Guide
Microplastics: how you're polluting the world's oceans from a land-locked country
by Natalie Hemengül
The ugly face of the beauty industry
3.6.2020
Translation: machine translated
If you want to be beautiful, you have to suffer. But who really suffers? In our quest for perfection, the real sufferers are often not those we see in the mirror. A change of perspective.
We leave a lot of money lying around to shape our eyebrows and keep our complexion fresh. But the consequences of our consumption reach further than just our own wallets. Who actually bears the burden of the billion-dollar beauty industry? A brief look behind the beautiful facade.
Mica
Mica is a popular mineral in the cosmetics industry that is used to make shimmering beauty products. Highlighters, for example. As consumer interest in "glowy" products has increased, so has the demand for mica. According to the online magazine Refinery29, most of it comes from India, where it is extracted illegally by children in mines - for a pittance. Fatal accidents due to the risk of collapse are accepted. The mica business is worth half a billion worldwide. Individual cosmetics companies such as L'Oréal (NYX, Maybelline, Urban Decay), Estée Lauder (MAC, Bobbi Brown, Tom Ford), Shiseido (Nars) and Coty (Bourjois, Max Factor, Covergirl, Rimmel) are committed to the ethical extraction of mica. This means transparent supply chains, fair wages and no child labour. According to Lush, synthetic mica is also an alternative.
Microplastics
The smallest plastic particles have conquered the world's oceans. And we as inhabitants of a landlocked country are partly to blame. This is because the use of various shampoos, toothpastes, scrubs and other products causes microplastics to enter our wastewater system. What cannot be filtered out ends up in the Rhone, which flows directly into the Mediterranean via France. According to WWF spokesperson Corina Gyssler, they end up in our food chain and harm animals and humans. The problem: plastic often contains additives that can, for example, impair sexual development, damage genetic material or even have a carcinogenic effect. Pesticides and other toxins from the sea are also deposited on the particles. Find out why microplastics are in our beauty products in the first place and how you can avoid them in future here:
Jade
Jade tools for facial massages are currently very popular. Unfortunately, the extraction of the raw material is also problematic here, similar to mica.
Myanmar has a large deposit of high-quality jade, which is why business with the green gemstone is flourishing. Myanmar is now the world's largest producer of jade. According to the NZZ, an estimated 31 billion dollars worth of jade is mined there every year.
The employees in the mines are particularly dangerous during the rainy season and deadly landslides and debris avalanches are the occupational hazards of jade miners. In addition, the sale of the green gold is mainly handled by the military and a large proportion is smuggled illegally across the border to China. The population itself does not benefit from the business with the mineral resources.
Counterfeit products
Those who want to keep up with the fast-moving beauty industry need one thing above all: a lot of money. Cheap counterfeits of popular brands such as Kylie Cosmetics or Huda Beauty are the result. Apart from being morally questionable, copies also pose a health risk: Heavy metals, superglue, animal faeces and carcinogenic substances are supposed to replace the expensive ingredients of the originals. This can have serious consequences, especially for young, unenlightened people who believe they have to keep up with the new launches. In the hope of saving money, they accept skin diseases, infections and conjunctivitis. You can find more information on this topic here:
This list is by no means exhaustive and could be continued indefinitely. That's why I'm asking for your help: is there a topic or problem that you would like to draw attention to? Then use the comments column to give our readers and me food for thought. <p
Natalie Hemengül
Senior Editor
Natalie.Hemenguel@digitecgalaxus.chAs a massive Disney fan, I see the world through rose-tinted glasses. I worship series from the 90s and consider mermaids a religion. When I’m not dancing in glitter rain, I’m either hanging out at pyjama parties or sitting at my make-up table. P.S. I love you, bacon, garlic and onions.
Beauty
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