What’s in Your Lipstick?

Attention makeup wearers: Do you know what is in the lipstick you wear? A few years ago, an urban legend-type email went around asking women if they knew what was in their lipstick. Although Snopes.com has stated that this legend is mostly false, other watchdog organizations are concerned about lead in lipstick.

Here is a quote directly from Snopes.com regarding lead in lipstick:

Mercury and other harmful elements are lurking in your makeup, causing recycling difficulties.

“All dyes used in foodstuffs or cosmetics have to be vetted by the FDA for safety, and although some of the colorants the FDA grants approval to do contain lead, it is present in such miniscule amounts that it has no adverse effects on consumers.”

So, the FDA admits that some colorants, which are used in makeup including lipsticks, may have traces of lead, but the traces are so small there is no reason to worry. What about repeated daily exposure to lead? Do you only put your lipstick on one time a day? Probably not. Have you ever accidentally got some on your teeth and licked it off? Probably so. Essentially, you have just unintentionally ingested a product that may contain lead.

This is not a risk worth taking. According to an article that appeared in the April 2008 issue of Current Opinion in Pediatrics, “No level of lead exposure appears to be ‘safe… ’”

While researchers were looking specifically at lead exposure and neurological development in children, this does not mean that lead exposure is safe in adults. In fact, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics wants the FDA to set more stringent lead requirements when it comes to makeup, specifically lipstick.

Out of the 33 brands that the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested for lead, 61% tested positive. This prompted the campaign to lobby the FDA to conduct its own investigation, and what the FDA found was even more shocking. Every sample it tested contained lead, with some samples showing lead to be at 3.06 ppm (parts per million). This is far lower than the 20 ppm that is allowed in color additives, but well above the 0.1 ppm allowed in candy. While candy is indeed ingested more frequently than lipstick, 3.06 ppm is significantly greater than 0.1 ppm.

So, now that you know what may be in your lipstick, ask yourself if you know what’s in your mascara. Would you have guessed mercury? That’s right, some brands of mascara have tested positive for mercury. Your favorite mascara that plumps and lengthens might also be leaving trace amounts of mercury on your lashes and inevitably in your eye.

The FDA actually allows mercury-based preservative use in cosmetics, but only in eye-area cosmetics and only if the concentration is less than 65 ppm. You may be thinking “If the FDA approves it, then it must be safe,” but do your own research. You don’t have to be a scientist to know that mascara without mercury is better than mascara with it — the same goes for lead-laden lipsticks.

Go beyond the initial use of the product and think about its lifecycle. Mercury is not something that just breaks down in the soil at your local landfill. Think about compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). They contain a small amount of mercury and thus must be disposed of at specific facilities. Have you seen the same recommendation for your mascara? Lead is also another toxin that isn’t easily recycled, so the lipstick tube that ends up in the landfill may leach lead into the local water supply.

So, next time you head to the store to buy some makeup, you should probably know the answer to the question, “What’s in your lipstick?”