Dear Cosmetic World...Can I Kill You With a Kiss?

Lipstick’s lethal lead...

We eat while wearing lipstick
We drink while wearing lipstick
We kiss while wearing lipstick.
We spread the lead around.

The average American woman, inadvertently, can eat 4 pounds of her lipstick in her lifetime.
No exposure is without harm.

But this is not new news. Back in 2003 lead in lipstick made the headlines. Many of you were exposed and specific brands targeted for the lead contaminants in the lipsticks.
That was 7 years ago. Cosmetic world, have you cleaned up the lead content in the lipstick?
I would hope so! But then again, we, the public, are easily led astray. In 2009 the FDA scientists (PCPC) claimed that there are no toxic levels of lead in lipstick. CSC (Campaign for Safe Cosmetics) disagreed.

If we believe the FDA we think we are safe.
If we believe the CSC we question our safety. The FDA scientists back up their studies, but if you read it carefully it seems that they knew beforehand what it was they wanted to prove. Hummmm.

CSC claims that any level of lead is dangerous, whereas PCPC argues that these levels are below those recommended as safe by regulatory authorities.

Whom do we trust?
I wonder if any of the scientists who actually did the cover-up (I mean the testing) stopped wearing lipstick. Perhaps they adopted the French double cheek peck.

Dear Cosmetic world. Care about our lips. Take the lead out of our life.

Dear Reader, do you have access to a 24K-14K gold ring and a lipstick you fear may contain lead? Rub some lipstick on the back of your hand and scratch with the gold ring. If the lipstick color changes to black then you can be sure the lipstick contains lead.

Be your own sleuth. Head out of the sand, remember? And let us know.