Buyer Beware!

As I watched CityNews this evening, Laura DiBattista popped up and covered a very interesting story relating to beauty - which everyday products contain lead? I could not believe that beauty products contain such a harmful toxic metal, however, it was found that 33 per cent of lipsticks contained lead! Can you guess which popular, trendy colour tested for the highest levels of lead? ..........

RED!

According to Health Canada, "Lead occurs naturally in the environment and has many industrial uses. However, even small amounts of lead can be hazardous to your health."

To lovers of red lipsticks, I found a 2007 report examining the lead in red lipsticks entitled, "A Poison Kiss: The Problem of Lead in Lipsticks." These tests were c0mmissioned by a non-profit coalition called the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. In the report, top lipstick beauty brands that tested positive for lead were listed.

And here they are:
L'Oreal Colour Riche "True Red" - 0.65 ppm
L'Oreal Colour Riche "Classic Wine" - 0.58 ppm
Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor "Maximum Red" - 0.56 ppm
Dior Addict "Positive Red" - 0.21 ppm

After the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics uncovered the levels of lead in red lipsticks, Health Canada decided to test lipsticks as these brands were found to be sold in Canada. You can find the results of these tests in The Vancouver Sun Article here. Essentially, the government allows these lipsticks to be sold in Canada because they say, "They do not pose a health risk to consumers."

So red lipstick lovers please be careful when choosing to wear your red lipsticks. Please note that a lot of these brands do not list lead as an ingredient.