Lead: The Secret Ingredient in Lipstick

• L’Oreal Colour Riche True Red – 0.65
• L’Oreal Riche Classic Wine – 0.58
• Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor Maximum Red – 0.56
• Dior Addict Positive Red – 0.21
• Maybelline NY Moisture Extreme Cocoa Plum – 0.19

Lipsticks that tested with detectable levels of lead but were less than 0.1 ppm included:

• Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer Merlot – 0.09
• Clinique Angel Red – 0.09
• Body Shop Garnet – 0.06
• Dior Replenishing Lipcolor Red Premier – 0.04
• MAC Matte Lipstick Viva Glam – 0.03

Lipsticks that test with non-detectable levels of lead (all were 0.02 ppm) included:

• Tarte Inside Out Vitamin Lipstick
• Wet N’ Wild Mega Colors Cherry Blossom
• Clinique Long Last Lipstick Merlot
• Avon Ultra Color Rich Cherry Jubilee
• Revlon Colorstay Lipcolor Red Velvet

The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to be responsible for safety of cosmetics, however the FDA doesn’t have the same authority over cosmetics that it has over food and pharmaceuticals. According to the FDA’s website, “Cosmetic firms are responsible for the safety of their products and ingredients before marketing.” Essentially, cosmetics manufacturers can use any ingredients in their products, market them as safe to use to the consumer, and there is no government agency to regulate them.

It was reported in the June 2002 issue of Glamour magazine’s “Beauty Quickie Tip” that women can ingest an approximate four pounds of lipstick in a lifetime. Lead exposure has been linked to learning and behavioral disorders such as a lowered IQ, increased aggression, seizures, brain damage, and anemia. Kidney damage can result after a long period of exposure.

Lead has also been linked to reduced fertility in women and men as well as miscarriages. In pregnant women, lead enters into the placenta and ultimately disrupts the normal development of the fetus. In young girls exposure to lead can delay puberty.

Since government agencies are taking an obtuse approach to the safety of cosmetics it is up to buying public to oppose the use of lead in lipstick and other beauty products. As consumers we must inform other consumers about the potential exposure of lead in the lipstick available on the market. Writing state legislators, editors of beauty magazines, and the beauty companies themselves are other ways to voice your opinion on this issue.

The refusal to purchase lipsticks that contain lead is the ultimate way to make the consumer’s voice heard. We all know that money is power, and when cosmetic companies see a decrease in sales it will spur them to listen to the buying public and take the actions necessary to satisfy the consumer.

We are a society that is obsessed with beauty. Cosmetic manufacturers pay Halle Berry, Beyonce, and other celebrities and supermodels huge contracts to endorse their products in the hopes that we will purchase it. Instead of spending money on celebrity ad campaigns, cosmetic manufacturers should take the money and invest it in ways on making the products we purchase safer. Women should not have to sacrifice safety for beauty.