Beauty Myth: Lipstick is Loaded with Lead

 

I really hate sensationalism. As a person who has worked in the beauty industry for many years, there is nothing more frustrating when you hear someone make a statement about a cosmetic ingredient or a personal care product that simply isn’t true.

The internet is an amazing thing, it has given us access to so much information…some true and some false. It’s easy to get caught up in a dramatic email message or scary internet rumor…especially when a concern of personal health is in question.

Well this week, I received a chain email regarding the safety of lipsticks. You may have also seen this one, this is in fact the third time I’ve received it. The email claims that lipstick is loaded with high amounts of lead, which in turn may cause cancer.

I’m here to tell you this is absolutely false. As many of you know, I’ve been very fortunate to develop cosmetic products with some of the best brands in beauty. I’ve logged countless hours in cosmetic labs and can tall you with certainty that lipsticks do not contain dangerous levels of lead.

Now, is there lead in lipstick? The answer is “Yes”. The lead comes from the colorant used to shade the lip product, but the amount of lead is so miniscule, that it is impossible to cause you harm, regardless of the amount of lipstick you use….even if you covered your body in it. Secondly, if you were exposed to high lead content (which is not possible from using lipstick) the concern would be about lead poisoning, not cancer. The two are not related.

So now you know. Lipstick cannot cause cancer and while there is lead present in lipstick it is almost undetectable and completely safe. It turns out our friends over at The Beauty Brains, one of our favorite blogs founded by two cosmetic chemists, also busted this myth. They stated the lead content is actually so small it’s about 20 parts to every million.

Lipstick is back this Fall, and you should feel safe using it. Maybe we should be more concerned about reading those shady emails.