Did you ever wonder what goes into making the lipstick that you use every day? Well, I do. I thought it would be interesting to do a little research into what is used to make this ubiquitous beauty product.
The Ingredients in Your Lipstick
First let me tell you the basic of what makes up a lipstick. It mostly comprises of waxes, oils, pigments and maybe some fragrance. While this makes up a huge portion of it, there are still many other ingredients that are used.
The oil and wax are what give it form and hold it together. Plus, these are generally known to be good for the lips for long-term use. The wax and oil are melted down and added to the other, separately ground or melted ingredients. Once all the ingredients have blended to satisfaction, they are ready to be molded, packed, and sent to the stores where you and I will buy them.
In addition to the basics, there are plenty of ingredients that are unique to this lip care product depending on the manufacturer. Many cosmetics companies jealously guard the actual recipe as they do not want to give away their professional secret. The price of the final piece will usually depend on the quality and quantity of the ingredients used.
Now this may all sound like a very innocent process to you. And for the most part, it is. But did you know that there are tons of chemicals and banned ingredients that are commonly found during testing of these products? Yes, that’s right. The cosmetics companies have not left the chemicals out of this humble makeup tool either. That’s probably the main reason you generally do not find an ingredient list on the packaging – they want to shield you from the fact that you are harming yourself by using their product.
Here are just some of the chemicals that are used – parabens, hydroquinone, lead, mercury, tar, and petroleum distillates. The list is much longer but I selected these few because they are common enough that you may have heard of them and know for a fact how harmful they are for you.
Sometimes, the dyes or pigments (the stuff that is responsible for the color) are not even approved by the FDA. But since the cosmetics companies are rarely audited or challenged, they can get away with it.
This may not seem like a very big deal to you because you’re thinking that such a small thing cannot possibly make a difference to your health. But that’s where you are wrong. We actually tend to eat away at our lips during the day and end up taking in these chemicals. And when this happens everyday for years together, there are bound to be consequences.
I bet when you read the title of this post, you sat back and expected to discover something nice. Sorry to be misleading. But I knew it would be a surefire way to get you to read something that can only do you good to learn about.
