Are there Safe Cosmetics for Kids?

Gina Solomon responds:

Like adult cosmetics, kids makeup kits aren’t subject to approval by the Food and Drug Administration prior to sale, so your concern is warranted. In fact, in late 2007, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested randomly purchased lipsticks and found that one-third of the products tested had lead levels higher than the FDA allows in candy. FDA however has only recalled one product for having dangerously high levels of lead, the traditional eye cosmetic kohl (also called kajal, al-kahl, or surma) used by adults and children, which has been found to contain as much as 47 percent lead.

It’s best to buy healthier makeup products for yourself and your kids. Look for product that are made with plant-based colorants and petroleum alternatives—for instance, beeswax, castor oil or shea butter—as synthetic FD&C colorants and petroleum byproducts are possible sources of lead. To learn how to recognize safer products when you shop, read Beauty Secrets; it offers label-reading tips and lists what ingredients to avoid.

Since minerals are usually the only ingredients used in glitter powders, mix their favorite glitters with some body lotion or aloe vera gel so it doesn’t pose an inhalation risk (it also prevents tiny glitter particles from getting into eyes and causing irritation). Don’t buy glitter sticks, though they may not contain lead, they often do contain other chemicals that shouldn’t be used on kids, including parabens and glycol ethers.

A word about nail polish: Lead may not be your primary worry. Conventional nail products contain dibutyl phthalate, toluene and formaldehyde—all three ingredients are banned in the EU, and DBP and formaldehyde are listed on California’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer and/or reproductive disorders. There are peel-off polishes that are water-based and contain neither the “toxic trio” nor synthetic FD&C dyes that are possible sources of lead. But even if they have donned these safer products - don’t let your kids bite their nails, they should peel off the polish with their fingers, never their teeth. Even safer polishes contain ingredients, like acrylic polymers and polyurethane binding agents, that shouldn’t be ingested.

Do let your kids enjoy dress up, but play it safe with healthier makeup products.