The Ugly Side Of Beauty Industry

That shimmer in your highlight? that glow you got in your bronzer? That sparkly thing in your lipstick? That probably has a death attached to it.

MICA

Mica is a common ingredient found in cosmetics, it adds glitter in various cosmetics including lipsticks, bronzer, highlighter, eyeshadows and even some toothpastes basically anything that has glitter particles, is definitely MICA. There are ethical concerns attached with cosmetics containing Mica because often its child labour that goes into making your cosmetics.

Jharkhand, India, while being rich in a number of minerals, has the largest deposits of Mica in the world. Most of the Mica used by the beauty industry comes from this state. Giridih and Koderma districts in Jharkhand are the most prominent suppliers of Mica in the world, probably that’s why these states are the called the Mica capitals of India.

The economic conditions of people living near this area, with majority living below the poverty line, leaves them with no option but to pick Mica from mines to earn a living. Parents cannot afford sending their kids to school and this results in children as young as 5 working in these mines, without protective gear, tirelessly around the year. What’s surprising is that cosmetic companies have always been aware of the fact that this Mica comes from the hands of little children and yet they never took any action against their suppliers.

what the law says

“The Child and Adolescent Labour(Prohibition and Regulation)Act of 1986: A "Child" is defined as any person below the age of 14 and the CLPR Act prohibits employment of a Child in any employment including as a domestic help (except helping own family in non-hazardous occupations).”

The law forbids child labour but then again, who has ever followed laws in India?

Dutch campaign group SOMO estimates up to 20,000 children are involved in mica mining in Jharkhand and Bihar. These mines have led to the death of several children. The mines are unregulated, large pieces of rocks fall on these children and prove to be fatal.

“They said it took almost a day to dig out his body after the mine collapsed. They cremated him without telling me. I didn’t even see my boy before they set him alight." Says the father of a young boy who died in these mines.

The silver lining-

Nobel laureate, Kailash Satyarthi’s organisation has been working towards the betterment of these children’s lives

In Refinery29’s video dated May 4, 2019, the crude reality of irresponsible government agencies was exposed. The official to whom the host, Lexy Lebsack spoke to was seemingly unaware that children are involved in Mica mining.

But hey you won’t find this video on the Trending page of youtube, because people care more about James Charles controversy than the death of young children.