Is it Safe to Have Lead in Your Lipsticks?

Salam and Hey guys! 

Firstly, Happy Ramadhan to all the Muslims out there :*

I am so sorry for not being able to update my blog as frequent as possible. I have my final exam last week and now I am enjoying my holidays!

So lately I have came across some of you girls who are very concern about the 

LEAD CONTENT IN LIPSTICKS

Well, I had heard about this a few times but the idea never came across in my mind to find out more about it. So, here i am trying to do some research about it. All the info that I obtain are from FDA website or also known as Food and Drug Administration. Most of the pharmaceutical and cosmetic product are set by them.

So, 

WHAT IS THE REAL USE OF LEAD IN OUR LIPSTICK? IS IT THAT IMPORTANT THAT OUR LIPSTICKS MUST CONTAIN LEAD?

Yes, the picture itself is self explanatory. Lead helps to give that reddish look on your lips.

So here comes the real deal. Is it safe to wear any lead containing lipsticks? 

The answer is

Up to the individual

As a pharmacy student, we uphold into this one principle by this Toxicology Scientist named Paracelsus.

Everything in this world is poison. 

For example,

 Too much or too little oxygen are no good for us. 

Too much or too little sugar are no good for us. 

Everything in life needs Ying and Yang. 

BALANCE is the key.

Lead is something that is organic. In soil, there are lead. Lead is a natural element used in our cosmetic. That's why lead can be the cheapest and the best compound as our dyes.

The center is the FDA report confirming they found LOW levels of lead ranging from 7.19 ppm to less than 0.026ppm in 400 National brand lipsticks. PPM means part per million. It is like one in a million. The highest lead containing lipstick is about 7.19ppm which mean 7.19/1000,000. So can you see girls, actually the amount of lead is so little on one lipstick. Everytime that you are wearing your lipstick, how much do you think that the amount of lead on your lips? I mean it took me like 5 month to finish a lipstick if I were ever to wear  it everyday.

Yes, FDA haven't set the limit amount of lead in lipstick yet. That is why I am telling you girls that it is your choice to choose to wear lipstick with lead or not. And if you think about it, of course all the manufacturers will look at the income of their lipsticks. Would they want to produce a lipstick that will endangered the life of their customers? That mistake could cause their license to be terminated.

So in my opinion as a consumer, it is safe to wear a lead containing lipsticks. But, be sure to give your lips a day of 'free from lipstick day.' 

In case some of you who are still concern about this, I will put up this table from FDA to show you the amount of lead now present in some of the lipsticks.

ample #	Brand	Parent company	Lipstick line Shade # Shadea	Lot #b	Lead (Pb)c (ppm)d
1a	Cover Girl	Procter & Gamble	Incredifull Lipcolor 964 Maximum Red	7241S1	3.06
1b				5188S1	3.05
	Revlon	Revlon	ColorStay Lipcolor 345 Red Velvet	Compositee	2.91f
2				07298	2.38
3	Cover Girl	Procter & Gamble	Queen Collection Q580 Ruby Remix	7136	2.24
4	Body Shop	L'Oréal	Lip Colour 22 Garnet	C274EA	1.79
5	Cover Girl	Procter & Gamble	Continuous Color 435 Cherry Brandy	7228	1.76
6	L'Oréal	L'Oréal	Colour Riche 315 True Red	FD261	1.47
7	Revlon	Revlon	Super Lustrous 660 Bed of Roses	07208 1508 53	1.37
8	Maybelline	L'Oréal	Moisture Extreme F315 Cocoa Plum	WD2891	1.21
9	Revlon	Revlon	Super Lustrous 725 Love That Red	07284 1508 59	1.04
10a	L'Oréal	L'Oréal	Colour Riche 752 Classic Wine	FD064	0.79
10b				FD234	0.67
11	Clinique	Estée Lauder	Long Last FJ Merlot	AA7	0.55
12	Clinique	Estée Lauder	Long Last F9 Paprika	A87	0.48
13	Estée Lauder	Estée Lauder	Pure Color 1A3 Maraschino	B55	0.43
14	Burt's Bees	Clorox Company	Lip Shimmer g Merlot	1840701	0.33
15	Maybelline	L'Oréal	Moisture Extreme E215 Midnight Red	WD3041	0.23
16	PeaceKeeper	PeaceKeeper	Lipstick g Paint Me Compassionate	h	0.17
17	Dior	LVMH	Replenishing Lipcolor 752 Red Premiere	7A01	0.15
18	Dior	LVMH	Addict Ultra-Shine 750 Shiniest Sexiness	7D01	0.12
19	M.A.C	Estée Lauder	Matte g Viva Glam I	A67	0.10
20	Avon	Avon	Ultra Color Rich U250 Cherry Jubilee	h	0.09
				Average	1.07

I am not being a bias or anything but I'm putting this table for your knowledge about the product that you are wearing :)

So, I hope this will help you girls as much as it has helped me by doing a research about it.

Stay golden.
With love;

ZERA xx

References:

http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductsIngredients/Products/ucm137224.htm

http://lippygirlmakeup.blogspot.ca/2013/03/lead-is-poison-lipstick-is-not.html

Here are some refences  in case you guys wanted to do more research about it. FEEL FREE! :)

The Bad Side of Shisha

Salam and hello beautiful people. 

Today's topic is very very interesting to me. Because this had happen a lot in my daily life. I mean by knowing the people around me. Only yesterday I had done my Integrated Pharmacy Learning (IPL) for the title smoking cessation. 

But i am not going with that today. I will start to explain the one thing most of us like to smoke. 

SHISHA OR HOOKAH

Well, Hookah sounds cool to me *wear shades*

Most of us prefer Hookah when we are like hanging out with out friends. Why not right? It is not like we are smoking cigarette. And plus, none of us will be left out and we only need to pay for one Hookah. All this info That I am about to tell you is from the British Heart Foundation.

Firstly, I think why everybody love to Hookah is because of the sweet tingling feeling when we smoke. There is that flavouring that we all have to choose. Such as apple or strawberry. And that is like an added bonus for a sweet escape.

So now let me tell you about the bad part

1. Binding of the carbon monoxide to our red blood cells

Well, firstly let me explain to you about carbon monoxide chemical properties. Carbon monoxide is a type of toxic gas. So, when i say toxic means that they are pretty dangerous. The reason for it to be dangerous is that carbon monoxide has this properties that will bind to our red blood cell more favorably than our oxygen. And when there is a binding of carbon monoxide, the red blood cell can't carry our oxygen anymore. Thus, less oxygen to be delivered to our body thus our organ can't function optimally due to lack of oxygen.

2. Hookah contain nicotine 

Hookah is actually the same as cigarette. Both of them contain the deadly component called nicotine. Nicotine is a substance that can cause addiction. The scientists haven't determine the amount of how much nicotine contain in each puff. But, the more often you smoke Hookah, the higher the chance for you to get nicotine addiction. Some people mistakenly think that smoking Hookah will not cause addiction because of the water used in the pipe can absorb nicotine. But, there still could be enough nicotine content to be exposed to the smoker that can cause addiction. And when you are being posses by this nicotine addiction, it is very hard for you to stop. This is because there will be a withdrawn symptoms that most of us can't stand. The withdrawn symptoms are:

-Restlessness

-Eating more than usual

-Axienty/tension

-Impatience/anger

-Difficult in concentrating

-Excessive hunger

-Depression

-Disorientation

-Fatigue

-Dizziness

-Stomach or bowel problem

-Headaches

-Sweating

-Insomnia

-Heart palpitations(pounding heartbeat)

-Tremors

-Craving Hookah

3. One puff is equal to smoking a whole cigarette

As what the scientists found is that one puff of Hookah is equal to smoking A WHOLE CIGARETTES. Doesn't that scare you? I was shocked about that. And as what they found out, an average Hookah session is about one hour and that is about smoking as from more than 100 cigarettes!

4. There are many related smoking disease to be aware of

These are a few disease that you might get due to smoking no matter Hookah or cigarettes

Effect on Reproductive

-Spontaneous Abortion

-Placenta Previa

-Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS)

-Erectile Dysfunction

Effect on Cardiovascular Disease

- Coronary Heart Diesease

-Stroke

-Heart Attack

-Ischemia

Atherosclerosis

Respiratory Disease

-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD)

-Laryngitis

-Bronchitis

-Pneumonia

Cancer

-Lung Cancer

-Laryngeal Cancer

-Esophageal Cancer

-Pancreatic Cancer

-Kidney Cancer

-Urinary Bladder Cancer

Peptic Ulcer Disease

THERE IS A LOT RIGHT

And there is actually more! 

So guys, please think about your health. For those who knew any of your friends or family or their loved ones who loves to smoke Hookah, share them this knowledge cause you might save a life of a person.

Stay Golden

With love,

ZERA xx

References:

Smoking: Risk, Perception & Policy, 2001, Paul Slovic

https://www.bhf.org.uk/

Self Love

Love is a very famous topic to talk about in our everyday life.

Everyday we have always picture this scene about how or when will we fall in love or maybe what happen if we meet the right one or even the 'happily ever after'story.

This article is for those who had ever been disappointed in love or maybe just laying out to just wait for the right time

Salam and hello lovely people. I know mostly I write about health and today is for the health of the mind and soul.

Have you ever wonder when is the last time you bought yourself the most expensive shoes/bags/clothes that you have always wanted? When was the last time you went to the saloon or even a manicure? Have you make yourself a homemade blueberry pie for yourself? Have you ever been to a spa to give yourself the ultimate?

The question is have you ever love yourself?

So many people in this world talk about loving the other. To be selfless. But so little of us ever remind each other on self loving.

To me building up self loving is hard. It is so hard to ever pamper myself or spoil myself because most of the time I spend all the love in my heart to love someone else and ever be disappointed. All I'm saying is it is okay to love someone else but to me loving myself is more important.

1. Loving yourself is never a waste

Have you ever spent a lot of money on someone like to buy them gifts and to treat them but ended up disappointed? Well, I think everybody had experienced that kind of situation. But not just money. Time and energy too. What if sometimes spend more time with yourself? Eat some good food. Read an amazing book. Go and get yourself the best haircut. Be sure to always spend a little more money on yourself. I'm pretty sure that you can feel the difference in a MONTH!

2. Loving yourself help to teach you on how to accept others

Most of us will always nag on how imperfect we are. How come other girls can look effortlessly beautiful while you can't? Why other people can score more in their exam but not you, even if you strive harder to get a better result? Well, darling learn to accept yourself. Not everybody was ever born perfect. They made their way through to fix themselves to accept on who they are. If you are able to accept your flaws, I'm pretty sure accepting other people's flaws are just as easy.

3. Be healthy for yourself

When was the last time you exercise or eat a plate of that gorgeous green salad? Or cooked a less calories dinner for yourself? The other ways on how to show affection to yourself is to stay healthy. Get away from all those busy days and distress yourself. Go on for a walk in the park or go and climb a mountain to see a beautiful sunrise. Prepare yourself a good and healthy meals.

4. Be alone sometimes to help gain independence

Based on my experience ever since i was in high school, I was never alone. I was in all girls school and they have been such an angel to me. But when the times come and you have to be separated, it was hard for me to live on my own. This is all because I was too dependent on them. Try to go out alone sometimes. Based on me, going out alone can sometimes be total serenity where you don't have to pretend anymore because you are surrounded by strangers. You can go anywhere withou anyones' approval. But girls, be sure to keep safe surrounding or make sure to bring those emergency kit such as umbrella and pepper spray!

I had been on the shortest relationship last time and it had teaches me a lot of stuff. By then, I just realised on how much i had loved him but not myself. So, I started to spoil myself with good food, good friends, shop for myself, boost my inner confidence and try everyday to upgrade myself. One of the weird few ways on how to let go was i wrote a song about him just to please myself and show that a girl can do anything.

Find happiness in your own company so that the presence of people is a choice but not a need.

Stay golden

With love,

ZERA