These shocking facts about lipstick might just keep you off them!

Our lipstick pigment stays on for long hours during the day and many times we sleep with it too! Such a practice is definitely not the healthiest and we have dermatologist Dr Shefali Trasi to clarify and point out how our lipsticks are harming us.

How do lipsticks harm us?

Lead is the commonly found harmful content in lipsticks. It mainly affects the nervous system and harms the hormonal system. Lipsticks are known to cause allergy and irritation over the lips and the surrounding skin. Other harmful effects include blockage of pores, drying and chapping of lips. Certain harmful ingredients are known to cause cancer, also, heavy metal poisoning are present in minute quantities in our lipsticks.

How do the pigments in our lipsticks affect our lips?

Lipstick pigments contain harsh chemicals that irritate the skin and lead to blackening of lips or on can even cause leucoderma due to melanocyte destruction. Also, be watchful off the expiry date of your cosmetics.

What are the ingredients in lipsticks we should avoid?

Lipsticks contain many harmful ingredients. These include chiefly toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury and antimony. In addition to lead, lipsticks may contain formaldehyde, a preservative and known carcinogen, mineral oil substances are also known to block pores while parabens like carcinogens are often used as preservatives. Lipstick manufacturers are also using harmful petrochemicals to produce such lip formulas. Do you know about these harmful ingredients in your cosmetics?

What happens if we digest these pigments?

Lip formulas tend to be ingested after long hours of application, so the impact of the present toxins increases. Researchers have found that average lipstick or lip gloss use resulted in women exceeding daily intake guidelines for aluminium, cadmium, chromium and manganese. These accumulate in your body over time and cause toxicity. Also, sleeping with lipstick increases the chances of all the harmful effects mentioned and hence, is to be strictly avoided. Here is why you should give make-up a miss sometimes.

Image source: Getty Images

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