RELAX: The Real Truth About Lead in Lipstick
As many of you know, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recently issued a statement warning against potentially dangerous levels of lead in lipstick.
Paula Begoun, the well respected “Cosmetics Cop,” just released her take on the controversy. Calling the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ report the “very definition of fear mongering,” Paula picked apart some of the fallacies in the Campaign’s buzz-inducing press release.
Paula makes some strong, common-sense arguments. Here’s a summary of her key points:
- The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report misstated that lipstick is ingested like candy or food when, in fact, the amount of lipstick that is actually ingested is minuscule.
- When putting forth their claims on the dangers of lead, the Campaign referred only to sources that discussed the danger of lead in terms of occupational or environmental exposure to heavy metals. The report failed to provide sources that support the claim that small amounts of lead in cosmetics actually pose a physical danger.
- The report would have been much more convincing if the Campaign had provided medical data showing differing levels of lead present in blood samples taken from women who wear lipstick and those who don’t. The failure to provide such medical results perhaps suggests that there is such a lack of statistical difference that the inclusion of such data would have undermined the Campaign’s report.
- Furthermore, a medical expert holds that small amounts of toxic chemicals are unable to successfully penetrate the skin barrier and are unlikely to cause harm.
Paula’s write-up offers refreshing counterpoints to the general mania that has been going on concerning this issue. View her complete response here: Lethal Lipsticks
So what do you think, makeup moxies? The lead-in-lipstick controversy: Something to be worried about? Or just hype?.
DISCUSSION:
7 comments so far...
1 JaimeLovesBeauty // Oct 18, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Thank God! i didn’t want to have to throw my red lipstick away! I think it’s hype.
2 Trish // Oct 18, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Right on, Paula! People get so caught up in the hysteria, that they lose common sense and logic. Women have been wearing lipstick for eons–if any of the hype was really true, you’d think you’d hear about more lipstick casualities. Thanks for the post, Jazmin!
3 Jazmin // Oct 19, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Well, that’s two clear votes in favor of declaring the lead-in-lipstick report as hype! Thanks so much for the comments, ladies!
But isn’t there just a part of you that worries about the potential hazard of dangerous ingredients in cosmetics? Just a little?
4 Vera // Oct 20, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Not a big fan of lipstick, maybe because my mother was always telling me, “dont wear lipstick it will ruin your lips as you get older.” Apparently shes seen women who have been wearing lipstick for so long that when they don’t have any color and their lips are very pale looking.
Wouldn’t that make sense though? If you use that stuff for years it just eventually soaks in?
Plus, I’ve seen too many gross lipstick stains on cups and straws and wondered how the person could drink from that.
5 Jazmin // Oct 22, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Hi Vera! Thanks for stopping by and thanks again for the great photo! Makeup moxies, Vera is the photographer who shot the wicked-cool lipstick photo above :)
I don’t think the continued use of lipstick will cause it to sink in permanently.
However, I do agree that, when you wear lipstick all the time, you can look sort of “washed out” when you don’t wear it…but I think this is mainly because people become so accustomed to the way you look *with* lipstick. Hope that made sense!
6 Trish // Oct 24, 2007 at 8:39 pm
I’m not too worried about potentially dangerous materials in make-up. These products are rigorously tested before they are even considered for marketing to the public.
7 Jess // Oct 28, 2007 at 7:11 pm
I am concerned about my lipstick, makeup, and everything else we eat as being bad for us. I’ve wondered about it before this even hit the news. I don’t think it’s just Hype, but I think it’s reality that we realize that we can’t be chemical free unless we buy everything in an all natural store. I don’t trust the FDA guidelines,for example- all the medicines that are approved for sale and then people have heart attacks from them after taking it.
So am I concerned, YES. Did I stop wearing my makeup and lipstick, No.
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