Is Lancome Lipstick Loaded With Lead?
KP’s question: Here’s a good one for you – a story about the dangers of lead in lipstick. I was forwarded this email from a friend (first red flag, unknown source!) What’s up with this??
The Left Brain’s reply:
I’ve posted KP’s email in the Beauty Brains forum so everyone can read the entire story, but the basic idea is that the dyes used in lipsticks made by LANCOME, CHRISTIAN DIOR, CLINIQUE, ESTEE LAUDER, and SHISEIDO contain lead and will give you cancer. Furthermore, you can tell if your lipstick contains lead by smearing some on a piece of paper and then rubbing a gold ring across it. If the gold leaves a dark grey streak, the lipstick contains lead.
There is lead in lipstick
Your skepticism is well founded, KP because this story is just another urban legend. First of all, all colorants allowed for use in cosmetics must pass rigorous testing by the US FDA. It’s true that dyes are allowed to contain VERY VERY VERY small amounts of lead (about 20 parts per million). But that’s far below the amount that could harm you, no matter how much lipstick you use. So lipsticks DO NOT contain dangerous amounts of lead.
Lead doesn’t cause cancer
Second, there’s no doubt that lead poisoning is a very serious illness. It can make you sick; it can even kill you. But it can’t give you cancer. So this is just another case where The Big “C” is used to scare people.
The ringer
Third, the gold ring trick is bogus too. Rubbing a gold ring across the right kind of surface will leave a dark streak. But so will a coin or any other metal object that has a bit of oxidation built up on it. Rubbing the metal (the ring in this case) can leave a dark streak whether you smear lipstick on it first or not. So clearly the streak is not from lead in lipstick.
You can read the entire debunking at Snopes.com. It’s one of The Beauty Brains’ favorite sites.
Loading ...
Karen Says:
Now that’s a relief! So I WON’T have to throw out all my two gallon size Ziploc bags, filled with lipsticks I no longer use but can’t quite part with, after all!
Snopes.com is a great website to check on the authenticity of crazy e-mails that might possibly be urban legends. This one is definitely there.
Discuss Beauty Says:
I started to panic a little bit myself when I read that, LOL!
I think I let out a sigh of relief now, LOL!
Becka Says:
Karen, you might want to throw out some of them anyways…they do expire…sadly makeup doesn’t keep forever
melissa Says:
Thank You so much for this post. I work for one of the companies listed and have heard this question too many times since this story first started making its rounds on the internet. The first time it was asked, I googled and found an article debunking it. After that I would look people in the eye and say “yes of course there is, we want you to get sick and die, because dead or sick women spend lots of money at cosmetic counters!” Or “If this were true I would have been dead years ago because I have literally worn pounds of it over my lifetime.” But then I would stop being fresh and share the article that I found, now thanks to you I have another site to send them to to find real sound reliable information. The lesson is just because its on the internet does not make it true. If it were al true we would be living in big plastic bubbles trying to protect ourselves from petrolatum, parabens, underarm deoderant, air, food, ect. ect….Another good website is Quackwatch. Thanks again for the voice of reason.
Your lipgloss may be poppin’, but how ’bout your lipstick? The truth about lead…. « BeautyBlitz Says:
[...] bloggers have addressed this subject. Take a look at what has been said on We Love Beauty and thebeautybrains. Both sites claim the report is bogus and that the report basically has the credibility of urban [...]
Kate Says:
This website is a joke. There are reports that lipstick contains lead, but all of you sit back and sigh of relief because, oh there is nothing wrong with lead. Lead! Yes there are plenty of other ways to get exposed to lead out there but how many times do you reapply lipstick. If you use it everyday over the course of a lifetime that exposure builds up. The scientists of this website support the cosmetics industry, of course their not going to advocate you stop using cosmetics. You should all advocate that new standards be set for ingredients in cosmetics so that we can all feel safer. Yes, of course you could live in a bubble but maybe by advocating change we could all live longer healthier lives.
karen Says:
I need an answer…I took the ring test with several tubes of lipstick, some turned black and some didn’t. Clearly there was no build up of oxidation because I was using the same ring and cleaning it everytime. Then I thought about all the eyeshadow, and again the same thing some turned black and some didn’t. So what is that? I really don’t want to be using products on my face that contain lead. Can an authority please tell us why some turn black and some don’t?
Left Brain Says:
Karen,
Did you read the post? The ring test is bogus. Gold doesn’t react with lead like that. If you are really still frightened to use perfectly good cosmetics, then stop using them. Nature created you without make-up. If the thought of exposing yourself to chemicals is too scary, stop using them. But know that people have safely used cosmetics for years without problems.
Kate,
You just read it here. If you are afraid of using cosmetics, STOP USING THEM!! You don’t need them to be healthy and if it is too scary for you, just quit using.
It would be great to remove all possible toxins from cosmetics, beverages and food. But it’s not. There are safe levels of carcinogenic ingredients. Did you know your own body produces cancer-causing formaldehyde? Should we all have our livers removed to prevent that?
Lead in Lipstick Says:
First, kids dying from lead in toys. Now, they find high levels of lead in lipsticks. What’s next - lead in food? Are women going to start dying now too from using lipstick too much?
Freaky!
There’s a detailed report about it at http://www.myproductalert.com/lead-in-lipsticks.html
The Beauty Brains » Blog Archive » No More Mercury in Mascara in Minnesota Says:
[...] month’s scare chemical was lead in your lipstick. This month, it’s mercury in your mascara. Lawmakers in the great state of Minnesota banned [...]
Deadly Beauty: The Secrets of Cosmetics Past | The Beauty Brains Says:
[...] chemicals in cosmetic products. The Brains have responded to alarm more than once over mercury and lead finding their way into mascara and lipstick. Did you know both were once lauded as beauty-promoting [...]
Deadly Beauty: The Secrets of Cosmetics Past | Beauty Secrets Blog Says:
[...] chemicals in cosmetic products. The Brains have responded to alarm more than once over mercury and lead finding their way into mascara and lipstick. Did you know both were once lauded as beauty-promoting [...]