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If you read the Beauty Heaven Forums you probably noticed how I kicked up a big fuss last week about how much lead is in many popular brands of lipstick. I meant to write this post back then but have had this horrible nausea/dizzyness/migraine/flu thing that leaves me with no energy. By far the worst part though is that everything tastes like flour and cardboard except for my daily cups of tea. I'm a bit unsure about going to a doctor because i'm petrified of needles and the possibility of a blood test and I am slowly getting better so am thinking that maybe I just need to trust in my body a bit more to heal itself.
But anyway, onto the main topic. Lead in Lipsticks.
I had briefly heard that the FDA (American Food & Drug Administration) did some tests on lipsticks and found traces of lead in them but hadn't thought much of it until I heard that Burt's Bees, a well known natural cosmetics and skincare brand, was one of the culprits who allow traces of lead into their lip products.
One of the main reasons why I use natural products is because I believe them to be safer. Sure mother nature has her nasties but as consumers, we assume that natural cosmetics companies wouldn't put nasties into our lip products, right? That's what I thought until I scrolled down the list, past the likes of Maybelline, Covergirl, Rimmel, etc. and saw right there, on the FDA website that a 100% Natural Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer contained up to 2.81ppm of lead. Compare that to the 0.1 ppm that's allowed in candy and you can imagine why a lot of people are concerned. Another interesting development which I only just noticed now is that the one colour which had a reading of 2.81 ppm of lead, "Toffee", has been discontinued worldwide. Coincidence?
The other highest reading for Burt's Bees Lip Shimmers was the shade "Guava", a pretty sparkly pink (shown above), which is still for sale, even though it contains 2.24 ppm of lead.
What really concerns me is that I have heard of mothers giving Burt's Bees Lip Shimmers to their little girls because they believed them to be safe in case their daughters ate some. And yes, kids do eat lipstick. I once ate a whole Bonne Bell Lip Smacker when I was 6 (oh, and Play Doh - if I ever get stomach cancer I'll be blaming Play Doh and Lip Smackers). So do you still feel that these lip products are safe? I certainly don't. I fired off an email to Burt's Bees asking for a refund sometime last week and am yet to receive a reply - so i'm escalating it to facebook and putting it up on their wall for all of the internet to see.
So why is there so much lead in our lipsticks? One answer is that there are small amounts in our food, water, and air. But while this accounts for some of the lead, why then do some lip products vary greatly in their lead content based on colour? Let's look again at the Burt's Bees lip shimmers. Thankfully the FDA tested several colours. "Toffee" got a reading of 2.81 ppm while another only read 0.33 ppm so can we really blame it on our water? Absolutely not, it is the colour additives used. Burt's Bees even admitted this. Below is their response to my post on Beauty Heaven:
"Burt’s Bees are a long-term supporter of The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, whose work along with ours is always in line with consumers’ best interest. Because the minerals we use to impart colour in our formulas come from the earth, these natural elements may contain small traces of lead. At Burt’s Bees, our consumers’ well-being and safety is of the utmost importance to us. If we felt that our consumers’ health was at risk, we would not be using these minerals in our products. Traces of lead can be found elsewhere and broadly in the environment including tap and well water. However, our R&D team is working with suppliers to find ways to identify, minimise and even eliminate trace elements of lead from our natural mineral sources."
Another post worth mentioning was from fellow Beauty Heaven member RebeccaLife who posted the following which is food for thought:
"While lead is dangerous, it is really only dangerous in high percentages.
If you were to cut your lipstick up into a million particles, you would barely be able to even see them, then just one or two of those particles would be lead. Scientifically, this isn’t enough to be a health concern.
Lead will be more commonly found in red and brown tones of lipsticks because it’s used in red/brown dyes. This goes for food dyes also. Lead is also found in glitter so it will commonly be in shimmery/frosty lipsticks also.
Lead is a mineral that you will encounter every day, it’s virtually impossible to avoid and it isn’t harmful in these small amounts. Obviously, if you choose to avoid products containing lead that is completely up to you :)
Because it is a naturally occurring substance, it would be incredibly hard to remove lead from products, even natural/organic products."
It's also worth linking to the original FDA Test Results and another article on toxins in our cosmetics.
So what do you think? Do you feel safe using lip products that contain lead in them? Do you feel that i'm entitled to a refund becaue my Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Raisin contains 0.44 ppm of lead?
And for a list of brands which are safe and care about their customers, it's worth reading Be Naturallyou's Brand Directory.
If you read the Beauty Heaven Forums you probably noticed how I kicked up a big fuss last week about how much lead is in many popular brands of lipstick. I meant to write this post back then but have had this horrible nausea/dizzyness/migraine/flu thing that leaves me with no energy. By far the worst part though is that everything tastes like flour and cardboard except for my daily cups of tea. I'm a bit unsure about going to a doctor because i'm petrified of needles and the possibility of a blood test and I am slowly getting better so am thinking that maybe I just need to trust in my body a bit more to heal itself.
But anyway, onto the main topic. Lead in Lipsticks.
I had briefly heard that the FDA (American Food & Drug Administration) did some tests on lipsticks and found traces of lead in them but hadn't thought much of it until I heard that Burt's Bees, a well known natural cosmetics and skincare brand, was one of the culprits who allow traces of lead into their lip products.
One of the main reasons why I use natural products is because I believe them to be safer. Sure mother nature has her nasties but as consumers, we assume that natural cosmetics companies wouldn't put nasties into our lip products, right? That's what I thought until I scrolled down the list, past the likes of Maybelline, Covergirl, Rimmel, etc. and saw right there, on the FDA website that a 100% Natural Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer contained up to 2.81ppm of lead. Compare that to the 0.1 ppm that's allowed in candy and you can imagine why a lot of people are concerned. Another interesting development which I only just noticed now is that the one colour which had a reading of 2.81 ppm of lead, "Toffee", has been discontinued worldwide. Coincidence?
What really concerns me is that I have heard of mothers giving Burt's Bees Lip Shimmers to their little girls because they believed them to be safe in case their daughters ate some. And yes, kids do eat lipstick. I once ate a whole Bonne Bell Lip Smacker when I was 6 (oh, and Play Doh - if I ever get stomach cancer I'll be blaming Play Doh and Lip Smackers). So do you still feel that these lip products are safe? I certainly don't. I fired off an email to Burt's Bees asking for a refund sometime last week and am yet to receive a reply - so i'm escalating it to facebook and putting it up on their wall for all of the internet to see.
"Burt’s Bees are a long-term supporter of The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, whose work along with ours is always in line with consumers’ best interest. Because the minerals we use to impart colour in our formulas come from the earth, these natural elements may contain small traces of lead. At Burt’s Bees, our consumers’ well-being and safety is of the utmost importance to us. If we felt that our consumers’ health was at risk, we would not be using these minerals in our products. Traces of lead can be found elsewhere and broadly in the environment including tap and well water. However, our R&D team is working with suppliers to find ways to identify, minimise and even eliminate trace elements of lead from our natural mineral sources."
Another post worth mentioning was from fellow Beauty Heaven member RebeccaLife who posted the following which is food for thought:
"While lead is dangerous, it is really only dangerous in high percentages.
If you were to cut your lipstick up into a million particles, you would barely be able to even see them, then just one or two of those particles would be lead. Scientifically, this isn’t enough to be a health concern.
Lead will be more commonly found in red and brown tones of lipsticks because it’s used in red/brown dyes. This goes for food dyes also. Lead is also found in glitter so it will commonly be in shimmery/frosty lipsticks also.
Lead is a mineral that you will encounter every day, it’s virtually impossible to avoid and it isn’t harmful in these small amounts. Obviously, if you choose to avoid products containing lead that is completely up to you :)
Because it is a naturally occurring substance, it would be incredibly hard to remove lead from products, even natural/organic products."
It's also worth linking to the original FDA Test Results and another article on toxins in our cosmetics.
So what do you think? Do you feel safe using lip products that contain lead in them? Do you feel that i'm entitled to a refund becaue my Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Raisin contains 0.44 ppm of lead?
And for a list of brands which are safe and care about their customers, it's worth reading Be Naturallyou's Brand Directory.
9 comments:
I don't honestly know how much a ppm is, but Colin from Colin's Beauty Pages did a blog post and a YouTube video (he's mrbeautyscientist) on it and said it was basically scaremongering and that the amounts found in lipstick are not enough to do harm. I guess since he's a scientist I'll take his word for it.
The problem I have so often in the natural beauty world is how many people out there are just pushing their own agenda by being alarmists. It's hard to know what information to believe. :-/
omg its crazy to think they would even need lead in a lip product??
great informative and interesting post!
x
@Dee, ppm stands for parts per million, so it is a teeny weeny amount, but to think that the same thing that makes up our greylead pencils is in a lip product, esp a lip balm.. where they are meant to serve our lips good.. its a bit.. disappointing i guess!
wow thanks for the info, i seriously didnt even know there was lead in lip products?
Fingers crossed that this comment posts as my last one didn't for some reason.
I agree with both Dee and Linny in that it is scary that it's there in the first place but i'm still unsure if it's as safe as people claim or not. I faced a similar dilemma when I learned about the possible dangers of PPD in hair colours - Ultimately I prefer to err on the side of caution and expose myself to as little chemicals and toxins as possible.
Great informative post! What I don't get is they've known this for years so why only bother making people more aware now. Yes I think scaremongering is part of it. However, I will not be bothering from now on! I'm making my own lip-balms from beeswax, base oils and essential oils so I know what goes in :)
Ever since Burt's Bees was sold to Clorox, things changed and more chemicals were added to their products. I used to lOVE their baby products, had such a lovely smell and it changed and so many people complained. And now this whole lead fiasco... I'm not a Burt's Bees fan anymore, once a company sells out, it's over.
California Baby recently changed formulas and lied about it when asked. Then they admitted they changed gentle preservatives, but babies (including my own tot) were effected by the change. I hate companies like this, it makes me so mad... and sad.
Great post :)
Yes Mary, I have heard that before. I hadn't even thought about it as I never used to be interested in Burt's Bees products. I do remember another blogger mention how their baby products had changed quite a lot. Some products had become less natural but "improved formulations" while others because more natural but irritating and less effective. I remember there was a bit of an issue about them not mentioning the new formula on the label too, the only way people could tell was by reading the ingredients list and the 99%+ Natural label on the front (which had changed).
It is very frustrating but more so that they use ingredients which aren't as safe just to make a profit. I'm also very annoyed that Burt's Bees have just completely ignored my email after waiting over a week so i'm going to put it up on facebook as consumers have a right to know. I'll keep everyone updated in regards to getting a refund.
In the meantime, Ere Perez are about to release a range of all natural Olive Oil Lipsticks (which don't contain toxic ingredients like other brands). I can't wait to try them.
If a product is natural, then no matter what: it shouldn't contain any synthetic and harmful ingredients even in a small amount.
Maybe it is not enough to do harm, but would anyone drink a tiny amount of hydrochloric acid? I know it's an extreme example, but you got the idea about the "small amount doesn't do harm".
Great post btw! Burt's Bees have some good stuffs, but I am not a big fan of them, exactly because not all of their products are safe.
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