In addition to working as a data analyst at the Department of Energy by day and taking classes at GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health by night, Environmental Health Science and Policy MPH Student Yasmin Termeh is a beauty entrepreneur.
Termeh’s interest in how beauty products are formulated and how to ensure that they are safe is what led her to the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH). Investigative reports by non-governmental organizations and the FDA have documented the presence of disturbing toxic chemicals, including lead and mercury, in some beauty products. Limitations in U.S. labeling requirements can make it hard to know what is included in products for sale commercially, she says.
“I haven’t used manufactured products for years,” says Termeh, who credits her glowing complexion to her homegrown formulas. As an undergraduate freshman, she began researching ways to use natural products in place of manufactured offerings for her own personal use.
By last year, Termeh had her own beauty and lifestyle e-commerce business up and running. Her goal was to offer products that used natural substances in place of manufactured chemicals. As she become more familiar with what was available, she learned about “little things here and there that I didn’t like.” This led her to begin experimenting with formulating her own skincare products for others’ use.
All of Termeh’s formulations use natural botanical ingredients that are as unprocessed as possible. “I want to show people that you can use substances from nature and that they actually work. You don’t have to put all of this waste into the environment and put chemicals on your face,” she says. She’s currently working on how to bottle her offerings, which she is planning to sell under the name Carmela, which means garden or orchard in Latin. She already has her website up and running.
Most of the products in Termeh’s initial line are oils. An example is a hair oil that is intended to sit on the hair for a half-hour prior to when it is washed so that it penetrates the hair follicle. She also has a lip balm made from hibiscus and pomegranate, as well as a face scrub. Products in the works include a candle and a fragrance.
Termeh studied environmental policy as an undergraduate, and she was drawn to environmental and occupational public health as a way to gain knowledge to help her as a beauty formulator and entrepreneur.
Insights from epidemiology
What Termeh has learned in the epidemiology class she is taking this term suggests to her that more studies should be conducted to investigate how being exposed to toxics in beauty products may impact people. She says she appreciates what she has learned about the precautionary principle that inspires EU countries to avoid using chemicals that could prove hazardous.
Because the tests needed to show that chemicals can be hazardous can take years to conduct, Termeh is taking a precautionary approach in creating her beauty formulations. She is also painstakingly investigating how the substances used in her products are created, such as how botanical oils are extracted from plants. Byproducts can be generated from some approaches; others may impact the quality of the resulting oil, she explains.
“A lot of people think that business and public health can’t go hand-in-hand, but I disagree. An important way that we can protect consumers is through businesses that respond to people’s interest in safer products,” Termeh says.