Cosmetics and Your Health
Personal Care Products
Most people use personal care products. Examples include:
- Face and body cleansers
- Deodorants
- Moisturizers and other skin lotions and creams
- Baby lotions and oils
- Haircare products, dyes, conditioners, straighteners, perms
- Makeup
- Hair removal creams
- Nail polishes
- Shaving products
- Perfumes and colognes
- Face paints and temporary tattoos
- Permanent tattoos and permanent makeup
Most are safe, but some may cause problems, and that’s when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gets involved. FDA collects information about consumers’ adverse events for products it regulates. These reports are important to our understanding of the effects of cosmetics on public health.
The California Safe Cosmetics Program/California Safe Cosmetics Act
In California, the California Safe Cosmetics Program collects information on hazardous and potentially hazardous ingredients in cosmetic products sold in California and makes this information available to the public.
The California Safe Cosmetics Act was signed into law in 2005. For all cosmetic products sold in California, the Act requires the manufacturer, packer, and/or distributor named on the product label to provide to the California Safe Cosmetics Program in the California Department of Public Health a list of all cosmetic products that contain any ingredients known or suspected to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.
Click on the links below for important cosmetics resources.