The Best Lipstick Ingredients and What to Avoid

Women have been staining, coloring, and glossing their lips since ancient times, using ingredients such as berry juice to covertly color the lips before meeting a beau, or more serious mixtures like beeswax, oils, and red wine for those in the oldest profession... Even today, many little girls can’t wait to be deemed old enough to wear lipstick, and may color their lips with red jelly beans or other candies while playing. But the ingredients in the best lipsticks we purchase today have come a long way from berries and jelly beans, over time including some dangerous and questionable ingredients.

Thankfully, today people are much more aware of the dangers of not reading ingredients lists, and the cosmetics markets have responded by improving the ingredients in the best lipsticks to include some that are not only safe but beneficial for the lips. So what kinds of ingredients are included in today’s best lipsticks? While lipstick recipes vary widely, most contain some common basic ingredients including wax, pigments, oils, and emollients.

Mind Your Beeswax—Waxes Included in the Best Lipsticks of Today

Most of today’s best lipsticks include wax. Beeswax, candelilla, and carnauba waxes are popular lipstick waxes.

Beeswax, a product of honeybees, is a popular thickening agent in many cosmetics, including lipstick. Adding beeswax to the oils in lipstick helps to solidify the product and give it form, while also allowing a smooth application. While beeswax is a very common lipstick ingredient, those who are vegan prefer not to use any product made with animal or insect-based ingredients, making them more likely to choose lipstick made with non-beeswax. Beeswax also comes with the potential for allergic reactions.

Candelilla wax comes from the waxy outer layer of a small shrub known as the candelilla shrub. When used in lipstick it provides the same properties as beeswax to act as a thickening agent which allows the pigments and other ingredients to be rubbed smoothly on. Candelilla wax is not an animal or insect by-product, making lipsticks that feature it one of the best lipstick products for vegan users.

Carnauba wax comes from a species of palm tree, and is also sometimes called Brazil wax. It is also vegan-friendly and functions effectively as a cosmetics thickening agent for lipstick and many other products including mascara, stick foundation, and concealers.

Pigments for Prettying

Pigments are materials that add color by affecting the way light is absorbed and reflected. Pigments are insoluble, meaning they remain solid in liquid rather than dissolving and diffusing the way dye does. This makes pigment color bright and vivid, making it ideal for use in things like paint and cosmetics, with the best lipstick products featuring intensely coloring pigments in many shades. Pink shades of lipstick are the result of mixing titanium dioxide with various shades of red pigments. In order to be used in cosmetics, pigments have to undergo safety testing to ensure that they are safe for human use with low toxicity.

Pigments are added to lipstick in powdered form and may include mica pigments that make lipsticks opalescent or sparkly, or matte, depending on the type.

Enlivening Emollients and Oils in the Best Lipstick Products

Many of today’s best lipsticks are formulated with natural plant oils and mineral oils rather than the whale oil traditionally used in the first commercial lipsticks. In lipsticks today you will find jojoba oil, castor oil, olive oil, cocoa butter and other natural emollients that soothe and repair the lips, making those lipsticks beneficial to the health of the lips at the same time they make them pretty. Mineral oils, petrolatum, and lanolin are also sometimes used. Lanolin comes from sheep’s wool, making lipsticks made with this substance not vegan-friendly.

The amount of oil included in a lipstick’s formula is important to how it functions and appears. A higher concentration of oils makes a more sheer application, and less oil means richer, more vivid pigments.

Even the best lipstick choices of today generally contain some amounts of chemical preservatives and fragrances. If these are of concern to you, it may be important to read ingredient lists to search for such additives as parabens, phthalates, paraffins, and fragrance or perfume.

Resources— HealthCoach.com, Byrdie, C&EN

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