As if I needed another reason to stand proud alongside @beautycounter and support all of their advocacy efforts. Please watch Beautycounter’s short eye-opening trailer from their upcoming documentary on mica in my stories.
“Someone's daughter, four years old, right now is sitting pulling mica out of a mine in the pitch black, dark, scared to death."
-Gregg Renfrew
What is mica?
Mica is an ingredient that's widely used in cosmetics to create the shimmery glow we all know and love. But the mica industry can come with some serious transparency issues. So Beautycounter decided to do something about it.
So, why mica?
First of all, what is it? Mica is a mineral name given to a group of silicate minerals—there are over 37 types of mica.
Where is it used?
Mica is used across many different industries, such as automotive, electronics, and plastics. In the beauty industry, mica is used as a base for powder formulations and to help achieve that shimmery look.
What are the challenges?
If you want high-performing color cosmetics, you need mica. But the mica industry can come with some alarming and unethical practices. For decades there has been public outcry around corruption in mica mining, including child labor, forced labor, and wage theft. We've witnessed continued reporting on these serious human rights abuses—and sadly, there hasn't been substantial progress on the ground. So, we took a deep dive into our supply chain to confirm that, together with our suppliers, we are upholding the "responsible" part of our sourcing.
We all have the power to help shift the mica industry towards responsible sourcing. You can help right now by texting MICA to 52886 to ask your elected officials to stop the importation of products produced using child labor.
#nobullshit#transparency #beautycomesclean
