Research Log #4

Citation:

O'Connor, Siobhan, and Alexandra Spunt. No More Dirty Looks. New York: Da Capo 
     Press, 2010. Print.

Summary:

This book was definitely a great tool for my research paper. It basically went through all the secrets of toxicology and why/how the make-up companies do what they do. This book gave me countless facts on what the chemicals are, how the FDA works, and much more. I learned that Europe has banned more than one thousand ingredients for use in personal care products but the United States has only banned nine! This shows that the United States is not doing their job to regulate the products that are being put on the market. This is an obvious problem but the laws do not include cosmetic companies in their regulations. Also, Fragrances are the worst carcinogenic products because fragrance companies are not required to list their ingredients at all! This is an obvious problem because the fragrance companies can put almost anything in their products and get away with it! Another thing I like about this book is that it gives a list of “Dirty Ingredients” which are a list of chemicals to look out for, as well as descriptions about the chemical and it does. One troubling thing I learned was that companies that claim their products are “organic” do not always mean it. Since there is no government agency overseeing these cosmetics, it makes it easier for them to get away with the label even though it is not even close to true.

Response:

This book made the research assignment so much more exciting for me! I now have a very reliable resource to take information from. This book got me so much more interested in the subject that I want to do more research on my own! I can’t believe how corrupt this industry is. I am amazed by it every time I learn something new about it. I always thought that there was some corruption behind the Organic companies, but I never thought that they would completely lie about their ingredients. It is so obvious that there needs to be stricter regulation on these products because they are becoming inhumane. It is unfortunate that people have to take advantage of the system, because it shows that without regulation or inspection, people cannot be trusted to do the right thing by themselves.  Fragrances were always a little bit suspicious to me. I always wondered why they smelled the way they did and what was used to create them. Now I know that all fragrances are a concoction of carcinogenic chemicals that may smell good, but will probably create problems in the long run. It is sad to know that they are so bad for you, because most of my friends are obsessed with perfume and other products that have heavy doses of fragrance in them. I used to be too, until I found out about how bad they are. I still have a little bit of reading to do in this book, but I look forward to learning more.


Next Steps: 
 Now that I have learned so much about this problem I can start to make a change on my own. In order to make a change, there needs to be a regulation on these companies to make sure they are not just saying what their customers want to hear. There is no way that these companies should get away with lying to the people who support them. How is this legal? Why don't we hear about these kinds of lies more often? How do the companies keep this information concealed?