PFAS In Makeup/ Clean Makeuo

[arthibobbala]

I've been reading about PFAS recently after the study was released that half of our makeup has toxic chemicals in it called PFAS. I know Ulta Beauty's clean beauty section does not have PFAS in it but Sephora doesn't specifically screen for PFAS in its clean makeup products. Does anyone have any information on brands at Sephora that don't use PFAS? 

The article was pretty scary and I want to avoid PFAS if possible! 

[Nahnom]

@arthibobbala I read the actual publication in full and have a lot of opinions on it (sorry in advance for the long response). The authors got samples of various brands from $ephora (US & Canada), Target, Shoppers (Canada) (and more but I forgot which retailers) which are all listed in the publication's supplementary materials. Not all the brands nor did all the products from a single brand were tested, just a small sample of brands and 1-3 products from each brand. 

While the authors did not say which brands had above average PFAS concentrations, they posted a list of what products they bought (i.e. Burt's Bees' lip product) and what ingredients (aside from just PFAS) were linked to increased PFAS concentrations (so that means products without PFAS can still have PFAS through other ingredients that were treated with/linked to PFAS).

Unfortunately all skincare, haircare, and beauty products (even the "clean" products and products claiming to not contain PFAS) contain at least one of these PFAS-associated ingredients (because these ingredients are often preservatives or used for emollience). Additionally the authors stated (along with other publications and researchers) that they do not know how much exposure one can get from skin and/or hair products before receiving the harmful effects (for example, they don't know how much foundation and how long one wears foundation before their fertility is affected). All the information I could find on how much chemicals you need to be exposed to to get the bad effects were studies done on mice and injection/feeding/direct chemicals onto the skin (aka active absorption, not passive like through a product with less amount of those chemicals onto the skin). However, key point is that PFAS is absorbed through the skin and accumulates. 

Also PFAS can be in untreated/poorly treated water, and other non-beauty products so it really is inescapable 😖. 

I resorted to using products with the least number of PFAS-containing/PFAS-treated/PFAS-linked ingredients (per the supplementary materials of that paper and from other research too). Hopefully in the future more research and work come out quantifying the level of exposure needed for the bad/harmful effects to show up and how to reduce PFAS use in various products and industries.

I definitely recommend reading the publication and other similar publications (I believe there were similar studies done in Swedish "clean" beauty products and in Japan) as well as checking out various scientists' views on this topic (NOT youtubers/social media "influencers" nor former scientists/educators, unless they are actively researching/involved in research as this is a ongoing, evolving, and complex topic). 

Hope this helped you somehow! 😊

[arthibobbala]

this is so comprehensive, thank you so much! I'm going to try to minimize the amount of makeup I wear since this is pretty scary but if you know of any brands that use fewer PFAS please let me know! 

[KaylieT]

Thankful for this community!
I’m on the hunt for truly clean products as well and I’m keeping tabs on ongoing research in this area. I can recommend the following apps to check products as they get reviewed: 

EWG’s Healthy Living & Think Dirty. 

Phthalates tend to be masked in fragrance, so avoiding fragrance in products will help. The above apps can help inform about other toxic ingredients to avoid and EWG’s app rates products with scores based on toxicity. The only downside I’ve come across: waiting for product reviews. 

To all those interested: Please add your knowledge and share great clean products - we can skew the industry to make better & better truly nontoxic skincare & makeup! 

[BabyCakesEVB]

Agreed!

Unfortunately I found a loophole with EWG - they have "verified" products they recommend that are clean with EWG stamp on it. These products are still labeled with such stamp at whole foods, amazon, etc. HOWEVER...make sure to click on ewg certified product on your computer (not the app) then click on certification > ingredients. Most of EWG certified products are from 2017/2018 with completely reformulated ingredient lists sitting on today's shelves. COMPARE ingredients to those you see on EWG certified - most are not the same. Companies pay a fee to EWG to get that certification, products are tested...but then the company is free to put whatever they want into that bottle until certification expires and they have to re-apply. 

I compare ingredients using chrome extension Clearya. At the bottom is a copy and paste from my browser re. the extension. They also have an app for on the go folks and it's easy to check ingredients. Look for ingredients that are highlighted in red and orange.

In USA companies can mix anything and call it organic - in European Union companies are required to test first sell second. If it's restricted (or banned) in EU - USA will sell it until mandatory recall. Recalls happen after losing a lawsuit or voluntary settlements. Neither happen in less than 3+ years after class action is filed. Class actions in USA on average take at least 12-24 months prep time and additional 3 to 18 months to get on a court docket...in the meantime we get a great deal of 50% off on formaldehydes and are left with doctor's bills and 50% less hair or blisters on eye lids. Devastating. 

Check those ingredients everyone, your body will thank you. 

      How to use Clearya:

1. Go to Amazon.com, Target.com,

Sephora.com, iHerb.com or Walmart.com

(more shops coming soon.)

2. Browse products*

3. Get automatic ingredient analysis by Clearya!

*Clearya is active on webpages of beauty, personal care, baby care and cleaning products, as well as other specific products lab-tested by our partners.

[KaylieT]

Thanks so much! I now have added Clearya to my toolkit & am not relying on EWG the way I was. 

Wish the USA protected users against ingredients in products & supplements. 

[pnwolderwoman]

I wish Clearya was also useable on Safari. I don't like using Chrome.