The Game of Fear: Cosmetic Activism Gone Wild!

I received yet another e-mail from an anti-cosmetic activist group asking me to donate money to their “cause”.  This is the third such e-mail in the last few weeks. It doesn’t matter which particular group sends the e-mail- they all start the same way; telling us how lucky we are THEY are working to save us from all the supposedly dangerous “chemicals” in cosmetics.  You know, the ones that are supposedly killing babies and everybody else too.  Of course this is just pure nonsense, but that doesn’t seem to matter to these fear-based groups. They intentionally misquote studies and distort statistics to support the bogus information they spread on a regular basis.

 

According to these groups, everybody who uses cosmetics or personal care products is at risk of great harm!  What? Cosmetics?   Apparently, it doesn’t matter that these types of products have a VERY long history of safe use and overall a pretty impressive safety record!  The facts are, cosmetics and personal care products are among the safest products that consumers can purchase according to the US FDA and Health Canada. These fear-mongering groups do NOT want you to know the truth.  Instead, they use tricky and deceptive claims like “may cause…” or “it is believed that…” or “could be linked to…”  They resort to these misleading phrases because they lack real proof to justify their claims, so instead rely on their bag of tricks.

 

What else can they do? Without any solid evidence, they can’t debate the facts with knowledgeable scientists.  Instead, they use the Internet and the news media to launch  unfounded attacks. They pretend to be champions of truth, when instead they are the exact opposite.  Hair shampoo and conditioners do NOT cause cancer or birth defects!  Lipsticks are extremely safe and do NOT contain harmful amounts of lead.  Nail polish has been safely used for 80 years, until these groups created a hoax to make people believe it is suddenly unsafe.  The list goes on and on. They’ve manufactured the false notion that hidden dangers lurk in these types of products and their scare tactics have made a lot of money for them!  Look at their e-mails and you’ll quickly discover the “Donate Here” link. Now they are using mobile apps to collect even more money, so it’s no surprise they rake in huge amounts of money!

My advice is to  NEVER donate to any group that focuses on spreading fear and misinformation about cosmetics and their ingredients.  They will just continue needlessly frightening your friends and clients. Please don’t support such groups or visit their websites.  Fear-based advocacy groups are self-serving and don’t have the public’s best interest at heart.  Most are tax-exempt, money making machines that seek to control the political process so they can promote their own irresponsible agendas.  Don’t be fooled! They don’t really care about any of us.  Much of this money will be used to promote misguided regulations that aren’t needed and if passed would cause more harm than good.  So please don’t donate to any “fear-based” activist groups.  Instead, tell them you don’t appreciate their exaggeration and distortions and ask your friends/clients to say the same. These groups are unlikely to stop their trickery as long as it is lucrative to frighten the public.