Did you know that our bodies absorb about 5lbs of makeup chemicals a YEAR through your skin? Via.
That means in a lifetime, if you were to live until you are 80, assuming you started wearing makeup daily at 16, you would have absorbed approximately 320 pounds of makeup.
I also read somewhere that women eat up to 4 lbs of lipstick as well if they wear it. Via.
That’s pretty incredible!
And while some guys and girls might say: MAKEUP IS NOT NECESSARY, they’re technically right.
But I’ll bet you that any person who thinks a fresh-faced woman doesn’t wear makeup, may not realize that in a lot of cases, she has SOME on, she’s just skillfully applied it.
However, studies have shown that if women wear just a bit of makeup, they are taken more seriously at work, are seen as more professional and polished.
Women who wear makeup earn up to 30 percent more than those who “cant be bothered,” according to a study in the American Economic Review.
Note that they are probably referring to women who are wearing SMALL amounts of makeup, rather than caking on the foundation or concealer and looking like they’re wearing a flesh-coloured masque instead.
I am not trying to be a fear monger here either, but a waitress was actually fired in San Diego for not conforming to management standards that requested their waitresses wear makeup on the job to project an upscale, polished image. Via.
Shenoa Vild hates to wear makeup. Face goop is simply not for her. She happens to think she has a naturally healthy, vibrant complexion. After meeting her, I have to agree.
But Vild, a waitress, says her former boss had an entirely different opinion.
He wanted Vild to wear makeup.
She wouldn’t.
So, she says, she got canned.
I wear makeup – just not daily
Unlike Vild, I enjoy it. I feel like I am actually at work, and it reminds me to stay professional because if I am makeup-less, it’s usually reserved for times of very casual times where I stay in sweatpants and a hoodie.
You know how some people say that they MUST dress up each morning in a suit or whatever, to feel like they’re actually at work, even if they work from home?
That’s me, but it’s more of a vanity/fun thing than a real necessity for me.
If I was forced to, or asked NOT to wear makeup, I wouldn’t feel naked just coming to work as is.
If I feel like it, or if the need arises, I head out the house with a totally bare face, save for some SPF protection.
I don’t have hangups about my appearance, or my uneven, normal and natural complexion, because I am not an airbrushed picture in a magazine.
On the weekends, or when I am not doing anything in particular, I’ll go makeup-less.
In fact, for most of 2009, I was makeup-less because I was at home, blogging away.
…but it doesn’t hurt to pare down on what we’re using
“Many women are using over 20 different products a day, bombarding themselves with hundreds of different chemicals.
They should be asking themselves ‘is that eyelash conditioner really essential?’ “
Many use more than 20 different beauty products a day striving to look their best while nine out of 10 apply make-up which is past its use by date.
Honestly? Eyelash conditioner? Lip scrub? Separate eye creams? Wrinkle creams?
I don’t wear any of that, buy it, or use it.
For my hair, I only use shampoo (SLS-free) when I need to, and I use coconut oil to rub on the ends of my hair, which makes it smell nice, and adds protein to stop the strands from breaking.
I also stopped dying my hair, and therefore, got rid of all the hair creams and products I used to slather on.
Now my hair behaves exactly the way I wanted it to in the beginning.
Top 5 ingredients to look out for:
Note: This is just my personal opinion as well.
You may think that small doses of the following ingredients are fine as they’ve been approved by the FDA for human use, so please don’t think I’m trying to blame scientists or create fear.
Some synthetic compounds involved have been linked to side effects ranging from skin irritation to premature ageing and cancer.
“If lipstick gets into your mouth it is broken down by the enzymes in saliva and in the stomach. But chemicals get straight into your bloodstream, there is no protection.”
Phthatale Family: Also known as di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and di(2-ehtylexyl) phthatale (DEHP).
Use: Nail polish, body lotions, hair-straighteners and sprays.
Risks: phthatales are endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) as well as carcinogens which have been linked to a variety of problems such as damage to the reproductive organs, premature breast development, lung, liver and kidney cancer. They have also been linked to lowered sperm counts and testicular injury.
Lauryl Sulfate:Also known as SLS and Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES).
Use: Shampoo, body and shower gels, bath salts and toothpaste.
Risks: lauryl sulfate is believed to be a carcinogen which has been linked to kidney and liver damage. Other health risks associated with this chemical include nervous-system disruption, eczema, dermatitis as well as skin inflammation. It can also cause eye damage, notably cataracts.
Amine Family: This chemical family includes Diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA) and monoethanolamine (MEA).
Use: Face powders, shaving creams, hair-coloring products for both men and women as well as hair sprays. Amines are also used in soaps, sunscreens, foundations, concealers, eyeliners, talcs and face powders.
Risks: amines can form cancer-causing nitrosamines when they come upon contact with nitrates and are toxic when absorbed on a long-term basis. These chemicals found in common cosmetics have been linked to kidney and liver cancer. They are also irritants to the hair and skin and damaging to the eyes. They also cause contact dermatitis.
Formaldehyde: Also known as Diazolidinyl urea, 3-diol Imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM Hydantoin, Quaternium-15, Nitroopropane-1, Formalin, Methanal, Methyl aldehyde, Methylene oxide, Morbicic acid, Oxymethlylene.
Use: Variety of makeup products and other personal care products, including shampoos, conditioners, shower gels, nail polish, mascara, mouthwash, makeup remover, bubble bath, hair-care products, anti-perspirants and talcs.
Risks: chemicals of the formaldehyde family are carcinogens which can cause depression, headaches, fatigue, dizziness and immune dysfunction. They also cause allergic reactions, contact dermatitis and irritate mucous membranes. Formaldehyde can also lead to joint and chest pain.
Paraben Preservatives: Also known as alkyl-p-hydroxybenzoates (methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl.
Use: Nail creams, foundations, concealers, mascara, facial masks, deodorants, sunscreen, hair-coloring products and conditioners. They function as a germicide and preservative.
Risks: parabens can disrupt hormones, namely estrogen, which can lead to cancer. They have also been linked to breast cancer, but the studies are still being disputed. Parabens also cause skin rashes.
Via.
This post originally appeared on The Everyday Minimalist.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
For anyone who’d like to experiment with home-made cosmetics:
http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/2010/03/zero-waste-recipes.html
I don’t wear makeup. Maybe women who wear it make 30% more, but I doubt it. Not in my industry. Besides, I work in a fab. Makeup is an airborne contaminant to our wafers and is forbidden.
I have to admit to being exceptionally lazy. I wear lip balm every day, and my skin gets washed with bars of soap (though hands end up with more, given dish washing, and frequent hand washing). I also put moisturizer on my hands every day. That’s about it. I don’t wash my hair every day (that’s twice a week, but then I shampoo and condition).
When I wear “makeup”, I put on eye shadow and mascara, since I do a poor job of makeup application 😛 Even still, I do limit the amount of mascara I put on, since I like hearing from my optometrist that he can tell I don’t wear mascara, since my eyelashes aren’t disintegrating and are healthy. He can immediately determine who wears a lot of eye makeup, which I find very interesting.
It rubs the lotion on it’s skin or else it gets the hose again.
I don’t worry a lot about the chemicals in my beauty products — I know I’ve handled worse as a chemist. There’s so much fear-mongering about “chemicals”, and people automatically associate the word with “dangerous”. Everything has a chemical name that can make it sound scary to the general public.
As for how much make-up you absorb or ingest, your body gets rid of it too. It’s not just staying inside of you.
That said, I try not to overdo it with beauty products. I use shampoo, conditioner & soap — no lotions or special cleansers (I even wash my face with only water, which shocked the lady at the spa when I got a facial). Make-up I wear the general stuff: concealer, powder, blush, mascara, eyeliner and eyeshadow. But I wear it every day. I don’t really like being without make-up =p
i agree with you about the fear about “chemicals”. (a german satiric newspaper once managed anyhow to get an article published (in a really big newspaper) about the dangers of ” a newly discovered substance called Dihydroniummonoxid” (dihydrogen monoxide, H2O) and some thousands of people really believed it should be forbidden… . there has been another joke about Natriumchlorid (sodium chloride) being found in table salt)
but, as i wrote below, i do think that the skin absorbs some substances that aren’t healthy and are doing something with your body before it gets rid of them (like hormones).
It’s amazing how much product people use sometimes, and what it can do to your skin and health. For example, this video (http://jezebel.com/5817123/one-years-worth-of-makeup-is-applied-to-this-models-face) shows an application of a year’s worth of makeup at once. While it’s obviously not realistic in terms of having it *all* on your face at once, it makes you think!
I mainly use department store brands and I think I wrongfully assume that they do not contain the “bad” products. I have definitely simplified my routine over the years.
Hmmmm I rarely wear make-up, or so I thought. But now that I think about it I never leave the house without lipgloss/lip balm, polished nails and a clean face (for which, of course I do use products) I don’t enjoy wearing any type of foundation/eye make up except for the occasional mascara. I’m much more confident in my appearance without it. I had never considered how it’s perceived business wise however… hmmm!
I don’t think I even buy 5lbs of makeup a year let alone ingest that amount. I with the Telegraph had included where they had gotten their research on that one, the number sounds….. off.
Either way though, you’re right about trying to reduce or get rid of the cocktail of chemicals we barrage ourselves with. I wear minimal makeup to start with, but I still need to start looking at the product contents. Good info at the end of your post.
I agree. The Telegraph is just repeating an urban legend and with not citation. The skin is actually very good at keeping stuff out. It would certainly be hard to absorb five pounds of the stuff in a year. How much would one have to buy? If one absorbed even a tenth (which seems very high), one would have to buy not just 5, but 50 pounds of makeup.
The lipstick think is also a myth. See Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/lipstick.asp
But the advice here is still good. Don’t wear too much or too often and watch out on ingredients!
of course, these numbers seem quite ridiculous. but i believe that the skin absorbs more than we think. think about the contraceptive patch, or those with nicotine in it to be absorbed by the skin.
the skin may not absorb 50 pounds of actual mineral oil, talcum or pigments, but it definitly absorbs this tiny stuff (talking about phtalane, carcinomes, hormones and all that). mucous membranes absorb substances more easily (there are pills that have to be put under the tongue and the substances are absorbed very very quickly), which means that the unhealthy substances in lipstick could be more worried about than in blush. (that’s my guess. i’m not a scientist, at least not in natural sciences.)
even after puberty i had a terrible skin, even when i used natural cosmetics, and self-made mineral powders. i always thought i can’t go without makeup because of all the spots and grease.
but i made an experiment (being a university student helps a lot, though). i stopped using all the stuff and washed my face only with water and used a selfmade tonic (100ml distilled water with 1 table spoon dead sea salt, doesn’t get bad because it’s brine 😉 ) every other day. the first 3 weeks were terrible. but guess what? after another 3 weeks my skin was clear as baby skin!
i don’t need makeup any longer. i hate the feeling wearing makeup anyway. plus, i’m heading towards a career in the sustainability-thing, so i’m quite sure about never to have to wear makeup any more in my live! 🙂 (oh my god, is that an english sentence…?)
oops, i meant carcinogenic substances, not the carcinomes themselves, of course 😀 (english isn’t actually my mothertongue…)
i would call a lawyer if i’d get fired because of not wearing make up. that’s simply discrimination.
instead of wearing makeup to get an increase in wage i’d rather question all the stupid demands on women.
just my 2 cents as an emancipated woman. i hope one doesn’t have to have a degree in sociology like me to think like that…