Why racism lingers in the cosmetics aisle.

Many females of Asian, African, Latin American, and Arab descent learn early on that the more European you look, the better. Many cosmetic companies have worked hard to profit from this, providing women of color with toxic “solutions” for having the shade of skin they were born with.

Take skin lightening. Some might compare its harmful effects to tanning and say this is simply a case of people wanting what they don’t have. But the desire to have fair skin is deeper than that and has a much more damaging history stemming from internalized racism, a nasty place that rarely seems to be understood or even acknowledged.

On a recent trip to India, I was impressed by the way the country has sustained its culture despite Westernization and standards imposed upon it by British colonialists. Most local women I came across regularly wore traditional attire and as I rode through the countryside, I saw virtually every male wearing a khadi, homespun garb promoted by Gandhi as a way for people to boycott British products and return to using domestic-made goods. Ever since British rule ended in India in the late 1940s, the country has been renaming its cities to bring them back to their original Indian pronunciations and spellings.

But despite all of the preservation of culture in modern day India, the notion that fair skin is superior – which can largely be attributed to a history of lighter skinned people invading and ruling India – has been feverishly sustained and even expanded to encompass men. Ruthless advertising has further promoted the idea that lighter skin will get you the job you want, a significant other, and generally make all your dreams come true. While some of the most vomit-inducing commercials have been banned from Indian airwaves, there is still an abundance of advertising that needs no translation to show that companies that sell skin lightening products are capitalizing on a popular idea in India that a light complexion leads to a better life. These companies know: white sells.

While India’s issues with skin lightening are fresh examples, this is certainly not the only culture where people have held onto the idea that white is right. Amongst the youth of color I work with, it is not uncommon to hear the word “dark” being used as an insult or to hear a young black male include “light-skinned” on a list of the most desirable attributes of a female he’s interested in.

The acceptance and lack of questioning of this mentality regularly perplexes me. Beyond the obvious – that lingering racism gives an advantage to those in the United States who have white skin – it seems that many have forgotten, are unaware of, or choose to ignore the origins of color discrimination within black American communities: white slave owners forcing themselves upon black female slaves. The “light-skinned” offspring that resulted from this exploitation often had an advantage over their more African-looking counterparts, especially as slavery waned in the United States. Almost 150 years after the end of slavery, an archaic “lighter is better” mindset is still widely accepted, whether it is articulated or not.

In addition to matters of skin tone, black females with tightly curled tresses are likely to be inculcated with the notion that their hair in its natural state is unmanageable – and bad. Many black girls are taught this at a young age, and before they can get to know their hair, many of them have had it straightened with a toxic chemical relaxer. These chemicals sink into the scalp; these harmful ideas sink into impressionable minds. It can take years to undo the physical, psychological, and let’s not forget environmental damage, that is, if it is reversed at all.

If a black woman decides to present herself as she is, she will still have to learn how to explain herself when she inevitably comes across an ethnophobe; she may be informed that her appearance is an outdated relic of the failed “black is beautiful” movement in the sixties.

This mentality is deeply harmful in communities with a history of racism and oppression, but the idea that there’s a singular beauty standard for all women to achieve is rife in our world, regardless of a culture’s history. The solutions to such invented problems are, quite literally, toxic – not just emotionally but environmentally, as well. For women, there is always something to “fix.”

Images: Greg Westfall, Dainis Matisons, Spiralsheep

The post White Sells, and It’s Toxic appeared first on EcoSalon.

In the growing sea of walk-in nail salons, green alternatives are few and far between, but there is still something to celebrate in the mounting crusade for chemical-free cosmetics.

Among the newest bars on the block in the Bay Area: Nova Nail Spa in San Francisco and Isabella Nail Bar in Oakland – both billed as upscale, environmentally healthy environments using strictly non-toxic products.

Nova describes itself as the city’s first true eco nail salon as it was designed using responsible materials, finishes, ventilation, pedicure seats, lighting and flooring. And it only uses non-toxic shades of OPI and Zoya polishes to avoid that “paint shop smell” associated with traditional nail salons.

Among its services is the Organic Paradise mani-pedi featuring an indulgent bath of geranium essential oil and fresh rose petals, finished off with a relaxing ginger body lotion massage. It costs $72 and there, perhaps, lies the rub. Some salon customers would rather pay half that for a quick in-and-out combo at the nail bar down the street.

“Many come to check out what nail products we use and like it because we use the top organic lines like Spa Ritual and we pay higher for this than regular products,” explains Nova owner Kim Tham, who also offers a $48 early bird special to women working near the Mission Street shop near the Moscone Center.

Across the Bay at true-blue Isabella’s, you can spend $58 for a combo, and pamper yourself with a refreshing and aromatic spa treatments. Its web page explains that it was opened with the goal of defying the pungent smell of acrylic products and “tacky” motel-like set-ups of most shops operating today.

The pungent smell they speak of comes from the toxic trio of toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) which safe cosmetic advocates are pressing the $35 million cosmetic industry to phase out of its nail polishes and other products.

Banned in Europe, the chemical compounds that make up phthalates have been linked to cancer, birth defects, chronic asthma and skin disorders, especially form frequent exposure. Adding to the fumes and the dangers are acetone, solvents, glues and disinfectants which also have been linked to health problems. U.S. watchdogs are quick to regulate hygiene to prevent fungal bacterias, as witnessed in California legislation, but slow to regulate the use of the poisons in the products.

Most at risk are Vietnamese immigrants who comprise 80 percent of the more than 90,000 licensed manicurists in California, alone. There are some 250,000 in America, including Korean and Chinese immigrants joining the fast-growing, money-making sector. These hard working, industrious women have carved a successful niche owning and operating salons and don’t want to risk their livelihoods or retaliation from making a stink. Going green offers a way out.

“It really is about changing the mindset of the workers and the customers,” explains Uyen Nguyen, owner of Isabella, which caters to a middle to upper clientele in the Montclair neighborhood and depends largely on referrals. “The mindset is one of being into the earth and good health and recycling and not focusing on making fast money from acrylics.”

That quick buck is what keeps some manicurists from working for Nguyen, even those who have complained their throats and lungs hurt at the end of the day. She keeps nine employees at one time and pays them well, hoping they will grow along with her. Issues over pay and mistreatment in the industry have surfaced lately, including a lawsuit last August on the part of manicurists in Newark, N.J. who alleged their salon employers failed to pay minimum wage and overtime and barred adequate breaks during shifts.

Nguyen says as word gets around about her green concept, more clients are coming from Berkeley and surrounding areas, and that some of her colleagues are now opening healthier salons and duplicating  her formula for success. Meantime, many other manicurists resist change out of fear.

“I know it isn’t healthy but what can I do?” asks Pong, a pretty 38-year-old single mother of two who works at Tower Nails in San Francisco where she does all of the acrylic nail treatments and hot wax hair removal. She immigrated from Can Tho in 1998 and supports her parents who live with her and her school aged children.

She is right to wonder what she can do, since the burden should really lie with the manufacturers who sell wholesale to the salons which often pay high rent to stay in business. To make a profit, women like Pong work long, hard hours, often six or seven days a week, sharing tips, eating quick lunches in the poorly ventilated rooms between services.

Since Vietnamese manicurists continue to use the hazardous products and don’t advocate for themselves, agencies like  the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative are working to advance an environmental health agenda for the nail salon sector in the state. Fiscally supported by Asian Health Services, an Oakland-based community health clinic, it reaches out to non-English speaking workers who are at a great disadvantage when it comes to accessing and understanding information on chemical dangers.

“One of the things we’re doing is compiling lists of the companies that have removed the toxic trio from their polishes, base and top coats,” explains Julia Liou, the director of program planning and development. “OPI, Zoya, Sally Hansen and the water-based Acquarella are a few that have committed to healthy change, but you have to research them since sometimes, they only take toxins out of seasonal shades.”

While advocates try to inform Asian women of the health risks,  consumers also need to brush up on chemical exposure, and to take a stand against the cosmetic industry with their pocketbooks. They can tell their neighborhood salons they prefer they buy the healthier brands, and start frequenting the emerging green nail bars, many of which are run by Asian women.

“Owners need to offer alternatives and the market needs to dictate the eco concept,” insists Nguyen. “This is how the healthy nail salon will become a trend.”

A Green Salon Near You

• Chi Organic Nail Spa, Beverly Hills, CA
• Evolution Green Room Salon, Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Honey Nail Salon, Atlanta, GA
• Julep Nail Parlor, Seattle, WA
• Priti Organic Spa, New York City
• Pure Nails, Austin, TX

Images: quinn.anya, Nova Nail Spa, Isabella Nail Bar, Luanne Bradley

The post Will Green Salons Nail the Problem of Dangerous Exposure? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Besides being impossibly adorable, this painted enamel adaptation of the Asian field worker’s tacked lunch box is the ideal container for a dieter on the go.

I received one as a gift from my boss over a cup of Joe and a lesson on social networking. She said, “Here, take this and have fun with it. Maybe your kids can use it.”

Maybe, not! I’m not about to let them have another cool gift of mine so they can abandon it on the blacktop, allowing the contents to rot over the course of several months or convert it into a Barbie submarine bath toy.

Noooo. I’m going to pack healthy snacks in the tiered compartments because every dieter knows, failing to plan is planning to fail. If you don’t have those chopped organic veggies and fruits handy, you reach for the so-called protein bars (a.k.a. candy) or bagels (six points).

I know this sounds a bit crazy (’cause I am) but I even take it downstairs into the basement with me while I write so that I can keep nose to keyboard and not have to flee every time I get a craving for a chunk of jicama. I’ve also taken it with me when I have to drive a distance and get lots of looks from people who see me toting it. “That lady is stacked,” they’re thinking, and I like the fact they envy what I got on me, you know what I mean?

The best news is my bento is yet another way to eliminate throw-away bags and plastic and is awfully stylish compared to many of the reusable lunch containers made for work and school. It doesn’t leak and is dishwasher safe, too, for those who are sticklers about sanitation – and you should be.

And guess what? VivaTerra is even offering to give away this ultra-cool lunch box for you EcoSalon readers. Just post a comment on how you think you would use it to be entered to win one of your own!

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