Are your cosmetics safe? Don’t compromise health for beauty: When we use cosmetics, we do so to become beautiful. Makeup should essentially enhance our health, not compromise our bodies.

Sadly, 90 percent of the cosmetics on the market have never been evaluated for safety. An average cosmetics consumer uses a combination of products that contain over 200 different chemicals each day, some of which have been found to cause skin cancer, birth defects, and may even have a harmful effect on your memory. Do you know what’s in your makeup bag? Are you using safe cosmetics?

We shouldn’t have to compromise our health to be beautiful. Real beauty comes from a healthy appearance, a invigorating lifestyle and a healthy feeling of well being. What we put in and on our bodies contributes to our well-being, and makeup is a big part of that.

If we want to look and feel good, we need to use makeup that’s healthy, cosmetics that not only make us look good but enhance the health of our body as well. Makeup needs to be free of dangerous and harmful chemicals. It needs to be safe and natural.

Many makeup brands contain known carcinogens or suspected carcinogens, including acrylamide, diethanolamine, formaldehyde, and coal-tar colors. Some contain substances that disrupt your endocrine, such as parabens and nonoxynol.

Some contain phthalates, a group of industrial chemicals that have been linked to early puberty, asthma, birth defects and decreased sperm counts. Nail polishes, for instance, frequently contain phthalates to prevent chipping or flaking. Often, the harmful phthalates are simply listed under the catch-all of fragrances, and can be difficult to spot.

Other cosmetics even contain metals such as lead or mercury that can poison your skin and seriously compromise your health. Luckily, safe cosmetics can be a reality. As public awareness continues to grow, more and more consumers are demanding makeup that’s safe to use, free of carcinogens and phthalates.

As the market for natural and organic makeup grows, consumers find more options for healthy, safe makeup. More and more cosmetic brands are signing pledges that the ingredients of their products are safe and chemical free. From Bare Beauty Mineral Makeup to RJ Mineral Cosmetics to Nature’s Paradise, many makeup companies are realizing that the best markets lie in blends that don’t compromise the health of their consumers.