Lead in lipstick? 1,4 dioxane in baby soap? Coal tar in shampoo? How is this possible? Simple. The $35 billion cosmetics industry is so powerful they have kept themselves unregulated for decades.

In 2000, the US Centers for Disease Control reported American women had a higher “body burden” of phthalates, a set of industrial chemicals linked to birth defects and infertility. Suspicions about repeated exposure to the chemicals from cosmetics unearthed some disturbing discoveries.

Not Just a Pretty Face chronicles the quest that led a group of breast cancer activists and environmentalists to the offices of the world’s largest cosmetics companies to ask some tough questions:

• Why do they market themselves as pink ribbon leaders in the fight against breast cancer, yet use hormone-disrupting chemicals that may contribute to that very disease?
• Why do they target their products to men and women of childbearing age, yet use chemicals linked to birth defects and infertility?

As doors slammed in their faces, the beauty myth peeled away and the industry’s toxic secrets began to emerge. The good news is that although the major multinationals continue to fight for their right to use hazardous chemicals, scientists are developing safer nontoxic technologies and entrepreneurs are building businesses on the values of health, justice and personal empowerment.