One of the ways I am complicit is my use of make-up. First of all, I use make up, which is a culturally ascribed condition for looking beautiful. But where I realize that make-up isn’t necessarily good is in terms of what they put in to make-up, and how they test it. I am aware that there are perhaps things in my make-up that aren’t good for me, but I’m not actually sure what they are. So in doing this write up I’ve looked up some of the common ingredients in make-up, and compare it with the eye shadow I’m holding in my picture. The website lists talc as a bad ingredient because it “...is a known carcinogen and can cause lung damage” (Livingston 2007). Talc is listed as the third ingredient in my eye shadow. Another ingredient is coal tar dye, which is blue #1, yellow #5, both of which is in my eye shadow and can cause “...severe allergic reactions, headaches, asthma attacks, fatigue, and increased risk of lymphoma and multiple myelonma”  (Livingston 2007). Bismuth Oxychloride is listed under ‘may contain’ in my eye shadow, and is a product of iron mining that can “...cause stinging and skin irritation...”(Livingston 2007). There are many more things in my makeup that is making me want to throw it out, but I want to talk about how nowhere on the box does it say that this product wasn’t tested on animals. I know I don’t go out of my way to find things that aren’t tested on animals; I just sort of assumed that most if not all places stopped animal testing. After reading what’s in my eye shadow, I think I’m actually going to be more careful from now on, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to avoid some of those chemicals.

Livingston, Kari (2007) What makes up your makeup? Know what’s on your face. AssociatedContent.com. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/183387/what_makes_up_your_makeup_know_whats_pg2.html?cat=69