Beauty Schooled

The Pretty Price Check: Your Friday round-up of how much we paid for beauty last week.

$300: The value of the grab bag you could win if American Apparel decides you have the Best Bottom in the World. (Via The Cut.) Or here’s a better idea: Join the just-launched American Apparel Girlcott by sending Dov this great protest letter.

85: The percent of American women who are walking around wearing the wrong-sized bra according to Oprah and every women’s magazine ever. Except, maybe that’s not quite true says Kate Harding over on Salon’s Broadsheet, who has the nerve to suggest grown-up women are capable of figuring out whether their boobs are comfy without an intervention from those relentless Victoria’s Secret saleswomen.

3,163: The number of chemicals potentially involved whenever you see the word “fragrance” on a beauty product. Manufacturers claim fragrances are proprietary formulas, so they don’t have to spell out which ones they use on the product’s label, but the International Fragrance Association finally succumbed to pressure from curious consumers like you and published the whole list. The bad news? EWG’s Envirobloggers found 1 in 20 ingredients on the list rate a “high hazard” score in their Skin Deep database.

75: The percent of American girls who rate fashion as “really important,” according to a Girl Scouts of America survey. And this would be why it matters when magazines only show skinny models (plus the new token normal-sized naked one) and claim it’s because the designers only send them sample sizes. (Via Jezebel.)