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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

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Beetles and cow dung and breast milk—oh my—the secret ingredients in your beauty products

editor

A few months ago the NY Times ran a story about a cosmetic science program for kids where the students are taught what actually goes into makeup, perfume and creams. The piece was cute—filled with a lot of "ick's" and "ew. gross's"—and let readers in on a few industry secrets (whale puke is found in many perfumes, Cochineal beetles are often used for lipstick coloring, etc).

Then last week, while I was surfing my favorite blogs, I came across a story on the Beauty Brains which addressed the same issue with a little more depth.
And let me tell you something: Things have gotten weird out there, girls.

Beyond just whale puke and bugs, the BB post lists off sheep placenta, old cooking oil, human breast milk, snake venom, chicken bone marrow, cow dung, and—heck, why not?—bull semen as the raw materials found in all manner of beauty-enhancing detritus.

Is it just me, or is something about this really gross? And I'm not talking "Ew. Gross." No, I mean desperate and sad gross. I hate to think about all the research, time and money that goes into determining if bull semen can fill in my fine lines or if cow dung, through careful manipulation, will ultimately make me smell sweeter.

Am I crazy, or does this all seem totally out of control?
Read the original post by clicking here.

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From the Community…

Comments 1-10 of 33
  • Kayla's Avatar
    Posted by Kayla Mon Jul 28, 2008 7:43am PDT

    Yes, it's true, there are alot of wierd things in your make-up and alot of things that are really bad for you

    I used organic stuff

    ♥ Kayla

    Report Abuse
  • BrittanyF's Avatar
    Posted by BrittanyF Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:57am PDT

    I understand that much of beauty products used contain unusual and really just gross materials, but just becuz the product is organic does that mean it doesn't contain any of those weird things if those things were organic.

    Report Abuse
  • Cathy's Avatar
    Posted by Cathy Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:00am PDT

    YUCK YUCK YUCK AND MORE YUCK

    Report Abuse
  • Cathy's Avatar
    Posted by Cathy Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:00am PDT

    YUCK YUCK YUCK AND MORE YUCK

    Report Abuse
  • jessicatastrophe_70x7's Avatar
    Posted by jessicatastrophe_70x7 Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:03am PDT

    that is really...

    disgusting.

    ugh *shudder*

    Report Abuse
  • Wendy P's Avatar
    Posted by Wendy P Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:22am PDT

    I'm gonna puke!!!

    Report Abuse
  • Alice's Avatar
    Posted by Alice Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:27pm PDT

    I THINK THAT IT IS NICE TO SEE

    Report Abuse
  • Alice's Avatar
    Posted by Alice Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:30pm PDT

    ALICE THOMPSON I DO LIKE BETLES THERE NICE TO SEE.

    Report Abuse
  • Alice's Avatar
    Posted by Alice Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:33pm PDT

    MY NICKNAME IS LUIGIS.

    Report Abuse
  • Alice's Avatar
    Posted by Alice Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:33pm PDT

    I LOVE TO ROCK &ROLL

    Report Abuse
Comments 1-10 of 33

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