Every time a person wears makeup, hundreds of unnatural and processed ingredients enter one's skin through cosmetics. Chemicals and ingredients such as sodium lauryl sulfate, propylene glycol and unnatural colors are not only harsh on the skin, but also unnatural, and the containers cosmetics come in are often not recyclable.

According to National Geographic's Green Guide, the Food and Drug Administration "puts the onus on manufacturers to ensure their products are safe, stepping in only when consumers complain of adverse reactions." The labels "hypoallergenic" and "all natural" are not regulated terms.

In lip products, consumers should watch for petroleum, a non-renewable resource, and benzophenone and phenol, which can disrupt hormones and cause diarrhea, respectively.

Foundations can contain paraben and formaldehyde-based preservatives, both of which can irritate skin. Eye cosmetics can contain more petroleum-based ingredients and the mercury-based thimerasol.

For people looking to switch to green cosmetics — products that are friendly to humans, animals and the environment — there are lots of choices. The following brands are everywhere, from your favorite department store to the mall to the local drugstore.

The Body Shop

Part of The Body Shop's Made with Passion slogan is to "protect our planet," their international Web site says.

"We don't put the chemical backgrounds in them," said Diane Rouse, the store manager at Northgate's The Body Shop.

Additionally, The Body Shop's values include animal and human rights.

Its natural ingredients include community trade shea butter, organic beeswax and wild-harvested seaweed.

"All of our packaging is recyclable," Rouse said. "Mostly, all of the paper packaging is made up out of crushed-up boxes, and then we just recycle them. If anything is discarded, it goes back through the same recycle process again."

The company's goal is to become carbon neutral by 2010, according to the Web site.

Writer's pick:

Body Butter

www.thebodyshop.com/bodyshop/browse/sub_category.jsp?cm_re=default-_-Navigation-_-Body-Body_Butter&categoryId=cat20065

Lush

Lush's key word is fresh.

"We believe in making effective products out of fresh organic fruit[s] and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics, without animal testing, and in writing the quantitative lists on the outside," Lush's official USA Web site says.

The majority of its products are vegan, and Lush offers many solid products such as solid shampoos to save on packaging.

The downside: Because the products are fresh and free of preservatives, they have a short shelf life.

Writer's pick:

Butterball Bath Bomb

usa.lush.com/cgi-bin/lushdb/12?expand=Bath

Burt's Bees

Burt's Bees brings Earth-friendly cosmetics close to home by distributing to local drugs stores.

Burt's Bees prides itself on omitting harsh ingredients such as petroleum and artificial colors and includes a "natural bar" on all its products.

"This bar discloses exactly how natural that specific product is," Burt's Bees Web site states.

Burt's is best known for its beeswax lip balm, which is made of lanolin, almond oil and beeswax.

"I liked it because they use all-natural ingredients," junior Maria Nicholson said. "It's important to me that they're Earth-friendly."

Writer's pick:

Beeswax Lip Balm

www.burtsbees.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10751&storeId=10101&productId=16459&langId=-1&categoryId=&showSubCategory=yes

Stella McCartney CARE

Skincare line

Designer Stella McCartney's first venture into skin care is CARE, a line of pre-organic, natural ingredients.

McCartney is an outspoken advocate for the environment and ethical cosmetic products. Her skincare line features cleansers, toners and moisturizers with ingredients such as hawthorn and horsetail.

Writer's pick:

Discovery Set

www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P175100&categoryId=C1590