unKIND to Your Skin: The Haunting Truth About Lip Products
There are some horrifying ingredients lurking in your lip products. Like the spook that hides in the shadows of night, these unknown terrors wreak havoc on your body long after they are gone. Every ghoul wants to look her best, but at what cost? Join us as we creak open the coffin on the haunting truths about lip products.
The average woman ingests approximately ½ pound of lip products annually. With every sip of cider, the gloss or color you’ve applied vanishes from your kisser and makes its way through your body. It’s frightening to think about the amount of petroleum, traces of lead, and fragrances consumed for the sake of satiny, shaded lips.
How Petroleum Disguises Itself
Just as the werewolf masquerades as a man when the moon isn’t present, petroleum hides itself under deceiving names. These include (1):
- Petroleum jelly
- Mineral oil
- Petrolatum
- Polybutene
- Words with “butyl”
- Words with “ethyl”
- Words with “methyl”
- Words with “propyl”
- Toluene
- Word ending in “eth”
- Phenoxyethanol
- Paraffin wax
- Fragrance (some fragrances are derived from petroleum)
While petroleum jelly has been a recommended go-to for many years, what seems to be a protective barrier is really doing more harm than good. (And it actually doesn’t moisturize your skin!)
Petroleum’s Pesky Entourage
While the witching effects of petroleum are frightening enough, the list of deviants doesn’t end there. Equally menacing ingredients include: BHA, BHT, Parabens, fragrance, flavor, and traces of lead. Additionally, lip products containing sunscreen agents such as Oxybenzone, Octinoxate, and Homosalates pose another set of health concerns.
It may be tempting to trying that candy corn flavored gloss or that crimson shade of lipstick, but your mummy knows better. She’d remind you that the FDA does not require cosmetic ingredients to be tested or approved. Fragrance and flavor are considered trade secrets, and their chemical composition usually remains undisclosed.
What’s the Harm in a Little Lipgloss?
It may seem trivial to worry about a little gloss ingestion, but consider this: the average woman reapplies somewhere between 2 and 14 times a day (2). This consistent reapplication adds up to a substantial amount over a lifetime.
Petroleum products have been found to be potential hormone disruptors, can lead to reproductive problems, and may be carcinogenic. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed 1, 4 dioxane (a petroleum-derived product found in cosmetics) to be one of the possible carcinogens (1). Although less severe, petroleum can also irritate skin, cause allergies, and clog pores.
In 2011, the Journal for Women’s Health found unmetabolized mineral oil in both the mother’s fat tissue and milk samples, citing cosmetics as a relevant source (3). Sun-screening ingredients have been found to be a potential source for hormone and endocrine disruption. Parabens have been reported as a potential source of toxicity and hormone disruption (2). It seems a little gloss leaves a heap of trouble behind.
The Perfect Treat for Your Lips
Because no one wants dry, chapped lips and everyone loves the perfect, pouty color to enhance their look, we will never drive a stake through the heart of this cosmetic must-have. Instead, reach for a natural lip gloss or lip color that contains one or more of the following ingredients:
- Beeswax or Carnauba Wax
- Shea, Mango, Jojoba or Cocoa Butter
- Coconut, Sweet Almond, or Grapeseed Oil
- Natural, Plant-Based Pigments
These colors and glosses are pure, moisturizing, and luxurious. We recommend our entire line of KIND kisses when you want the best ingredients and soft, luscious lips. This Halloween don’t be tricked into buying a lip product with a scary set of ingredients. Instead, treat yourself to the sweet goodness of Honey Kisses. The goblins in your life will love The Block Beer & Bacon Fat lip balm. And when the sun rises on a new day, you can rest assured you’ve done your part to keep your family safe and healthy.
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