TEST Lipsticks

RED CARD

This is a translation of the german OekoTest magazine article. For the full german article, click here.

Color on the lips is back in full trend, be it bright red or soft pink. So we put 306 lipsticks under the microscope. The result: the vast majority is very bad.

Poppies or coral? Bright pink or powdery rosé? The favorite lipstick comes in dozens of colors. Some colors accompany their clientele for years; especially the natural cosmetics manufacturers remain loyal to their shades. Conventional manufacturers on the other hand create shades, which are seasonal and soon have to make room for a new trend. The color used not only depends on what matches complexion, eyes or hair. Fashion is more brutal. Remember the 1980s? Canary bird eyeshadow, blue mascara and pink lipstick - that was cool. And it didn’t bother anybody. Many colors from that time can now be found in make up cases again, even neon is no longer a taboo. But also delicate powdery shades, the basic gear for the so-called "nude" look, are trendy.

The shades and nuances we will be wearing in 2011, may have already been identified this summer by Intercolor network, a non-profit organization that incorporates 14 countries. The most recent meeting took place in Lyon in June. Since the middle of the 1950s, Intercolor has been providing the industry twice a year with recommendations where the color trend might go. Or rather: should go? "One cannot force Zeitgeist," says Niels Holger Vienna, who represents the German Fashion Institute: "We explore trends and moods, analyze developments in politics, culture, society and fashion." He claims it to be like a puzzle; but one that portrays a mood; which colors might mirror the world of tomorrow. Twice a year, fashion designer Vienna and his colleagues put together a color-card consisting of 32 colors. Often it is not the various shades that are new, but the color sequences, which create new harmonies.

Anyone who believes the poor economic condition is turning the future black is wrong. "Darkness is only one topic; many bright tones and gentle colors (“neon pastels”) are also in," explains Vienna. Like him, his colleagues see this crisis as an opportunity. Keywords such as sustainability, quality or realism have not just surfaced last fall. "Not everything has to be clean and perfect anymore," says Vienna, "the development is leaning towards being easier and more relaxed. Old and new may be combined. And one may ask: do I need this?" We purchased one cream lipstick each of 21 brands and took all the colors that we could find in department and drugstores. A combined total of 306 shades was sent to the lab to find out whether problematic or hazardous substances were used in the lipsticks.

The test result

Out of 306 lipsticks, 121 products received an “unsatisfactory”, 44 others were awarded a “poor” grade.

Below is a translation of the test results for certified natural lipsticks. Please find referenced notes at bottom of article.

All around recommendable are all tested lipsticks by Dr. Hauschka, Lavera and Logona. Only one conventional brand received a "very good" for its products: all of the 20 shades of Schlecker’s [b] basic line lipstick are fine. No colored glimmer of hope for the following: Artdeco Perfect Color Lipstick, Astor Soft Sensation Vitamin & Collagen, La Roche-Posay Novalip Rouge Satin, Lancôme L’Absolu Rouge Crème lipstick, Maybelline Jade Moisture Extreme and Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick. All tested color shades of these lipsticks received a “poor” and “unsatisfactory”.

All around recommended: Dr. Hauschka, Lavera, Logona and the [b] basic-series by Schlecker. Depending on what color pigments are used, additional pollutants get into the basic formulation - and in any normal cream lipstick pigments can amount to up to 10 percent of the lipstick. Particularly critical is dye CI 17200, which can separate the cancer-causing aniline. This substance was found by the commissioned laboratory in eight hues of Nivea Beauté Colour Passion and also in the luxury lipsticks of Chanel and Dior. Most of the suppliers use halogenated color pigments in one or two colors, recognizable as CI 45410, CI 45380, CI 12085 or CI 73360 on the list of declared ingredients. And many shades contain the yellow dye tartrazine (CI 19140), which is suspected to trigger itching and rashes when getting into the body through the lipstick. In ten lipsticks aniline, which is suspected to cause cancer, is detectable.

Waxes and fats are responsible for the adhesion on the lips. Often, castor oil or candellila wax are used. Many compositions, however, also include paraffin, petroleum or synthetic substances such as silicones. Because a lipstick is little by little licked off the lips, these substances get into the body. Paraffin, for example, can accumulate around organs in the body such as the liver or lymph nodes. Therefore, we have taken two points off for paraffin/petroleum/silicones. These fats and waxes are off-limits in organic products. The lipsticks of Börlind and Schlecker do without as well.

Sun protection factors such as Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate and Benzophenone-3, which act as a hormone in animal testing, are contained in the lip colors of Astor, Artdeco, Lancôme, Maybelline Jade and Rimmel. Allergy causing perfumes Hydroxycinnamal and/or cinnamyl alcohol were pointed out in the lipsticks of Lancôme, Astor and Rimmel as well as in L'oreal Color Riche-lipsticks and P2 lipsticks from Dm.

Below is a summary of the results for the remaining international brands tested.

Chanel and Dior have once again shown that expensive cosmetics often are not worth your money. Two particularly chic French brands, Chanel and Dior, refused to provide us with a detailed ingredient listing of their products, which, according to cosmetics regulations, they are required to do. Either way: just because of the proven aniline as well as the content of paraffin/petroleum/silicones Chanel Rouge Allure Lip Colour, 09 Lover and Rouge Dior Lipcolor, 999 Celebrity Red received an "insufficient".

Procter & Gamble, manufacturer of Max Factor Colour Collections lipsticks, didn’t want to reveal the exact ingredients of their tint 120, Icy Rose. For this silence we made a deduction. All in all, we had to give a final verdict of "insufficient".

The purchase

For the test we shopped in large drugstores and department stores and bought lipsticks of 21 cosmetic brands - completely normal cream lipsticks, which neither promise to stay on particularly long, nor perform special effects on the lips. Almost always, we were able to gather the whole palette of colors of the brands.

Problematic ingredients

The basic composition in a line of lipsticks is always the same. Depending on the shade, different mixes of pigments are added. The manufacturer only needs to assemble one list of ingredients for all shades of the color palette – with a "may contain" or "+/-". Anybody who would like to know which of these substances are contained in a special shade must inquire with the manufacturer. Which we did.

A representative of the colors was analyzed regarding critical substances such as diethyl phthalate, perfumes, which may cause allergies as well as nitro and polycyclic musk connections. In addition, the list of ingredients was checked regarding dubious UV filters, halogenated color pigments, tartrazine, paraffin/petroleum/silicones and PEG/PEG-derivatives. Additionally, we had lipsticks, which contain CI 17200, checked for aniline. Also, those who did not want to tell us what pigments were used, were analyzed regarding their tartrazine content.

The assessment

In many of our cosmetic tests, the assessment of ingredients is similar. Nevertheless, we always check very carefully whether a product remains on the skin, is washed off or even makes its way into the body. The latter is true for lipsticks. Therefore, paraffin/petroleum/ silicones are reviewed with a stricter standard than in a body lotions or creams.

Author: Maren Klein/Christine Throl

Article Notes