BuyGreen Thinking

Thousands of people apply some kind of lip product every day often reapplying as the balm, gloss or lipstick wears off hours later. And many people do so without considering what, exactly, is in all that goop, or why it even matters.

While lip products can seem to just disappear as the day goes on, it actually rubs off when you eat, speak or wet your lips – the evidence plainly visible in the constant smudge of Plum Kiss on your morning coffee cup. It even migrates in a simple kiss. And all of these roads lead to one place: your stomach. According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the average woman ingests 4 pounds of lip products over her lifetime, leading to concern over the cumulative effects of the ingredients in these products.

A number of lip products are made using ingredients listed among the dirty dozen, including parabens (preservative and antibacterial), petrolatum (softens skin; makes lipstick shine by creating a barrier on skin), propylene glycol (penetration enhancer; keeps products from melting or freezing), diazolidinyl urea (formaldehyde-releasing, anti-microbial preservative) and butylated hydroxytoluene (antioxidant, slows down rate of product ingredients’ color change) ingredients indicted for a range of health concerns: eye and skin irritation, potentially altering hormone levels, or that they may be contaminated with impurities and linked to cancer. And testing of 33 lipsticks made (and sold) in the United States revealed that 61 percent contained detectable levels of lead, a proven neurotoxin (one that accumulates in the body over time, rather than breaking down). One third of the samples contained levels higher than the U.S. limit for lead in candy, but none of them listed lead as an ingredient.

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Tags: balm, buygreen.com, chapstick, cosmetics, healthy, lip, safe