Beauty has a blind spot that's been hiding right under our noses.
From the start, lip products have been classed as cosmetics, regulated as if they stay on the outside of the body. Science now proves we not only accidentally eat what we put on our lips, but we also absorb them through our thin lip skin and oral mucosa. Our peer-reviewed papers substantiate this blind spot and act as a call to action for consumer awareness and the modernization of lip product safety.
What about the regulations?
Most regulatory frameworks don't account for the incidental ingestion of lip products. The few that do, like the EU, assume a lipstick or balm is applied twice a day, a figure pulled from studies decades old. Modern usage has us applying up to 22 times that amount.
Then there's the biological blindspot: most regulatory frameworks don't assume any absorption. The ones that do (like the EU) use regular skin models. Lip skin and tissue however are far more absorbent than skin anywhere else on the face or body. Even the strictest cosmetic regulations in the world do not account for this difference.
Things have changed
The market, products, and consumer behaviour has changed. The regulations have stayed the same.
Today, lip products taste like food and perform for days on end (usually requiring plastic and microplastic film formers). They're so delicious, they're inspiring taste tests on TikTok. Viral social media trends have more people applying and reapplying countless times a day.
And, consumers are only getting younger.
And yet, cosmetic regulations have remained the same – lip products are still largely regulated like foot cream.
So, what are we letting in?
Plastics, microplastics and a host of ingredients never meant to be chronically ingested – or ingested at all. Titanium dioxide, used in most coloured formulas, is now banned from food in the EU because ‘no safe intake level’ could be established. Petroleum-derived waxes and oils, synthetic film formers and colourants cleared for skin with little to no chronic oral safety data behind them.