EP95. All that glitters in cosmetics isn't gold

Green Beauty Conversations by Formula Botanica

As we go to air with this episode of Green Beauty Conversations in early 2022, the predictions are that frosted eye shadows, glittery nail art and luminescent blushers are going to be big trends this year. Adopting the hashtag #Y2K, a new generation of beauty consumers is exploring makeup trends of the 1980s to the millennium, and rediscovering the allure and bold shimmer of mica minerals in cosmetics.

But, all that glitters in the cosmetics’ world is not gold. Behind those shimmering cosmetics lies a mineral mining industry that in some parts of the world relies on artisan and small-scale miners who are living in poverty and often have to put their children to work to have any chance of supporting their families.

How can natural formulators or beauty consumers know where their mica comes from and the conditions in which it is mined? What about the environmental as well human health and welfare impact of mica mining in parts of the world that are well out of sight of the global cosmetics industry? What can we do to source and buy cosmetics using ethically-mined mica?

In this episode, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier – a chartered environmentalist with a passion for digging deep on unsustainable and exploitative practices in the beauty industry – talks to Olivier Dubourdieu, Project Manager at the Responsible Mica Initiative to find some answers to these questions.