, nor have we received any monetary compensation for including them in this database. We encourage you to make informed decisions and continue researching products that align with your own personal needs. Click here to access the database, and be safe, healthy, and beautiful!