The FDA Finds Traces of Lead in 400 Shades of Lipstick

The FDA detected trace amounts of lead in 400 shades of lipstick- which includes both drugstore and department store varieties. They created a comprehensive list (to view click here) accompanied by questions and answers to explain their role, their criteria, and whether this poses a real safety concern. It is well worth looking over their findings, and you may or may not be surprised to find some of your favorite shades on the list.

While the list is quite long the biggest offenders were L'Oréal and Maybelline. The culprits include shades by Covergirl, Revlon, Body Shop, L'Oréal, Clinique, Estée Lauder, Burt's Bees, Maybelline, Dior, Avon, M.A.C., NARS, Stargazer, Sonia Kashuk, Fashion Fair, Mary Kay,  Prescriptives, Jafra, Rimmel London, BeneFit, Clarins, Elizabeth Arden, Almay, Colorganics, Lancôme, Origins, Victoria's Secret, Chanel, Iman Cosmetics, Bobbi Brown, Wet'n'Wild, & Shiseido.

A good resource for evaluating the safety of the ingredients in the makeup that we use is the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.