SWAP IT OUT- LIPSENSE

I've seen way too many girls become Lipsense reps lately, so today's #SwapItOutSunday is all about this brand, which I avoid. If you're new to my blog, every Sunday I tell women to swap out one dirty item for one clean item to reduce the amount of toxins they're exposed to. LipSense isn't the first or last brand I'll talk about when it comes to ingredients, and this post is mostly for people who may have been misled by this brand, since a lot of people email me to ask if this product is clean or not.

Several groups, like EWG and Think Dirty, gave me ideas for this post. All of the sources are linked in each ingredient. Also, to everyone who says these are not the ingredients, these are from more than one Lipsense product. If you go to the Lipsense website and look at the LipSense products, you can find all of the ingredients listed below in LipSense Liquid Lip Color, LipSense Gloss, LipSense Oops! Remover, and LipSense Lip Balm.

There is also a blog by a Chemist that Lipsense reps love to use to argue against this. While she is right about some of her scientific findings, she completely ignores the fact that many studies show that using similar products together, over time, can pose health risks. I have also worked on different projects with chemists, and I can tell you that they also share wrong information. People can find the research if they want to, but in the end, it's up to each person to decide what products they want to use. If you only use Lipsense once, you probably won't have these problems. But if you use Lipsense along with 30 other products with similar ingredients for years and years, you start to put yourself at a higher risk.

First of all, if a product stays on "too long," that's usually not a good sign. It's likely made of paint-like chemicals that I don't want on my skin, especially in places where I could eat it. Second, I don't like their selling points because most of them don't really mean much. Even if something is vegan or doesn't test on animals, that doesn't mean it is safe. Most of the time, it just means that they use fake versions of those things and let their supplier do the animal testing instead. They also say that their products are "gluten free," but did you know that gluten molecules are too big to get into your pores?

Yes, you should be careful about putting gluten near your mouth and eating it, but the risk of absorption is not there in most cosmetics. Women have bad reactions, like chapped and peeling lips, to the ingredients, which are anything but clean. Many Lipsense reps try to defend the tingling and burning women feel, but I don't see why anyone would want to feel that when there are natural, clean, non-irritating lipglosses on the market.

What Can You Find in Different Lipsense Products?

• Propylene Glycol: Lipsense glosses have Propylene Glycol in them, which is also used in antifreeze, paint, and electronic cigarettes. Many salespeople say that alcohol is what is breaking down people's lip skin, but alcohol can irritate the skin and should never be used on pregnant women in particular.
• Parabens: The EWG says that this preservative has been found in breast tumors and is linked to problems with hormones, allergic reactions, and other things. This is a penetration enhancer, which means it makes it easier for other bad ingredients to get into your skin.
• Phenoxyethanol is a common replacement for parabens that have been linked to dermatitis, damage to organ systems, and problems with reproduction. This is basically what you drink when you drink alcohol; it's just been "denatured." When you eat this, not only does it dry out your lips a lot, but it has also been linked to birth defects and cancer.
• Ferric Ferrocyanide: This ingredient is thought to be toxic and has been linked to damage to organ systems and allergic reactions.
• Parfum–I never buy anything that says "parfum" or "fragrance" unless it's 100% natural. Synthetic smells are annoying, and they can mess with hormones and cause allergic reactions.
• Acrylates Copolymer: This ingredient is often tested on animals and has been linked to skin irritations and allergic reactions. Depending on where it comes from, it could also be contaminated with toxins.
• Propylene Glycol has been linked to allergic reactions, contact dermatitis, and organ system toxicity.

As you can see, I wouldn't use this line, but luckily there are other brands that don't have all of these things.