How asbestos and 'forever chemicals' in your make-up could seriously harm your health: Mail special investigation exposes the toxic truth
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Did you know that the coconut in your face cream may have been harvested by monkeys?. Or that your eye make-up could contain harmful 'forever chemicals'?. Over the past few years, there have been concerted efforts to clean up the fashion industry, with more ethical supply chains and greener materials. While there's still a long way to go, few people could claim not to know how incredibly harmful 'fast fashion' can be.
![[In India, a woman and child transport mica ore to a truck. The mineral is used in cosmetics, cars, paint and laptops]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/22/16/94396583-14313695-In_India_a_woman_and_child_transport_mica_ore_to_a_truck_The_min-m-25_1737563321960.jpg)
But you may not be so aware of what goes into your favourite make-up and skincare. One reason is that, frankly, it's harder to know where the minute amounts of ingredients in each tube of cream or jar of serum come from. One cosmetic product may use dozens of ingredients from all over the world, with each going through various forms of processing.
Important information – including use of child labour or animal-derived ingredients or whether a product contains harmful chemicals – may be unknown even to the brands themselves. Solving these problems would require lots of time and money that brands could be unwilling, or unable, to give.
So how can you shop smart and buy ethical products?. Many brands even claim to be 'cruelty-free' despite having no certification to prove they don't test on animals. The truth is, it's tricky. Many tactics are used to make consumers believe a product is sustainable – leafy illustrations, green-coloured packaging and empty marketing terms such as 'clean' and 'eco-friendly', for example.
