Say what you will about the Kardashian/Jenners, there’s no denying that family has some serious influence. Any product range they drop sells out within about 10 seconds flat and anything they give their tick of approval instantly becomes a trend. While let’s be honest—they normally use their influence to continue building their empires — there are times where they use their colossal influence for a good cause. And folks, we’re happy to report that this is one of those occasions.
Recently, Kourtney Kardashian, along with the Environmental Working Group, met with legislators to advocate for the Personal Care Products Safety Act. This is a bill that calls for FDA regulation on makeup and skincare products in the US. If the bill was passed, it would mean the ingredients that go into cosmetics would have to be more closely regulated and tested.
Kourtney has made no secret of her love for clean beauty. While her sisters opt for high-end beauty products, you’re more likely to find Kourts slathering her hair and face with manuka honey and using non-toxic sunscreen. This ethos mirrors her overall healthy lifestyle (she follows a gluten-free, dairy-free, all organic diet), but she says she only got serious about clean beauty after becoming a mum.
“As a mom, you really take so much interest in the products… and it’s so crazy,” Kourtney says. “I would get so many baby gifts and a lot of it was products, skin-care products for my kids. And I would use the things that people sent me just assuming these are baby products and that they should be safe. You shouldn’t have to walk around aimlessly asking ‘Is this okay?’ ‘Is this not okay? Everybody should have the right to healthy products.”
Kourtney has good reason to be concerned. Many mainstream beauty and skincare products include toxic ingredients that are not only harmful to the environment but can also disrupt our endocrine (hormone) receptors and be carcinogenic. By a big name like Kourtney putting their name to the clean beauty cause, it not only helps speed up progress but raises awareness of the fact that we should all be questioning what’s going onto our faces and bodies.
“We applaud Kourtney Kardashian as she joined our fight on Capitol Hill today,” said Gregg Renfrew, founder of clean beauty brand Beautycounter that’s been lobbying since they formed. “We need more people who are willing to lend their voices to the better beauty movement in order to get credible, meaningful reform across the finish line.”
Here in Australia, there’s a similar lack of regulation around beauty products. There’s also a phenomenon called ‘green washing,’ where companies can claim to be all natural or organic, even if they contain toxic ingredients. Yep, it’s pretty scary stuff! Here’s hoping that the bill will be passed soon in the US and that we’ll follow suit.
