The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics on July 20 premiered a short online film called “The Story of Cosmetics: The Ugly Truth of ‘Toxics In, Toxics Out’” that the organization would like to go viral via bloggers, Facebook and Twitter.
The seven-minute piece appears at safecosmetics.org and is meant to help build support for congressional cosmetics legislation.
Produced by The Story of Stuff Project and Free Range Studios, the live action and animated short is hosted by Annie Leonard, who also did the nine-minute “The Story of Bottled Water” this year and 2007’s “The Story of Stuff” (20 minutes).
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The screening, sponsored by synthetic free, nontoxic-positioned Tata Harper Skincare and Morgan Stanley, among others, was held at the Spotted Pig restaurant in Manhattan. Guests included actress Fran Drescher, who is a cancer survivor and founder of Cancer Schmancer, an organization that supports the early detection of cancer.
That same night, three Democratic members of Congress unveiled the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, calling for an end to what they claim is a highly unregulated industry that relies on self-policing, calling for stronger authority for the Food and Drug Administration and new standards and testing for hazardous ingredients and chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products.
John Hurson, executive vice president for government affairs for the Personal Care Products Council, the cosmetics industry’s main trade and lobbying group, said the industry shares the same broad goals with the lawmakers of enhancing FDA oversight of cosmetics and personal care products, but it has major concerns with the legislation.
“We do believe that the bill they proposed has a number of problems,” said Hurson. “It actually proposes new standards for personal care products that are significantly stricter than those currently applied by the FDA to food, drug and medical devices.”
The PCPC panned “The Story of Cosmetics: The Ugly Truth of ‘Toxics In, Toxics Out’,” calling it an unscientific “shockumentary–genre” video bearing no relationship to the “real” story of cosmetics.
“It is repugnant to suggest that cosmetic companies would manufacture, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would allow them to market, products that are dangerous or contain toxins that cause cancer or any other disease. It is absurd to suggest that the men and women in our industry would market products that could cause harm to themselves and their families,” said the PCPC.
Meanwhile, Harper, who launched her 12-item skin care line at Tataharper.com in late August and has rolled it out to doors including Space NK, Thérapie New York, The Surf Lodge in Montauk, N.Y., and The Style Bar in Sag Harbor, N.Y., spoke at the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics event last week. She founded Tata Harper Skincare on the premise that women are becoming increasingly concerned about the chemicals used in skin care.
“As an avid user of what I perceived to be the most effective skin care products, I was shocked to learn about the harmful synthetics contained in virtually every product I had ever used,” contends Harper. “I created a results oriented…skin care line that is handmade in Vermont using only the world’s most potent 100 percent natural nontoxic ingredients.”