While beauty products technically fall under the jurisdiction of the FDA, the FDA's legal authority over cosmetics is different from other products regulated by the agency, such as drugs, biologics, and medical devices. Cosmetic products and ingredients are not subject to FDA premarket approval authority, with the exception of color additives.

In fact, the only people responsible for substantiating the safety of products and ingredients before marketing are the cosmetics firms themselves.

Not scared yet?

We’ve rounded up a few other frightening facts about today’s cosmetics industry.