the beauty industry and the hard truths

Working in Cosmetics has always been something I have been extremely passionate about. I left School and University with no idea on what I wanted to do next for some people that'd be a bad thing but for me it's been a great insight into my own personal strengths and career ambitions. Gaining an incredible amount of knowledge about the Beauty Industry and their Ethics.

You walk into Boots for example and go over to the Shampoo section. Oh, you love Coconut right? Let's pick up Boot's own brand "Coconut and Almond Shampoo" you would really like that incredible Coconut scent and your hair to feel soft, nourished and clean when you've washed the product off your lovely locks. If you actually turn the product around and look into those ingredients you are using can you tell exactly how much "Coconut and Almond" is even in the formula alongside all of the other crap? Will you get all of the benefits of coconut and almonds on your hair? Probably not. The reality is these products are made in a huge industrial factory with a pot called "almond extract" placed in storage for years and are kept fresh by using preservatives. There are so many products on the market which are totally false. It's easier to buy something that looks plain and cheap rather than the higher end products, which you can actually see results from and contain the actual ingredient. When I first started working for Lush many years ago I began using their "Curly Wurly" shampoo. Wow, at first I was surprised on how much coconut was actually in the pot. With the thick coconut consistency at first it seemed strange rubbing the product into my scalp. When actually all along I wanted the real Coconut, I wanted the beautiful silky hair with the incredible real Coconut smell.

For me, it's about buying products and cosmetics that actually work. That their ingredients ARE NOT tested on Animals or the final product. It's so hard to find real Ethical brands in which support these guidelines to are affordable and in which you see results.

Here is Peta's Cruelty Free list and also the link to a great article from Greenpeace about the Rainforest conservation and what is currently happening with Head & Shoulders.

http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdonttest.pdf

https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk