Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Publishes First-Ever List of Top Non-Toxic Black-Owned Beauty Brands & Product Database

SAN FRANCISCO (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC)'s new List of Top Non-Toxic Black-Owned Beauty Brands features entrepreneurs making safer beauty products for Black women, free of the toxic ingredients linked to breast cancer and health concerns that disproportionately impact Black women. This project brings health equity to the forefront by providing a database of clean beauty products to help Black women and girls live their healthiest lives and prevent breast cancer. 

Beauty isn't pain

Released during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Non-Toxic Black Beauty Project focuses specifically on supporting Black women's health because Black women face the highest breast cancer mortality rate of any racial or ethnic group in America. Beauty products marketed to Black women often contain the most toxic cosmetics ingredients, including chemicals linked to cancer. In fact, Black women who regularly dye their hair have a 60% increased risk of breast cancer, and those who use chemical hair straighteners are 30% more likely to develop the disease. By uplifting leading non-toxic Black-owned beauty brands and connecting Black women with products they can trust, CSC aims to combat toxic health disparities to help prevent breast cancer and other diseases. 

The 80 small and medium-sized businesses who made the list raise the bar for ingredient safety and lead the movement to address the injustice of Black beauty by selling products free of CSC's 241 "Do Not Use" Red List Chemicals of Concern in Cosmetics. CSC vetted all 700+ products included in the first-ever searchable database for safety and verified them to be free of harmful chemicals linked to health concerns like cancer, diabetes, early puberty, endometriosis, infertility, maternal health, pregnancy complications, and uterine fibroids. 

"We are thrilled to announce the launch of our searchable database of non-toxic Black beauty products," said Janet Nudelman, Director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a program of Breast Cancer Prevention Partners. "These leading Black entrepreneurs are making safer beauty products that won't harm the health of Black women and girls. We hope that more companies will follow their lead and grow the clean Black beauty industry by selling non-toxic beauty and personal care products that Black women can trust." 

As Black women purchase and use more beauty products per capita than any other demographic, spending more than $7.5 billion dollars on beauty products a year and nine times more on hair products than the average consumer, toxic exposure from beauty products is of particular concern. 

By eliminating toxic ingredients that negatively impact Black women, these companies have made a significant commitment to protecting their customers' health and well-being. They are also helping to reduce the disproportionate toxic burden that Black women face from unsafe chemicals in beauty and other consumer products they use, which can help prevent the development of chronic diseases like breast and ovarian cancer.

For a list of scientific findings referenced in this release, visit: www.safecosmetics.org/black-beauty-project/