It is a four letter word. And talc is an ingredient that you should try to avoid. Here’s why:
- Talc can be drying to the skin. During the winter months your skin becomes drier and using talc can only make this dryness worse.
- Sensitive skins can (and usually do) have adverse reactions to talc.
- Talc can "scratch" the skin.
- (And this is really big reason!): If talc is not processed properly, it may even contain some asbestos in it!
Now, I am not talking about this happening 40 years ago -- This actually happened in 2017! Seriously! The tween brand, Justice, recalled all their Just Shine cosmetics since the talc used to make these products had traces of asbestos in them! You can read more about this here
- How can this happen?
- How can talc be tainted with asbestos?
According to consumersafety.org
- Both talc and asbestos are forms of magnesium silicate, and as such they often occur together in natural deposits.
- While there are procedures for removing asbestos from talc, this latest case shows that perhaps stricter controls are required.
Because of this and the other reasons listed above, you can (and I think should) avoid cosmetics and other consumer goods containing talc.
In a previous blog post I wrote about Bare Minerals and how their BarePRO® Performance Wear Pressed Powder Foundation and BarePro® Contour Face-Shaping Powder Trio contain talc. Why did they do this?
Possibly because talc is cheap!
Also possibly because, in cosmetics, talc can improve the texture and feel of a product and absorb moisture. As a cheap texture improver and oil absorber, this is why so many brands choose to make their powders, foundations, blushes, bronzers and eyeshadows with talc. All those new highlighting and contouring palettes that you see all over Instagram… Well, most of them contain talc too. And there are hundreds and hundreds of concealers and foundations that are in a liquid or cream formula that still contain, you guessed it, talcBUT, the good news is, there are also plenty of great foundations, powders, eyeshadows, blushes, bronzer, etc. that do NOT contain this nasty four letter word and are TALC-FREE!
At Mommy Makeup we are committed to having all our products to be talc-free. We see talc as an unnecessary and, sometimes, hazardous ingredient that we choose to avoid.
I won’t use talc on my skin, so I can’t make products containing it either.
Remember that your skin is your body’s largest organ, so I strongly urge you to read your ingredient labels and avoid the talc! Your skin and body will thank you for it too!
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