Lipstick, Lies, And Letters

I got another one today. You know, one of those warning letters from your friends, family and foes who want to see you die. It was warning me about the dangers of lead in lipstick. Apparently, lead in lipsticks causes cancer.

I truly appreciate the consideration of those who send me these emails. They are concerned for my welfare and safety. Except for the foes, they have other reasons. But honestly, I just wish they'd check out these things first, before forwarding it to me. It would save us both a lot of trouble. I will give you links further on that you can check if you don't believe me.

Let me just put the concerns to rest first. This is one of those false reports. It has a teensy bit of truth that is blown into a epidemic.

I will also alleviate any concern for my specific welfare. I don't wear lipstick. Constantly wearing lipstick actually makes your lips become paler. It acts as a sunblock. Sunlight is what puts the color in you skin and lips are skin. Of course, you should wear protection on your mouth to prevent windburn and sunburn if you will be out for extended periods of time but if it is ruby red lips you want, light is what you need. And it doesn't wash off.

Other things can also drain color from the skin. Extended prison stays will wash out the complexion and probably lips as well. I think they do give you an hour a day in the yard but I don't know if that is enough to make a difference. If any of you have this information I might actually like to know this. It would make a lot more interesting blog entry. Perhaps someone can weigh in on prison makeup tips.

Of course, if this little story were true, not wearing lipstick may have been the smartest thing I've ever done! Lead is not known to cause cancer but lead poisoning actually causes severe mental retardation in children and can cause other serious health issues in adults and children. But lipstick, well I suspect you'd have to consume tons to get a blip on the screening.

You can find it out for yourself, of course. I am including the link where you can verifiy this and all other urban ledgens and internet myths. www.truthorfiction.com or www.snopes.com Please pass these links along to your friends. I am sure they are sick of these chain letter as well. I also did a search myself and came up with this result page http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv8-msgr&p=lipstick%20and%20lead . I found several interesting comments on this but ultimately, it is false.