Must Watch: 5 Documentaries That Reveal the Ugly Side of Cosmetics

While cosmetics have revolutionised the way we look and feel, most of them are loaded with toxic chemicals that wreak havoc on our health in the long-run.

Thankfully, from big, global brands to small, indigenous, home-grown ones, companies today are trying their best to lean towards manufacturing ‘clean’ products.

To ensure that you make informed choices before investing in cosmetics hereon, we recommend you watch these movies that throw light on how they’re manufactured to what goes into their making.

1. Beauty Laid Bare

This documentary reveals the secrets of the multi-billion dollar beauty industry by getting manufacturers, influencers and critics to share what’s lurking within their makeup.

We get to know how the beauty industry is one of the worst contributors to un-recyclable plastic, how waste from the cosmetics industry ends up polluting a city’s water system and how candelilla wax, a vegan and so-called ‘ethical’ alternative to beeswax is produced by farmers handling sulphuric acid with no safety equipment.

Click here for ‘green’ cosmetics.

2. Toxic Beauty

Toxic Beauty uncovers the chemicals and toxins found in personal care products such as phthalates, formaldehyde, parabens, triclosan, mercury and how they have the potential to lead to numerous health issues such as dermatitis and other skin diseases, infertility and reproductive problems, as well as ovarian and breast cancer.

What’s most shocking is that the documentary reveals that the paraben levels are 35 times higher when using conventional personal care products as compared to ‘clean’ products.

Click here for ‘green’ cosmetics.

3. Broken

Broken is a four-part docu-series on subjects like counterfeit makeup, e-cigarettes, cheap furniture, and plastic. “Makeup Mayhem” is the one that focuses on the shocking reality of counterfeit or fake makeup.

The episode lets you in on how makeup knock-offs are manufactured in unsanitary factories that are often infested with rats and loaded with poison to keep them away.

As a result, counterfeit makeup is usually tainted with bacteria, lead, and arsenic, among other toxic ingredients. Prolonged usage of those ultimately leads to eye infections, allergic reactions, chemical burns, even high blood pressure and infertility in worst cases.

Click here for ‘green’ cosmetics.

4. Unmasked: Makeup’s Big Secret

Unmasked exposes the beauty industry’s big environmental secret. The documentary focuses on palm oil: the one singular ingredient that lurks in 70 per cent of our makeup products: palm oil.

While it makes our lipstick glossy and foundations creamy, palm oil production solely for the beauty industry is said to have destroyed 8% of the world’s forests between 1990 and 2008.

Click here for ‘green’ cosmetics.

5. The Story of Cosmetics

This short documentary examines the rampant use of toxic chemicals in our daily personal care products, from lipstick to baby shampoo. The film reveals their implications on both the consumer and the environment, and outlines ways that the industry can adopt to do away with hazardous chemicals by substituting them with natural alternatives.

The only way to protect yourself from all of it is to be first armed with the necessary knowledge. Once you learn how to read labels and refuse to use toxic products, there will be no choice for the industry, but to clean up its act.

Click here for ‘green’ cosmetics.

Also Read: Face Packs to Organic Teas: How to Reap Ashwagandha’s Incredible Health Benefits

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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