It’s finally here—the much anticipated, latest video from The Story of Stuff pioneer Annie Leonard, The Story of Cosmetics! In conjunction with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, The Story of Cosmetics tells the tale of the toxins in our personal care products—from shampoos to sun block to baby products. It also explains the damage that these ingredients cause—not just the health effects like cancer and reproductive problems in the people who use them, but also to the environment and the people who produce them. Like The Story of Stuff, this film is very brief and portrayed in the same entertaining, animated way.

Most products, we learn, contains 12 or more chemicals—less than 20% of which have been tested for safety. The chemicals in many of our products—even the baby ones—can cause asthma, learning disabilities, cancers, and many other health problems. And given that the average man uses 6 personal care products a day—and the average woman doubles that—we’re putting a lot of crap into our bodies. Though the industries that perpetuate the use of these chemicals argue that there are only trace amounts in our products, they all add up together to create damage. As Leonard says, that they are there at all is a problem.

The scary thing is, we are being born with high levels of these toxins—carcinogens, neurotoxins, and other harmful chemicals—in our bodies as babies. Lead, flame retardants, and a truckload of other pollutants are in the bodies of most parents, who pass these chemicals to their children in utero. Most products we have to choose from have some of these harmful chemicals in them—from lead in lipstick to oil in hair care products. In fact, products that are labeled as natural and organic do not have to be, since there is no legal definition for these words in terms of cosmetics. So when we buy things we think are good for us—such as Herbal Essences shampoo, which Leonard explains is full of toxic substances—we’re often really not doing what we think we are. We have to learn to read our product labels to truly understand what is in what we are buying. But even that won’t help us with all of our products.

Though dozens of these ingredients are outlawed in other countries, there are no laws to protect U.S. citizens from the poisons. In fact, the U.S. has only banned 8 chemicals out of over 12,000 ingredients in personal care products since 1938. Though these chemicals are linked to so many dangers, the FDA does not regulate cosmetics, leaving citizens at the mercy of companies and whatever they want to sell to us. As such, we don’t even get to read about what’s in our products, since most ingredients aren’t listed on labels.

Leonard also discusses the harm in hair relaxers, skin whitening products, and other products, as well as how products “pinkwash” their merchandise. The harms of working in nail and hair salons and factories that produce these chemicals are also touched upon. Leonard also provides essential resources and ways to solve the problem—especially in passing laws to mandate safe chemicals in our products. Check out The Story of Cosmetics for the full story—and to take action.