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A Pretty Ugly Progress Report

January 24, 2018 By Andrea Palombella 2 Comments

January 2018 is almost over, and we can’t believe it! We are LONG overdue for an update, so without further adieu, please enjoy these production highlights from the past several months.

Many moons ago, we shared about the exciting teaser shoot we did with a great two-person crew in our April 2017 blog post. Since then, we filmed two additional interviews and B-roll at the fabulous Take Care Shop in Georgetown with Andrea behind the camera. Then, we finally had what we needed to begin the editing process of our teaser!

We transcribed our first eight interviews by hand and began writing our script. The world was our oyster, but we had one, “tiny” problem: an outdated laptop that couldn’t handle 4K video files on an old editing system.

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Field Production Has Begun!

April 4, 2017 By Andrea Palombella 1 Comment

Happy Spring! We’ve got so many great updates to share, so brace yourself for excitement and read on…

First off, Pretty Ugly has raised enough seed funding to begin field production. This is a huge accomplishment, and we couldn’t have done it without the amazing generosity of many supporters!

In March, we filmed two days in Washington, D.C., collecting three interviews and gathering stunning B-roll. Our interviewees included Nneka Leiba, M.Phil, MPH, Director of Healthy Living at the Environmental Working Group, a leading nonprofit helping consumers make healthy choices based on environmental health research and education, Ky Washington, professional green-beauty makeup artist, and last but not least, Alessandra Palombella (my mom!), two-time breast cancer survivor and the reason why we’re making this film. It was through her finding out about carcinogens in personal products that spurred me on to dig deeper into the topic, and that is where I found the inspiration to share this story with the world. [Read more…]

Decoding the Labels: What’s Actually Inside?

July 15, 2016 By Andrea Palombella Leave a Comment

Consumers are becoming more aware of the ingredient safety in personal products and toiletries. The front labels of many packages now tout things like “Paraben Free” and “Sulfate Free.” Other claims on labels are often “All Natural” “Organic” and “Pure.” However, the scrupulous buyer will flip that bottle, tube or box over to see the real health implications of the ingredients. There are minimal regulations on what manufacturers can put on their product labels, which can lead to inaccurate claims. Many companies that use some natural ingredients–but also a slue of controversial chemicals–can put these terms on their products to attract health-conscious consumers.

Don’t believe me? Here are three examples:

Beware of any product that contains “perfume” or “parfum.”

1.) Earlier this week, I walked into an Aveda salon for men and women. I have naturally wavy hair and find the humid Washington D.C. summers a great time to rock these messy curls; however my hair also puffs up not unlike a defunct Chia pet (all frizz and yet strangely, not much curl). I had heard positive reviews about the curly hair products by the company and wanted to investigate the line and its ingredients. I found the styling products and noted that some labels read “parfum” while others listed “Pure-fume,” Aveda’s natural formula of essential oils and natural scents. I asked the salon receptionist if she could explain why some bottles were labeled differently. I expressed my concern that many companies hide ingredients like phthalates and other harmful chemicals inside of the “fragrance/parfum” catch all on the label. Her response was, “All of our products are derived from plants and herbs.”

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