As a "high yellow" black woman (most think I am Mexican) its hard to find make up without too much pink or brown. Make-up that will not make me look half dead or like I've been in the sun too long is hard to come by. This is made even harder by my Eco-friendly, gmo, chem-free principles.
I know I am not the only one to have repeatedly come across this conundrum. I have had numerous conversations with customers, friends, family and neighbors who are just feed up, give up or both. Too much information on this, not enough information on that and even conflicting pieces of information from the same sources can seriously get a make-up lover down. Down on something that is supposed to be fun and lift us up.
This is where the EWG (Environmental Working Group), Campaign For Safe Cosmetics and even The Story of Stuff Project have come in to give us green-living folk a leg up. However, even with their work on the chemistry, there is a lacking area in advertisement of the eco industry. Most advertisements contain pictures of long, slender and pink-toned models. I can say that I have yet to see one of olive or darker complexion.
One woman has decided to speak out in, "An Open Letter to the Eco Industry" on her blog, "Organic Beauty Vixen". She points out her preference over RAID to a concoction of cinnamon and paprika to solve ant problems (I do this as well), where she shops for groceries and that the yoga mats she uses are sustainable. Yay for her!
The one-two punch comes when she mentions that her dollars are just as green as the Melissas and Susans the industry depicts, and, "My loyalty to your brand, despite your lack of effort in adding diversity within your branding strategy, should demonstrate to you exactly how much I am committed to the welfare of the planet and the health of its inhabitants." She holds no punches. Why should she?
I agree that the Eco industry is making great strides towards giving us chemical free lives. More power to them. There will always be areas where improvement can be made. This is definitely one of them.
