Worried about toxic make-up? There's an app for that

Read the Label, from Filipino beauty brand Human Nature, is a mobile application for iOS and Android users intended to be an instant reference guide for makeup shoppers on-the-go. The application is a simple, no-frills accessory for those women who would like to know just how safe for consumption ingredients in their personal care products are. The Read the Label app was made in support of an ongoing campaign of the same name that advocates the use of beauty products without synthetic chemicals linked to cancer, hormonal disruption, and other health problems. Over 26,000 entries The app's main offering, a dictionary of over 26,000 chemical ingredients that may be found in cosmetic products, retrieves information from the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) cosmetics database at http://www.ewg.org/skindeep. Entries are alphabetically listed next to symbols indicating their corresponding toxicity levels (i.e. heart for "safe"; green for "low risk"; yellow for "medium risk", and skull and crossbones for "high risk"). Users of the app may look up for specific ingredients by typing into the search bar or by scrolling through the list. Clicking on an entry again displays its toxicity rating and a link to the ingredient's page on the Environmental Working Group's website, which opens using the device's internet browser. The EWG page presents the health concerns associated with the ingredient, the types of products where the ingredient is usually found, as well as the references the EWG used as basis for classification and safety ratings. Among the references used by EWG are the US National Library of Medicine, Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics, and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review. Stripped down to essentials Read the Label comes in handy as a quick reference guide that strips away most of the scientific terms and technical jargon found on the EWG page. Instead, the app focuses on what the makeup lover might most need to know while shopping —that is, whether an ingredient contained in a personal care product is safe enough for consumption. The ingredients dictionary is the only in-app feature in Read the Label whose content is available for offline use. This works to an advantage, considering not all mobile users who may have this app installed in their devices have internet access on the go. Also available on the app's homepage are links to Read the Label's website and social media. All links open using the device's default browser. This means that users who want to know more about, and stay updated with, the Human Nature brand may find the app of limited use unless they are constantly connected to the Internet. On the other hand, it's a good sign that Human Nature came out with an app that's more focused on educating consumers about the toxicity of common cosmetic products. As useful as you make it Ultimately, the Read the Label app is only as useful as its user makes it out to be. While it's designed to be as easy to use as possible, this is only true if you're comfortable doing your cosmetics shopping while cross-checking your smartphone every so often. The app would definitely serve its purpose if makeup shoppers actually remember to flip out their mobile phones while checking out beauty products to purchase. — TJD, GMA News