National lipstick day was yesterday so let’s just take a moment to wonder why the f*** we still see memes about lead in our lippy?
Yes, why?
I didn’t know it was National Lipstick Day yesterday and actually I still don’t know what ‘nation’ the above statement refers to. Oh wait while I google it……. Sorry, I actually just got distracted there by a blog called Man Repeller – you should read their lipstick day post, it’s awesome.
And then I found this website which pretty much confirmed my suspicions that there is no ‘Nation’ or ‘Lipstick Day‘ except for the one that is attempting to be created via the powers of social media (maybe by the lipstick industry to boost lipstick sales, stranger things have happened). But anyway, it did produce a fair bit of cosmetic inspired news and THAT sparked my interest.
But back to the lead thing.
I am actually so sick of seeing this sort of rubbish that I made a video as to be quite honest I just wanted to rant my own rant and not worry about spelling and grammar etc.
So please feel free to watch and once you have watched please see my pictures (below) of some product specifications for natural ingredients that contain Lead.
Realize Beauty 
Great post Amanda! We share your frustration about the continued ignorance on the subject. In case you ever need to cite some additional facts and figures check out our post which breaks down the amount of lead in lipstick, how much you actually ingest, and how your body processes it.
http://thebeautybrains.com/2013/04/does-lipstick-expose-you-to-dangerous-levels-of-lead/
Yes absolutely Randy! It is always good when people can check out a few places and get the facts re-enforced and you guys know what you are talking about 🙂
Love this Amanda and am sharing! I attended a lecture by an academic chemist about “toxins” in cosmetics, and how the scaremongering process works – I wrote a piece for my site about it:
http://wildbeautyworld.com/2014/03/18/is-your-makeup-killing-you-decoding-cosmetic-scare-stories/
Since I’d have to eat about seven a day to see any lead poisoning results, I’m still keeping on with my lipstick wearing habits.
Still, many of my friends would rather believe the scare stories about the “Big Bad Cosmetics Companies” and try to live lives without any “Chemicals”. Oh well.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts too, I’ll check out your blog once I’ve finished my potentially lead-inclusive porridge and coconut sugar.
This is great, thank you for sharing!
Not to get too OT, just want to plant the seed that it stigmatizes mental health conditions for Amanda in that Realize Beauty video to say that people who say lipstick contains lead belong in an asylum. Yes, it’s unreasonable to fear monger about lead in lipstick, but that doesn’t mean the people saying it have any mental illness or that people with mental illness are unreasonable. It’s similar to tossing around “crazy,” “batty,” “psycho,” “schizo,” “bipolar,” etc.
I appreciate clarity in conversations about beauty ingredients, and it doesn’t need to bring the collateral damage of exacerbating stigmas. Again, just planting mind seeds!
Yes I can see your point of view. I did sort of go down that track after I’d used the analogy as I linked it to the people who were spreading mis-information about science and causing a lot of anguish to people for no reason and I realise in hindsight that it probably wasn’t a great thing to do. My original train of thought was taking a more lateral meaning of the word ‘asylum’ to re-enforce the notion that if you can’t accept any level of risk then you will have to seek refuge in a more controlled environment such as a prison or a safe place as in definition 2. I will be more careful when choosing my words next time and will not allow my brain to run off at a dangerous tangent. Word association I guess. Not clever. Sorry.
a·sy·lum (ə-sī′ləm)
n.
1. Protection and immunity from extradition granted by a government to a political refugee from another country.
2.
a. A place offering protection and safety; a shelter. See Synonyms at shelter.
b. Protection or shelter; refuge: viewed her friend’s apartment as a place of asylum.
c. A place, such as a church, formerly constituting an inviolable refuge for criminals or debtors.
3. An institution for the care of people, especially those with physical or mental impairments, who require organized supervision or assistance.