Heartache and Health Risks at the Beauty Counter!

Estee, is our romance really dead? Have you been honest with us? Maybe we need a break while you get your priorities in order. You sold us Happy, Beautiful and Love, but you didn’t tell us they contained toxic phthalates. We found out *sniff* from Consumer Reports!

The magazine tested U.S. versions of Aveda’s Love Pure-Fume Essence, Clinique’s Happy and Estee Lauder’s Beautiful fragrances (all made by parent company Estee Lauder) for phthalates, a group of chemicals linked to reproductive disorders and cancer. They also tested versions of Happy and Beautiful sold in Europe, which boasts new health-protective cosmetic standards, including bans on some phthalates.

Both the European and U.S. samples of the two fragrances contained the phthalates DEP and DEHP. The latter is banned from cosmetics in Europe, making both Happy and Beautiful illegal to sell in Europe in their current form. None of the eight products tested by Consumer Reports, which came from Estee Lauder and five other companies, listed phthalates among their ingredients, but unfortunately they were present in all samples.

Oh, Estee!  The tests, the phthalates! The claims that you were in compliance with the EU law, that you were safe! Sweet-scented siren, if you don’t do right by us, this love affair will have to end!

Sure, we have bigger problems in our relationship. The FDA doesn’t require you or any other cosmetics company to test your products for safety. And current government policies on chemicals just aren’t enough to protect me. But I wanted all your promises of safety to be true!

Don’t take the heartbreak lying down this Valentine’s Day -- e-mail or call Estee Lauder!

Join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in demanding that Estee Lauder remove DEHP and DEP from their products in every market they occupy.  Not only is it the law in Europe, it’s also the safe thing to do for our bodies and our health.

You can also remind Estee Lauder that if they really want to win our hearts, they should join the 500 cosmetics and body care companies that have promised to eliminate toxic ingredients from their products worldwide by signing the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. If you get flustered delivering bad news, you can use our handy script at the bottom of this email.

To e-mail Estee Lauder, use their contact form, found at http://www.elcompanies.com/footer/contact.asp. Or, give them a call at 1-877-311-3883 (after you hear the automated message, press 4), or in New York at 212-572-4200. We've included a sample script below.

SAMPLE script:

Dear Estee Lauder,

I am concerned about the new Consumer Reports ShopSmart article (“What you should know about chemicals in your cosmetics”, Winter 2007), which indicates that Estee Lauder is still manufacturing products that contain phthalates, including the popular fragrances, Clinique Happy, Estee Lauder Beautiful and Aveda Love. There is ample and sound scientific evidence indicating phthalates may cause serious and irreversible reproductive disorders and cancers. And, the European Union has banned the sale of cosmetics containing DEHP.

I’d like to know why DEHP is still in your fragrances that are sold in the EU, and why Estee Lauder won’t commit to eliminating these potentially harmful chemicals from all its products, in every market the company operates in. Please indicate in your response if and when you will be removing these dangerous chemicals from your products.

I also encourage you to sign the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, a pledge to eliminate toxic ingredients from your products, for the health and safety of consumers like me.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME HERE]