Pretty colors, glosses, matte lipsticks, and lipsticks with glitter - they are all so fun, so flattering. But what happens to the lipstick during the day, as it fades? Where does it go?

The truth is, a lot of it goes into our digestive track. Some say that women ingest up to four pounds of lipstick in a lifetime.¹ All you have to do is lick your lips, and whatever is in your lipstick starts the voyage through your body. As you consume a meal, drink your coffee, or get lipstick on your teeth by mistake, you're getting toxins in your system. To make matters worse, lipstick can be absorbed right through our lips, directly into our bloodstream.

According to the non-profit group The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, "Lipstick products, like candy, are directly ingested into the body."²

Fortunately, there are new brands out there with lipsticks that are free of harmful ingredients. Ingredients that won't leave toxins in your bloodstream.

According to Environmental Working Group ³, the safest lipsticks you can buy include products from the following companies:

• Miessence
• Afterglow Cosmetics
• Coastal Classic Creations
• Cargo
• Elusyion
• Zosimos
• Inika
• Beauty with a Cause
• Outside/In
• Gourmet Body Treats
• ColorScience
• Signature Minerals

Other, equally safe lipsticks, include: ⁴

• bareFaced Mineral Cosmetics Natural Lipstick
• BioElements LycoPlex Lipstick (Papaya)
• Cosmic Tree Essentials Lip Care Confections Lipstick
• Honeybee Gardens Truly Natural Lipstick
• Raw Natural Beauty, LLC Raw Color Primal Pigments Pure Botanical Lipstick
• Zosimos Botanicals

I've also researched the following brands on my own, and found them to be as safe as those previously listed:

• Mineral Fusion
• Befine Lip Serum (a plant-based lip gloss)
• Gabriel Cosmetics lipsticks (top ingredients are jojoba oil, castor oil, candelilla wax, and sesame oil)
• Bare Minerals' 100% Natural Lipcolor (made with natural waxes and plant extracts).

How to Wear Lipstick Safely

The key to using safe lipstick is knowledge. Keeping up with the news out of consumer groups, reading cosmetic company websites - some makeup brands do disclose their ingredients on their sites - and staying away from makeup that you know nothing about, are all ways we can protect ourselves.

Footnotes:

1. AfterglowCosmetics.com
2. "New Product Tests find Lead in Lipstick," The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, new release Oct. 11, 2007.
3. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/
4. Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Base (as of Sept. 2008)