CANCER....Right Under Your Nose!

When the topic ‘CANCER’ is talked about it sends shivers down my spine. For me the fear isn’t just because of the cancer awareness campaign or that I know people that have lost their lives to it and people that are struggling with the disease. It is because the so-called things that cause it are all around us, thanks to modernization. Much of it is what we ingest through our skin or mouth, from water to food to lipstick.....YES! your lipsticks, right under your nose. 

Most often all we care about as regards our lipstick/gloss include:  the colour (red and pink as best sellers), the amount and how long it lasts on our lips.

A single lipstick could contain natural and synthetic ingredients; waxes (such as beeswax), oils (castor oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, cocoa butter), fragrance, aloe vera, vitamin E, colorant(transition metals), alcohol, sunscreen etc. Most cosmetic companies do not disclose their lipstick or lip gloss lead content. 

*If your lipstick lasts really long, it just means the lead content is really high, hence the greater the chances of causing cancer.

Lead becomes an ingredient as a by-product from the lipstick making process, but more often it comes from the colorant used. Asides the worst being lead, lipsticks contains other dangerous substances like colorants, cadmium, methylparaben, propylparaben, chromium, retinyl palmitate, tocopheryl acetate (known as Vitamin E acetate) and aluminium. Although, the body may require some of these substances like cadmium, aluminium etc, there is a limit to its consumption; Like the saying too much of everything is bad.

Lead is a carcinogen (causes cancer) and a neurotoxin, excess consumption over time can affect the nerves, cause cancer, blood disorder, cramps, hormonal imbalance, poisoning, low IQ/brain disorder, seizures and even death.

Simply putting on your lipstick does you no harm. The harm begins when it gets to your tongue and  ingestion process begins. So here are some precautions you could take: In buying a lipstick,

*Always check for the ingredients

*Look out for lipsticks or gloss with natural ingredients

In a country like ours where a lot has gone wrong; it is true that there are more important things to worry about than the lead content of your lip colour. 

It is also true that if you don’t control the number of times you unconsciously lick off your lipstick/gloss or swallow in the process of eating, it may become the most of your worry in the future. 

PREVENTION IS KEY. 

Please Ladies, tell your fellow ladies; Men, please tell any lady you know and let’s keep up the fight again cancer.