How often do you take a look at the ingredients that you put on your skin? Have you ever taken the time to see what chemicals are in your favorite brands of make up?

Harsh chemicals and other disturbing ingredients have been allowed to be put into makeup for centuries. Even in ancient times, as far back as 4,000 BCE, chemicals such as lead and copper, which are deadly to the skin, were used in beauty products like eye shadow, blush, and mascara.

Though we don’t have people dying from chemicals in makeup anymore, the ingredients that are allowed to be sold and put onto our bodies is disturbing. According to The Environmental Working Group there are about 10,500 ingredients in makeup products and only 13 percent have been safely tested.

Currently, harsh substances such as Retinyl Palmiate, road kill, and even beetles are used in makeup products that we use daily. Retinyl Palmiate, that was once used in Revlon and Almay concealer and have now been taken off the shelf, is a chemical that broke down under UV light that produces radicals and caused gene mutations. Also as disturbing as it sounds road kill and South American Beetles are boiled down, dried up, and crushed up into small particles to be used in lipsticks, eye shadows, and blush.

I hope that next time you go to buy your favorite lipstick or other brand of makeup you take a good look at what you’re about to put on your skin.

Article by Haley Bain