The Washington Post just released an article this week featuring FDA results from a study in December 2011 highlighting the top 10 lipsticks that were found to have lead in them. I’ve had many friends asking, “where can I find healthy lipsticks?” My usual response is to start with www.EWG.org/skindeep/. This site is a non-profit organization that tests the safety of consumer products. It is not an all inclusive site of every product made, but it is pretty comprehensive. Buyer beware, though, just because your brand is not shown on this site does not guarantee it is free of toxins. I’m sure there are also plenty of “green” options that are not included in the EWG database.
I found it interesting that the EWG information did not indicate “LEAD” as a toxin in the ingredients. This is probably because LEAD is not an individual ingredient, but rather an element of another ingredient, like coloring. For example, the #7 lipstick with lead was L’Oreal Colour Rich Lipstick, Tickled Pink (Pink) 165. This same L’Oreal lipstick ranks 7 in toxicity on EWG.org (7-10 being the most toxic rating) on EWG, not because of the LEAD (which wasn’t even indicated in the list of ingredients) but because of several other ingredients like BHA, BHT and Fragrance linked with toxic side effects.
If you’re looking to replace your favorite lipstick because it ranked high in lead, no worries! There are plenty of companies creating “healthy lipsticks”. Here are 15 companies I found that have several lipstick products with a 0-1 rating of toxicity on EWG (on a scale of 0-10 with 10 being the most toxic). If you want to guarantee your product is low in toxins, check out www.EWG.org for your specific manufacturer and color. Even though these “Green” companies have many products in the 0-1 category, they might have some colors or cosmetic categories ranking higher in toxic load so it pays to do a little research.
3. Green Beauty
7. Zosimos Botanicals
8. Boots
10. CARGO
11. Hemp Organics
12. Honeybee Gardens
13. Inika Mineral Lipstick
14. RMS Beauty
15. Cleure
There are so many healthy options in a range of price points, it should be easy to find some natural lip products that fit your budget. Let me know if you’ve used any of these brands and what you think!
Thank you for this list and the information. I think that the problem with the Skin Deep database is that it it is a database, which only looks at individual ingredients and not necessarily the byproduct of another ingredient. It is a great place to start, but not a definitive conclusion.
Thanks Brenna, everyone does need a starting point to search for information, but we all need to remain diligent in reading labels and being educated to keep up with new research findings. The more we know the better choices we can make.