What to Look For

Lengthy ingredients lists and misleading labels can make it difficult to find healthier makeup. Here are a few criteria to use when shopping:

Dirty-Dozen Free: If nothing else, avoid cosmetics that contain ingredients included in The Green Guide's "Dirty Dozen." Of those twelve, the most commonly found in cosmetics are antibacterials, coal-tar dyes, 1,4-dioxane (a contaminant of "PEG," sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate and other -eth ingredients), formaldehyde, fragrance, mercury, nanoparticles, parabens and petroleum distillates.

Third Party Certification: Third-party certification of cosmetics is rare, and doesn't necessarily ensure a "Dirty-Dozen Free" product, but the certifications below provide additional guarantees for animal welfare and ingredient purity. Among the most reliable are The Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA), Ecocert, BDIH, USDA Certified Organic and the Leaping Bunny label.

Compact for Safe Cosmetics compliant: The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a consumer advocacy group that encourages companies to use safer ingredients. Products that comply with their “Compact for Safe Cosmetics” don’t contain ingredients banned by strict European Union laws, and all the ingredients they do contain have been tested for safety.

Vegan: Cosmetics can utilize some ingredients derived from animals or animal byproducts, such as beeswax or carmine (a dye made from ground-up beetles).

Shopping Tips

• Read labels carefully so you won't be duped at the checkout counter.

• Powdered products generally require fewer potentially irritating ingredients.

• Use products that contain no more than 10 ingredients. The fewer the ingredients, the less likely you are to be exposed to a potentially irritating or harmful chemical.

Usage Tips

• Be vigilant about following expiration dates and throw out foundations after one year and powders after two years.

• Find out which cosmetic containers are recyclable in your area, and when you toss old containers, empty them as thoroughly as possible. Remove compact mirrors, which often aren't accepted.