Toxic Lipstick

Get Lead Free lipstick

Today we can't get a song out of our heads: yes, it's "Toxic," one of our favorite Britney Spears songs:  we be singing that song today? Well, because random tests on 33 popular lipsticks showed that quite a few of them are . You remember lead from history class, right? Many aristocratic Romans suffered from lead poisoning because they used lead pipes in their famous baths. That caused a host of ailments, including infertility, gout, cancer, reduced IQ, kidney damage and neurological damage. Oh yes, and it causes major birth defects in fetuses and brain damage in children.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics randomly purchased more than 30 lipsticks in four cities and sent them to a lab for lead testing. More than half came back with levels of lead. "It's unconscionable that women should have to worry about lead in lipstick," said Stacy Malkan of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The coalition's report found that 20 of the 33 lipsticks it sent to be tested contained lead. Higher levels were found in products made by L'Oreal, Cover Girl and Christian Dior.

Because there is no federal standard for lead in cosmetics, the advocacy group used the Food and Drug Administration's limits for lead in candy as a yardstick. "We want the companies to immediately reformulate their products to get the lead out and ... ultimately, really we need to change the laws and force these companies to be accountable to women's health," Malkan said. But the trade group representing the cosmetics industry said the report is nothing new and, not surprisingly, the findings are not cause for worry. "I think the levels are actually quite low - trace levels - really not something that would present a cause for concern," said John Bailey of the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association.

Experts say pregnant women should be extra aware when it comes to lead-tainted products. "Lead is a proven neurotoxin. It can cause learning disabilities. It's also linked to miscarriage and infertility,"


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Unfortunately, Dior Addict had a higher concentration of lead. LVMH (which owns Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton), said that it doesn't add lead to its lipstick (it's a poison, so that's good!) but it is a byproduct of certain pigments. There is no safe level of lead for humans and over years, a woman can ingest enough lead to cause problems, according to experts.

Because many lipsticks had almost no lead (such as MAC Matte Lipstick Viva Glam and Revlon Colorstay Lipcolor in Red Velvet, for example) it is possible to reformulate all lipsticks so that they don't contain lead yet still have a bright red color.

The cosmetics companies need to reformulate immediately. There is just no excuse for having any amount of lead in lipstick. Period. You can read more Read more about natural makeup
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