Dangerous beauty: The history and health hazards of the US cosmetics industry

Today, no country buys or sells more cosmetics than the United States. With annual sales exceeding 89 billion, the US beauty business is one of the most profitable in the world. It is also one of the least well-regulated. In 1938, years after doctors began warning of the rising tide of ‘poisonous’ beautifiers—face creams containing mercury, carcinogenic freckle removers, skin-dissolving depilatories—Congress finally placed cosmetics under the regulatory purview of the FDA, but the law’s lax terms did little to protect the growing number of consumers, mainly women, from being sickened and disfigured by dangerous goods. Studying cosmetics as both potent chemical compounds and objects of beautification, Andrea’s project investigates the history and health hazards of the modern cosmetics industry.