Lead in Lipstick

“How much lipstick does the average woman consume in a year? The average woman consumes between 26 and 58 grams of lipstick per year.”(chacha.com) What if I said there is lead in lipstick, will it change ones perspective on using lipstick? Probably not because we are blinded by the products we use and we are in the urge to look our best imitating the advertising models. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 popular brands of lipstick and found that 61 percent of lipsticks tested contained lead. According to safecosmetics.org, “It took nearly two years, pressure from consumers and a letter from three U.S. Senators, but in 2009 the FDA released a follow-up study that found lead in all samples of lipstick it tested, at levels ranging from 0.09 to 3.06 ppm – levels four times higher than the levels found in the Campaign study.”

The FDA found the highest levels of lipstick by the most popular brands on the market such as Cover Girl brand, L’Oreal, Maybelline and Revlon. Even with the truth being exposed the FDA has failed to take action on the safety of the consumers. Several bills have been introduced in Congress regarding the issues but the cosmetics reforms remain uncertain regarding it.

How can we test it ourselves?

Here is the test you can do yourself:
1.      Put some lipstick on your hand.
2.      Use a 14k-24k Gold ring to scratch on the lipstick.
3.      If the lipstick color changes to black then you know the  lipstick contains lead.

Sources:

http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=223

http://www.scambusters.org/lipstick.html

 http://www.chacha.com/question/how-much-lipstick-does-the-average-women-consume-in-a-year