The Make up of your Makeup
By Mily Gu
The Make up of your Makeup
MICA
The ingredient that is known for its shimmery glow doesn’t have such a bright history after all.
Imagine a dusty terrain with piles of dirt, the hot sun glaring onto the ground and no water to be seen. Large pits in the ground are dug out and are as dark as night, with no safety equipment in sight, the only way in, down the rocks.
Then from the lifeless terrain, the head of a small child as young as the age of 5 emerges, with a face full of fear.
Mica, a naturally occurring group of silicate minerals is not only loved for its flexibility, infusibility and thermal conductivity, it is also loved for its ability to sparkle once ground up. Mica is used in a diverse range of products. ‘It is used across numerous industries in anything from car paints, inks, edible glitters to cosmetics,’ says Amy Shepherd, a writer from Lush. Despite the frequent occurrence of mica in our daily lives, the majority of the population is unaware of the mineral at all and are even more blind to the way it has ended up in our lives.
Natural mica has no issues surrounding it whatsoever, however, the ethical issues that surround it are primarily associated with the methods of sourcing. Due to Child labour, mica is under the spotlight for a reason that has been successfully concealed by the industry for many years already. Children living in the Jharkand region in India are prime targets of child labour due to their poverty-stricken surroundings. The children that are exposed to the laborious job of mining for mica, often have no other choice. The ongoing cycle of poverty leaves families living in areas of poverty constantly exposed to the threats of exploitation. Child labour is illegal, and that’s why exact figures of how many children mining mica are almost impossible to find. Many illegal mining companies are aware of the consequences that they will face if they are caught, but this does not stop them one bit, as the money is too good to refuse. Instead, they do anything to cover their tracks. Often, the mica mined by children is put under a legal company’s name when it is exported to first world countries, making it difficult in tracing the true origins of the material.
Children working in the mines are not only exposed to dangerous working conditions, but they also risk their lives every day and sacrifice education to help support their parents. The mines are often very deep, and the only way to get in and out is by climbing. Not only this, but the mines are also susceptible to caving in, already taking the lives of many young children. ‘It is estimated that 5-10 children die each month in mica mines, alongside even more adults,’ according to Francesca Willow, founder of the Ethical Unicorn, a blog that aims to take a holistic, fact-based approach to sustainable living and social justice. Working in the mines also puts the children at risk of snake and scorpion bites, cuts, skin infections and more. What goes undetected are the respiratory illnesses that arise from long term inhalation of mica. Respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis, silicosis and asthma are just a few of the types of respiratory illnesses that these children suffer, with no medication or cure insight; these illnesses stay with the children for the rest of their lives.
Mica Panel
Despite all this bad news, some large cosmetic companies are doing their part in improving the situation relating to illegal child mica mining. Since 2012, Lush started sourcing natural mica from a supplier that was working with a local NGO called BBA (Save the Childhood Foundation), which worked with villages to accomplish ‘child-friendly villages.’ Unfortunately, ‘the company could no longer offer the same external, third party auditing or verification.’ So Lush, a brand built on ethical sourcing, had to do something about this. In 2014, Lush began working to replace all ingredients containing natural mica with a synthetic mica that they had created themselves. The synthetic mica not only has a more ethical background, ‘it is also much brighter in colour and because it’s synthesised in a lab it is very pure in quality,’ says Lush Creative Buyer, Gabbi Loedolff.
The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation is a global thought leader for prevention of exploitation and violence against children. They have created ‘Child-Friendly Villages,’ which work in collaboration with large cosmetic industry Estee Lauder to ‘connect parents to new income streams so that their children don’t have to work.’ (The Dark Secret Behind Your Favorite Makeup Products, Refinery29) ‘More than 3000 children have been rescued and have been enrolled in school,’ says Kailash Satyarthi. These ‘Child-Friendly Villages’ bring hope for the 40.3 million children still in forced child labour, with a mission to get 500 children in the Jharkhand region of India into schools and giving them an opportunity for a bright future.
Another large issue yet to be tackled is the lack of awareness about ethical mica mining. In a survey I conducted, only 17% of teenagers had heard of mica, and only 9% of those actually knew how it was sourced. The lack of awareness makes it harder for organizations like the Kailash Satyarthi Foundation to get donations to help children exploited in child labour. Increasing the awareness about this issue will ‘pressure large companies to follow in the steps of larger companies that are gradually shifting from mica to other substances/minerals’ says Tiffany Fan, a year 10 student.
The next best thing for society to do it to learn, learn more about what goes into your products. Being aware, being aware of how they are sourced and how you can source more ethically. Helping, whether it’s directly donating or boycotting products that contain unethically sourced mica. Teaching, spreading awareness to others and teaching others how to source ethically. There is always something you can do.