Glow up on cosmetic safety

Transcript

Transcript

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Megan Beahen: Hi and welcome to Healthy Canadians, your space for nuanced conversations and expert insights about the health topics that matter to all of us. I'm your host, Megan Beahen. If you're a skincare or makeup girly like me, this conversation is for you.

Today I'm talking to Nibal Saikali, Senior Regulatory Policy and Risk Management Advisor at Health Canada. She's helping to keep our cosmetics safe in Canada. She's going to provide us with tips on purchasing products, how to read labels, what ingredients to look out for, and what to do if you have a problem with a product.

Although Healthy Canadians is brought to you by Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, what we discuss won't always reflect the official positions or policies of the Government of Canada. But that's Okay. These are conversations, not news releases.

Okay, let's talk about cosmetic safety.

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Megan: Hi Nibal. Welcome to Healthy Canadians. Thanks for joining us today.

Nibal Saikali: Thank you. It's my pleasure to be here.

Megan: So today we're talking about cosmetic safety, and I am super excited about this episode. I've been calling it the ‘makeup episode’ because I'm a huge makeup tutorial fan, I love Get Ready With Me videos, I also turned 40 semi-recently so I'm, like, super into all these products. But cosmetics are way bigger than just makeup. What are cosmetics?

Nibal: So, cosmetics are products that clean your skin or improve the skin texture, or they can change it. So, for example, the soap you use to wash your hands, the shampoo you use for your hair, the facial cleansers. These are cosmetics. There's also the makeup which everybody knows that these are cosmetics. There's also your nail polish, your hair dye. So, these are all cosmetics.

Megan: Okay, so things that you use on the outside. They're not things that you ingest.

Nibal: Absolutely. So, cosmetics are not to be ingested. They work superficially on your skin or hair. There's a slight exception which is tattoo inks, and these go, like, slightly below your first layer of skin but these are very specific products.

Megan: Okay cool.

Nibal: Very specific types of cosmetics.

Megan: Okay. So today we're going to talk about buying these products, using these products. We're going to get into some tips and some myths for people, and we're also going to talk about the system that keeps them safe. But the good news up front is that we can rest assured cosmetics are very safe in Canada, right?

Nibal: Of course. Canada has some of the strictest regulations for cosmetics in the world. We review when a company wants to sell a cosmetic in Canada, they have to tell Health Canada about this cosmetic. They send us a form with the ingredients of this product, and we have labeling requirements to make sure people are safe when using it. So, with all these requirements, cosmetics in Canada are safe.

Megan: Okay. We're not looking at whether they work well, or do what they say they do, right?

Nibal: Yes, so for cosmetics, it's a matter of safety. We're not looking for efficacy. So, Health Canada's job is to make sure cosmetics that are sold in the market are safe. But if you're looking for efficacy, you're going to want to get into, you're going to want to see a natural health product number which is an “NPN” number or a drug number which is “DIN”.

So, these products tell you that... these numbers tell you that this product has an effect, and this effect has been validated by Health Canada. So, if you're looking for something to treat... a therapeutic... that's going to treat a skin condition or like if you're looking for sunscreen, you're going to want to see those numbers there to make sure it works.

Megan: And what is your job, what is your role at Health Canada?

Nibal: So, I work in Health Canada, in consumer product safety and my main file is cosmetics.

Megan: Okay cool. I think people are going to be really jazzed about this episode because there's lots of people like me, and I think maybe like you, who are makeup and skincare enthusiasts, and I know there's lots of data out there about how much people have been buying makeup, skincare, other related cosmetics. One stat I have here in front of me is that beauty and skincare sales rose by 18% in Canada in 2023. That is huge. Like, what a humongous industry, right?

And you know, and I'll speak from my own experience as a consumer and enthusiast, that there is so much information out there now about makeup, skincare, cosmetics, especially on social media. If you're on social media-even if you're not-you walk into a store, there is so much information from a marketing perspective and particularly around, like, ingredients, right, and so I will say that I find it, like, a bit, even with all the information and tutorials, it can be really overwhelming for someone to buy a product and know is it safe? Does it work? Is this the right product for me? So, and your job is not to decide whether it's the right product for you, but I was thinking it would be helpful if we sort of walk through, like, what a shopping experience is and what someone should be looking for.

Nibal: Social media has, like, exploded, I feel, like, the cosmetic market and there's so many options now compared to, like, 20 years ago.

Megan: Yeah, seems like it.

Nibal: Yeah, we have access to so many more products so it's like... it's hard to decide because you're faced with, like, you know, just for a lipstick there's, like, a lot of options.

Megan: Exactly! So, when you walk into a store or you're, like, online and you're debating between, like, a skin care product or a makeup product, you're picking up a product, like, what do I look for on the product or a label or the marketing?

Nibal: So, the first thing, we want to look at the product label. I know it's obvious but, what is the product doing? So, in our regulations, the product should have a purpose. So, is it a skin wash? It should say what it does. And then usually on the back of it there's a list of ingredients and these are listed from the higher concentration to the lower concentration. So, you can look at those and see what kind of ingredients they're in. If there's ingredients you usually avoid, or you would like to avoid, you can check those ingredients and make an informed decision. And also, cosmetics must have avoidable hazards. So, they should have on the label some directions of how to use it safely and properly and some warning statements which you usually see on... you’ve probably seen already on a lot of products.

Megan: Are there any ingredients that I should automatically pay attention to or is that kind of just based on my own individual like allergies?

Nibal: Exactly. So, what works for you basically might not work for someone else. So, it's going to differ a lot from one person to the other. Some of us have more sensitive skin, some of us have different skin needs or conditions. So based on that I think everybody can look at the label and make that informed decision for themselves, and if you're not sure you can always check with your health practitioner or dermatologist to make those informed decisions.

Megan: And right away I know if I'm buying this product in Canada that I should right away feel safe about it right? Like there's no labels I need to pay attention to say like, okay, this is Health Canada reviewed, approved?

Nibal: No for cosmetics we're not really doing an approval system because basically it's a post market system. So, the company just has to tell us that “I'm putting this product on the market”. They send us information about the product which we have, and we follow a risk-based approach so if we have reason to think that this product might cause some... has a risk or it might cause harm we will follow up and take some action on that and the compliance action.

Megan: Okay. That makes sense. What about following directions? How important is that?

Nibal: Very important. I cannot stress this enough.

Megan: It seems obvious but, honestly, when I thought about it, like there are certain products that you really want to... I mean, okay, all products we should follow the directions... but there's certain... you could have like a a not great outcome, right, if you didn't?

Nibal: Yes if you're, let's say, overusing a product with alpha hydroxy acids, you're going to have... if it says use it once or twice a day... once or twice a week, if you're using something like that every day you're going to have a lot of redness, irritation, because these are products that are, like, peeling the top layer of your skin, the dead skin there.

Megan: I think we all have stories of friends we know, of people who have been too enthusiastic about...

Nibal: Yes, yeah you used it the first time it works great, you're like, “yes I'm going to keep using this”.

Megan: More is better, but more is not always better. Follow the directions!

Nibal: Follow the directions. And also for hair dyes for example, there's a step... there are steps to follow there so it's important, you know, open the pamphlet, read the steps and sometimes now there's, like, videos where the company sends you to, like, to follow the video so it's easier for those of us that don't like to read long paragraphs.

Megan: Yeah, for sure and what about doing a patch test? Is that something you'd recommend?

Nibal: This is something you... probably a lot of us have seen with hair dye. So doing a patch test... and this is something that's very important to do when it's a new product, so to avoid having a full-blown reaction when you apply a lot of the product at the same time.

Megan: So maybe you can just walk us through, how do you do a patch test?

Nibal: So, you can start with washing the area. Choose a small area like the inside of your arm or behind your ear. Wash it with soap and water, apply a bit of the product on there and you can... you wait 24 hours, and after 24 hours, if you notice there's redness, there's irritation or some blistering where you apply the product then you know that you shouldn't be using it and if it's okay, then that tells you that you're not going to be sensitive to ingredients in that product.

Megan: And do you recommend doing that for all products? Like, I'm going to be honest: I'll do it for like certain products that I know have certain ingredients, but, I probably wouldn't do it for a lipstick. 

Nibal: Yes, it's going to also differ from one person to the other. Some of us are more sensitive. So, if you know yourself that you're more likely to have reactions, it's probably a good idea to try it for every product. But again, it's a personal preference, yeah.

Megan: So, Health Canada has a reporting system, and I know that's one of the ways that we help ensure cosmetic safety. How do I know, let's say I do a patch test, and I have a reaction to it, how do I know it's either because I have very sensitive skin (which I do) or it's actually a problem with the product? Like, how do I know whether to report it to you or not?

Nibal: I think when in doubt, report.

Megan: Okay.

Nibal: Yeah, we want to hear from you. We want to hear from you, and this helps us make decisions if we're getting a lot of basically reports about a certain ingredient, we will follow up with the company, see what's, you know, what's causing those reactions.

Megan: Okay.

Nibal: So, yeah, it's online, there's a Consumer Incident Report Form. It's easy to follow, you give some information about the product, if you want to take pictures of the product, where you purchased it from... That helps us a lot for follow-up and if you want to take a picture of the irritation that also kind of gives us something to follow up with. And there's actual people that we work with, they receive these incident reports. We follow up with the companies so it's important. I know it's not... nobody thinks about it usually. And there's also another thing you can do. There's on the cosmetic usually there's a place where you can follow up with the company.

Megan: Okay.

Nibal: And this is something you can also do, where you can reach out to them and say what happened to you when you use the... all cosmetics are obliged to have contact information for consumers to be able to reach the company.

Megan: Okay.

Nibal: So yes, I would very much encourage you to reach out to Health Canada, fill out the Consumer Incident Report Form and we will be happy to follow up and see, you know, if there's something we can do about that product.

Megan: That's very cool. I totally agree. I feel like it's not like super intuitive if you have a reaction to something to think “I need to report this to the company or even to Health Canada”, so we'll drop the link in the show notes for that report. You know what my instinct is? To go on the website where I bought the makeup and leave a review.

Nibal: A bad, one-star review.

Megan: Or yeah, or a bad review, or just, like, a review for other people, because that is such, like, the system of makeup now right. Is that, like, you're helping other people by describing your own experience. So put that on your checklist: if you're leaving a review, also let's report it to the company.

Nibal: It doesn't take a lot more time.

Megan: Yeah exactly. So, when we're shopping - we're online or we're in person - I think if you're shopping for cosmetics, you know there are some certain labels that are very common in marketing these days. So, I'm hoping we can go through some of them. My favorite one is “natural”.

Nibal: I love this. I love this topic. Okay. So, and it's because you see it so much now and companies are using a lot of these marketing terms... “natural”, “chemical free” ... for their products and in reality, these are just marketing claims. There's nobody checking if it's natural and also “natural” does not mean it's safer. We have a lot of examples of...

Megan: Yes, talk about that.

Nibal: Yes, like poison ivy, lead is very natural. Do you want that in your skin? Do you want that in your body? For example, the old ways of preparing eyeliner is by grinding minerals and those minerals had lead, and over a a long time of exposure, they led to lead poisoning.

Megan: Wow.

Nibal: So, you know, “natural” is not always safer. Some synthetic chemicals are much more stable and cleaner. They wouldn't have those natural heavy metal impurities for example. So, yeah, take it with a grain of salt: “natural”.

Megan: That's good advice. We're not saying don't buy natural products. We're just saying, like, when you see that label, you can continue to ask a few more questions, right? And we actually did an episode... if I can just plug it... from season two about environmental chemicals. So, if anyone's listening and they want to hear more about chemicals that are around your house or outside, you should listen to that episode too because we get into those details. Okay, here's my other favorite label: “clean”. "Clean” makeup. “Clean” skin care.

Nibal: That's another one where it doesn't mean anything. I think what companies are using it for is, like, to say that this is a sustainable, sustainably sourced or this is... the ingredients are more natural driven and again there's nobody... it could be true but there's nobody, or Health Canada is not verifying those claims because these are more marketing claims.

Megan: Okay. Let's talk about a couple of the ingredient ones that we see commonly. "Paraben-free”.

Nibal: So, parabens... there's... the controversy around them is that they mimic estrogen at certain doses but, and companies have been, you know, using that “paraben-free” and they're used usually as preservatives so they would remove the parabens, replace it with some other preservative, you would hope. Preservatives are very important for cosmetics.

Megan: Yeah, we need preservatives.

Nibal: We'll get into that. So when it's paraben-free, it's probably replaced by another preservative because it's important for the function of the cosmetic to have preservative there. When you use a preservative it's a very small amount and the amount... think of the amount of cosmetic you use at a certain time. So, we don't have too many concerns with the free... it comes down also to a personal choice. If you want to avoid parabens, sure you can look for paraben-free but just know that there's probably another preservative in there.

Megan: Okay. What kind of products have parabens in them generally? All kinds?

Nibal: Yes, it's a very, very, very common preservative.

Megan: So, let's talk about sulfate-free. What are sulfates used for in products?

Nibal: So, sulfates are found in a lot of your soaps, in shampoos, anything that lathers. So, sulfates give you that nice foam that you want, that you think about when you're like using shampoo or soap. And so yeah, it's used a lot and those types of products - even your dish soap has sulfates. It could be an irritant to some people, so a lot of companies are staying away from that to avoid the irritation in people.

Megan: So, is that why they're marketing it, that it's sulfate-free? Because people know that it might irritate their skin? They've already had a previous experience?

Nibal: Exactly, yes.

Megan: Okay. I think the same probably could be said about being talc-free? I brought some products in, and I can see one of the things on my product says talc-free and I do avoid it. I don't know somewhere along my makeup journey I decided that wasn't good for me, but I honestly am not sure why. What is talc?

Nibal: So, talc is a kind of like powder that's used in cosmetics. It's basically... when you think of baby powder, that's talc. So, talc is a bit different. Talc is an irritant to the lungs when it's inhaled. Also, talc has been linked to ovarian cancer. So, products that are used in the female genital area, we should avoid talc in those. And now it's not allowed in Canada. This is a recent update to our Hot List. So, the Hot List now has an entry for talc, and it's prohibited in loose powder products, and it's also prohibited for products that are used in the female genital area.

Megan: You keep mentioning the Hot List, which is a great name for a list, by the way. And when we say it's “hot”, we mean hot in a good way, or in a bad way?

Nibal: In a bad way. A bad “hot’.

Megan: It's not like the “hot” list. It's like uh oh, the hot list.

Nibal: These are products that... these are ingredients that are absolutely... there's two types... absolutely prohibited. They're not allowed in cosmetics. And this is based on reviews and... ingredient reviews.

Megan: Give me an example of something on the Hot List that's, like, completely prohibited.

Nibal: Okay so those are ingredients where there's no safe limit. For example: benzene. There's some colorings like basic violet one or some of those ingredients. There's also ingredients that are prohibited because they're drugs by nature, and they should not be in cosmetics.

Megan: Oh okay.

Nibal: Like some estrogen products, some for example like testosterone products. Like, they should not be in cosmetics, so they're prohibited just because they have some drug effects. 

Megan: So, does the Hot List also have ingredients that are allowed but only at a certain level?

Nibal: Yes, so these are the restricted ones and for example I'm going to tell you... is we talked about talc a little bit, but another one that's very common is formaldehyde.

Megan: Yes, I just learned about formaldehyde at my hair salon the other day. I was shocked to know that that is a possible ingredient.

Nibal: Yes, so that's another one where it's safe in certain amounts... in certain conditions. So, it should not be inhaled. The danger with formaldehyde is when you inhale it. And for a while, awhile back it was used in salons for hair straightening.

Megan: Yes.

Nibal: And we were getting a lot of those incident reports. So, we're getting back to incident reports. So incident reports from people who were straightening their hair and then they were smelling the fumes from formaldehyde, and you know they were getting irritated and weren't feeling well. So, because of those incident reports we were able to look into formaldehyde and it was prohibited for use in those hair... in hair products when it's heated. However, t's still allowed in other... in very small quantities in other products because it's used as a... sometimes as a preservative or for other functions. So, when it's not subject to those... for hair and heated, it's allowed and it's okay.

Megan: Okay. I love that example because, one, it shows, like, a real way of, like, how the reporting system actually changed something, right? Like, in real life. And also, it's sort of an example of how you can have an emotional reaction to a chemical.

So, I'm at the hair salon. My hair stylist was telling me this exact sort of scenario where they used to use it in straightening products. And I was, like, shocked about it. I was like, formaldehyde? Why would you put that on your hair? For some reason in my mind, you know, it sounds dangerous, right? But it's actually not, right?

Nibal: It's very common. There’s formaldehyde in everything.

Megan: Right. And so, chemicals are not... we've talked about this before on the podcast... are not always, like, good or bad, or black or white, right? It's, like, there can be a small amount and it's totally cool and totally safe.

Nibal: Exactly. It's the dose that makes the poison. It's the route of exposure. And these are things we look at for every chemical. There's a very in-depth assessment happening about the amounts that are available in cosmetics, the routes of exposure, the toxicology and all that. So, for every ingredient that's on the Hot List there's those principles behind it for the restrictions or the prohibitions.

Megan: That's so cool! So, if I'm a person who wants to be really informed about what ingredients are in my products, I can go to the Hot List myself, right? Like, I can go to canada.ca and look it up?

Nibal: Absolutely it's available the... you can say “cosmetic ingredient Hot List” on Google and it'll take you there, and you can see the list of ingredients. I think there's around 500 that are prohibited or restricted in Canada. And every year there's new stuff that comes out.

Megan: Okay awesome. Okay so we talked a lot about buying products within Canada. There is, I would say, a trend about buying products outside of Canada as well now. So, there's the K-Beauty trend, there are lots of people on social media promoting getting products in Europe as well, because you can get different stuff there, and I have personally done that. But what is, you know, the things you need to be aware of if you're buying products that are not within Canada?

Nibal: The thing to keep in mind, though, when you’re shopping from an international website, or buying stuff internationally, is that every place has different regulations and some of them might not be as stringent as Canada. So, keep that in mind. If the product’s available, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily safer. And also, if you want to do follow-up later with the company or with Health Canada, if this is something that's not available here, we might not be able to do that proper follow-up on it.

Megan: Okay. Okay.

Nibal: So, it's something to keep in mind when you're buying things internationally.

Megan: Okay so we're not saying don't do it...

Nibal: Keep in mind the risk, keep in mind the regulations in that country and make an informed decision. 

Megan: Okay. Cool. Okay I have some questions about skincare, makeup, cosmetic sort of tips. These are questions that I see a lot online and that I have for myself. Okay, storing products. I'll admit I have an eyeshadow palette from, like, 2015.

Nibal: Guilty. Guilty.

Megan: Good or bad?

Nibal: So, yeah, when you think of your cosmetics and where they're sitting, most of us have our cosmetics in the washroom and this is a damp and wet place, and humid. So those are conditions where bacteria can grow. And so, it's important to store them in a safe... in a dry place where, you know, we kind of lessen those chances of, like, mold or bacteria growing in it.

Megan: That's a good tip.

Nibal: And this is why preservatives are important, too.

Megan: That's why we need preservatives: so, you can still use your palette from 2015.

[Laughter]

Nibal: Yes. So, storing them, also when you're putting them on, make sure your hands are clean so you can avoid that cross contamination cuz, you know, you never know where your hands were.

Megan: And brushes?

Nibal: And brushes, cleaning them. Yes, I did this this summer actually.

Megan: One time?

[Laughter]

Nibal: Yes, I cleaned up my makeup brushes and the stuff that came out...

Megan: I know, it's pretty scary. Makes you want to do it more often, right?

Nibal: That's also how you can avoid the breakouts and stuff because if you're, you know, using cleaner palettes and your brushes are clean it's...

Megan: Yeah. Okay so keep it in a dry place... 

Nibal: Clean your brushes, wash your hands before. Another thing is... for sharing makeup. I know some of us like...

Megan: I love sharing makeup.

[Laughter]

Nibal: Sometimes, you know, I go to my sisters’, you know, and she’s like, “oh can I try that”?

Megan: Yeah, it's part of the experience.

Nibal: Yes, yes, but there's also risks that come with sharing makeup or with buying makeup from... secondhand. We see, like, those secondhand...

Megan: Yeah websites.

Nibal: Websites. Where it's like, you know... or buy nothing. Because you don't know how the product was stored and who, you know, what went into it, so there's kind of... there's risks that are present when you're using makeup or sharing makeup. So just to be aware of those risks. And when you're in doubt just don't do it.

And also, if you look at your makeup and you notice like, you know, it’s changed texture, it’s changed color, it's separating maybe sometimes it could have gone bad. They do go bad and it's better not to use it.

Megan: Just toss it?

Nibal: Toss it. Especially if something you've had from...

Megan: 2015. If it still looks good, though...

Nibal: If it has a smell or it changed texture, it's better to toss it.

Megan: Okay. Those are great tips. I think people honestly are really going to take away and they're going to use them. I would love to know before we close: what brought you to this work?

Nibal: Yeah, that's a great question. I'm, well since I'm a girl! I know I've been fascinated with makeup and, you know, all the trends and fashion and all that so I studied... my background’s in organic chemistry so that kind of lead me into working with chemicals. And I started working with cosmetics and within the regulatory aspect of it and I love it. Like I feel like I enjoy my job so much and I also enjoy that, and I appreciate that, I'm working to keep Canadians safe. And I have a great team with me that also is very committed to the safety of Canadians. And so yeah, it's been such a pleasure being on this file and I really enjoy it and will hopefully continue as much as I can.

Megan: That's so cool. I can tell you're very passionate about it. Okay, last question, and this is the most important one: What is your stranded on a desert island product you couldn't live without? It's a personal question. You can take a moment to think about it.

Nibal: It's not a cosmetic but it's sunscreen.

Megan: Sunscreen! Good answer from Health Canada. I totally agree. Not a cosmetic.

Nibal: Not a cosmetic.

Megan: But even more important.

Nibal: Yes, it's important to put on sunscreen. If I were to have a second, it's just a cosmetic item, I would have my eyeliner cuz it makes me feel confident and I like putting eyeliner on.

[Laughter]

Megan: Yes, I love that. Nibal thank you so much for joining us today. It has been an absolute pleasure chatting with you.

Nibal: Pleasure is all mine and I'm so happy to be here. Thank you very much.

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Megan: Thanks for tuning in to Healthy Canadians. If you're watching on YouTube, don’t forget to click the like button below and subscribe to stay up to date on future episodes. Find us wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review if you like what you’ve heard. For more information on the health topics that matter to you, visit canada.ca/health.

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Learn more

• Cosmetic safety - Canada.ca
• Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist: Prohibited and Restricted Ingredients - Canada.ca
• Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist - Canada.ca
• Report an incident involving a consumer product or cosmetic: overview - Canada.ca
• Find recalls, advisories and safety alerts - Canada.ca

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