In all my comments over previous weeks about the potentially harmful household products that we pour down our drains, I have studiously avoided discussing the similar effects of hygiene and beauty products. Why is that? Is it because the bubbles, fragrance and silky texture enhance my bathing pleasure? Is it because my children exercise more control over my choices in this area? Or is it because we get through so much shower gel and shampoo that the price becomes all-important?
Certainly, my supermarket’s shelves bear witness to the fact that people can be more easily persuaded to buy environmentally friendly washing liquid than shampoo. As far as I can see, there are no organic beauty products on offer. And yet it stands to reason that harmful ingredients in household products are also present in beauty products – what disappears down the plughole in the bath has the same harmful effects on the natural world as what disappears out of the sink in the kitchen. Time to try organic, naturally fragranced shower gels and shampoos without harmful chemical additives, I feel (especially as my body is entering a heightened allergy phase for some reason).
But how about the make-up and all the creams and potions that promise so much? For some people, to be separated from their face cream would be a matter of life and death. I remember a friend telling me
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