Why You Need to Break Up With Your Lipstick

As women, we love our lips. We line them, color them, stain them and plump them. We pucker up, we pose for selfies and we smooch our partner. Lips are a feature most of us love about our faces and we apply products religiously.

It’s rare to go bare when it comes to our lips. We have one chapstick in the car cupholder, a lipstick tube (or two) in our bag, a few of our favorite colors in our cosmetics drawer and a lip balm on our bedside table. We wear a different color depending on our outfit or occasion and we apply a matte look during the day and add high shine + gloss for girls’ night out.

Clearly, lips are a big part of our look and as women, we apply (and reapply) multiple lip products, multiple times a day.

The average woman uses 12 different products with 168 unique ingredients every day, according to research from the Environmental Working Group in Washington D.C. The majority of those unique ingredients are lab-made and linked to skin toxicity, allergies, infertility, hormone disruptors, and disease.

And when it comes to lip products, those risks are just as prevalent.

Think about it. We lick our lips, we sip a latte, we eat a salad… Cancer-causing chemicals, heavy metals and harmful toxins aren’t just dissolving into thin air, they’re being absorbed by our bodies and essentially, eaten. EW. According to the Huff Post, women consume an average of 7 pounds of lipstick in their lifetime.

Hundreds of lipsticks have been tested positive for toxic, heavy metals including lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and more. These metals are proven neurotoxins, carcinogens and pose serious problems for the reproductive + respiratory systems, brain, kidneys and other organs in the body. While some metals may be present in low levels, overexposure (ahem, how many lip products + how many times a day are we applying?) is detrimental to our health.

Is a pop of color on our pout really worth these deadly risks? We don't think so.

We hate to break it to you, but it's time to break up with your lipstick. For the sake of your beauty + well-being, toss out all of your lipsticks laying around and swap them out for lip products with ingredients that are good enough to eat. Look for these organic, non-toxic ingredients on your lip balm labels...

• Cocoa Butter: A healthy, nourishing fat that naturally heals + softens sensitive, delicate skin. Completely edible, cocoa butter is ultra-hydrating, high in antioxidants and protects lips from environmental damage.
• Beeswax: Locks in moisture and helps repair the most dry, chapped lips. Rich in vitamins, this natural skin-loving emollient improves the appearance + texture of lips.
• Extra Virgin Coconut Oil: The fatty acids in coconut oil moisturize + minimize inflammation, providing much needed relief for dry, irritated or chapped skin. Loaded with good fats, it repairs, protects and prevents moisture loss in lips.
• Essential Oils: Easily absorbed by the skin, essential oils provide aromatherapy benefits along with fatty acids, antioxidants and vitamins. These pure aromas have therapeutic + beauty benefits, plus are completely safe to apply (and reapply) on lips. In our opinion, flowers > fake flavors.

We're here to help you take control of your health and we know it may be hard to part with your beloved red lipstick, but here's a few clean beauty brands that we love, and know you will to - RMS Beauty, Ilia, Lily Lolo, Beauty Counter, and of course, Primally Pure.

With natural alternatives like the ones above, you can apply lip color all day, every day, without compromising your health or wondering what chemicals you're consuming. Now that's a reason to smile (and smooch!) all the more. :)