Here's a new one liner for all you gals who like to wear that stuff. Don't give me that lip again... but I've just learned that Sarah's lipstick can kill a pig! And this news is more than just another one of those political smear campaigns.
Barack was right. Lipstick on a pig is not a good thing. According to the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., many of the products we use -- cosmetics, perfumes, household cleaners and detergents -- can cause cancer. Why? Many contain carcinogens which have proven to cause cancer when tested on laboratory animals. (What a crime.)
Laboratory rats and mice are one thing -- but Sarah's choice in lipstick could kill a pig -- maybe humans too.
For example, that bronze color, iced mocha, might be Revlon's Super Lustrous Frost Lipstick. If so, here is what it contains:
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: PADIMATE 0. INACTIVE INGREDIENTS: LANOLIN OIL, CASTOR OIL, CETYL ACETATE, OCTYL HYDROSTEARATE, CANDELILLA WAX, OCTYL PALMITATE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL RICINOLEATE, CERESIN, PARAFFIN, ACETYLATED LANOLIN ALCOHOL, CARNAUBA, PVP/HEXADECANE COPOLYMER, VITAMIN E ACETATE, ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, ROSE HIPS SEED OIL, FRAGRANCE, METHYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN, BHA. MAY CONTAIN: MICA, IRON OXIDE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, D&C ORANGE NO. 5, D&C RED NO. 21 ZIRCONIUM LAKE, FD&C YELLOW NO. 6 ALUMINUM LAKE, D&C RED NO. 27, D&C RED NO. 27 ALUMINUM LAKE, FD&C YELLOW NO. 5 ALUMINUM LAKE, FD&C BLUE NO. 1 ALUMINUM LAKE, D&C RED NO. 6 BARIUM LAKE, D&C RED NO. 21, D&C RED NO. 6 CALCIUM LAKE, D&C RED NO. 7 CALCIUM LAKE, D&C RED NO. 33 ALUMINUM LAKE, D&C ORANGE NO. 5 ZIRCONIUM LAKE, BISMUTH OXYCHLORIDE.
Pretty scary stuff! At first I thought Aluminum Lake and Barium Lake are naturally derived ingredients, maybe even a place where you could rent a boat and fuse with nature... but then I learned they are dyes and contain carcinogenic properties.
Dyes -- what a strange word. Who in their right mind working for a laboratory in research and development would ever concoct a food coloring or additive made from synthetic sources, some of which are proven to cause cancer?
What's this Yellow Number 5 stuff and the Red Number 21 -- a game of Russian roulette? You got that right. And zirconium lake -- is that near Lake Placid, the place where most consumers would prefer to dwell rather than ask the question: is this stuff safe or is it going to kill me or my five-year-old daughter?
But what about pigs? Just how safe is this stuff? I guess you could put lanolin on a pig and give it Castor oil, but then you wouldn't want to hang around the pen -- things might get too stinky.
Carnuba. I recognized that ingredient -- I use it on my car and I just found out it's in my nail polish. Wow! Isn't that amazing! Polished nails that won't streak.
But then I learned something really scary. The ingredients in this product are linked to cancer, as well as developmental and reproductive toxicity. Using it could lead to neurotoxic endocrine disruption, persistent bio accumulation, organ system toxicity, and miscellaneous irritation to the skin, eyes or lungs.. and if that doesn't make you ill, this will: according to the report Skin Deep, a link on the Environmental Working Group's home page, the manufacturer does not comply with the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. Another words, Revlon refused to sign the compact for full disclosure yet they are more than willing to sell you their toxic compacts.
Okay, lipstick on a pig -- what's the big deal? I have learned that many cosmetic manufacturing companies test these ingredients on animals to bring home the bacon. Just think about the international sales from lipsticks alone and if you think the daily price for the war in Iraq is excessive -- which it is -- and now bordering on insanity, imagine the profit from sales of lipstick? Gabillions. Why Revlon could deploy arsenals of Super Lustrous Frosty Iced Mocha's... what a concept! A new kind of deadly weaponry only its ingredients are invisible.
I'll admit it! I wear lipstick and no! I haven't checked out the ingredients of the brands I buy. But I have checked the facts politically and Barack is right and Sarah's wrong.
In this case, lipstick has nothing to do with animals but it has a lot to do with our right-to-know. I'll choose the one who said, "Putting Lipstick on a Pig."