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May 17, 2011

Do You Actually Know the Ingredients In Your Favorite Cosmetics?

I like to think I know absolutely everything about the cosmetics I purchase.  Now, do I actually read the ingredients list prior to making a purchase?  No, but come on, who does right?

Well, thanks to a news article my amazing friend, Bronwen, sent me, I know I'm going to be taking a much closer look.

To summarize, the article explains that many of the beauty products we use today contain a number of toxic heavy metals.  This list of toxins include lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and nickel.  Of course not all of the brands tested contained huge amounts of these terrible toxins but many of them exceed Health Canada's recommended limits.  The article itself does not "out" too many product companies but it does say that of the 49 items tested all "contained nickel, 96 per cent contained lead, and 90 per cent contained beryllium".  However, there was, unfortunately, one cosmetic company that was pointed at: Benefit Cosmetics.  According to the Health Canada study,
 "Benefit Benetint lip gloss Red Tint contained the highest level of lead, at 110 ppm, which is over 10 times  higher than the limit set out in the Health Canada Draft Guidance on Heavy Metal Impurities in Cosmetics. The lip gloss also contained 70 ppm of arsenic, which is over 20 times higher than Health Canada's recommended limit of 3ppm".

Now don't get me wrong ladies, we all know that these doses won't kill us but, given the choice, do we want to risk it?  I know I'm going to be thinking about this a lot more when I'm doing my cosmetic shopping. Also, check out EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetic Database.  This amazing site has rated thousands and thousands of our favorite products on a handy number system (0-10) where 0 is a low hazard and 10 is the highest hazard.  This site, plus the news article above, really put things into perspective for me.  Going forward, I'm really going to try and buy items that are within the 5 and under range.

Happy shopping ladies!

7 comments:

  1. Tara @ Haute LunchMay 17, 2011 at 6:26 AM

    Oh no! Not Benefit!!! I really love many of their products, but am definitely going to sort through them all now to see which ones I might be better off tossing. That's really upsetting about Benetint- it's one of my go-to lip stains. Luckily, I just bought a new one, so I'll have to see if that one is better in terms of ingredients. Would you mind if I did a review of my new stain and linked to this post noting why I won't be using my Benetint anymore? Thanks for the important info, Christina!

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  2. SupergirlMay 17, 2011 at 7:33 AM

    Well, it may sound crazy, but I read labels;DD Not make up, cuz I don't wear it so much, but when it comes to skincare products, I always read labels. I use beautypedia page for to check ingredient list:)

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  3. bronwenMay 17, 2011 at 7:38 AM

    I think it's important to know is in the products we use, some of us (including me) forget that a lot. Thanks Christina, for helping us stay on our toes! xo

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  4. Red Lip GlossMay 17, 2011 at 7:47 AM

    @Tara...I know, I was really sad when I read that too. I love Benetint. I'm eager to read your review though on the other lip stain though.

    @Supergirl...you are way better than me lady. I never read labels and I'm starting to realize how important it is that I do

    @Bronwen...thanks lady!! xo

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  5. Beth HindsMay 17, 2011 at 8:40 AM

    This is a really interesting post! x http://blog-allthingsbeautiful.blogspot.com/

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  6. AysheMay 18, 2011 at 12:25 AM

    excellent post. its really good that you have raised awareness about what is in cosmetics, i read a report a while ago that they are planning to regulate it which will be great!

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  7. MarieMay 25, 2011 at 12:53 PM

    Oh wow, I did not know that.. thanks for sharing!

    ***** Marie *****
    allthingsmarie.com

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Thanks for the love!...XO Christina