Emets and Makeup?

[samara's on tv]

I was watching The TYRA Show like last week or something and they did a test on makeup that you would findin your purse, cabinet, house, whatever. Well they tested the lipstick and they found all this nasty stuff in it and the scientist who was showing the slides said that it was most likely E-Coli in her lipstick! I'm like freaking out cause I didn't remember that until today AFTER I put my lipstick on (I don't wear makeup much so the fact sort of went away and then came back) Two questions...what are the chances of me getting E-Coli, and is it true that E-Coli can live on Lipstick/other makeup? It seems a little far fetched to me. And I mean if I DIDN'T see the show (DAMN YOU NO CABLE APARTMENT) I would have gone on wearing my makeup anyway. Anyone know the answers to my questions?


~Monica

[_ruby]

i've never heard that, but i'm sure its possible.
do you know if it was all makeup, or just that brand?
i'm curious now also.

[sillygirl]

That seems a little far fetched to me. If I use a lipstick when I am sick I will throw it away just in case there are germs on it and I never share my makeup with anyone, but I don't see how all of these germs would magically appear on makeup.

[crimgoddess]

Monica- there is probably likely that a small amount of e coli is present on some makeup items (hell, it's present on pretty much anything that humans are in contact with!), but it's likely not enough to make you sick. I have been wearing makeup since I was about 10, and have yet to be able to trace any sort of illness to it. If this was a major problem, think about how sick so many women would be all the time!


In an episode of mythbusters where they were testing toothbrushes in the bathroom for fecal matter, even their control slides (ie- what they were using to develop a baseline measure), had a small amount of fecal matter on it. It's pretty much an unavoidable by-product of being human.


I wouldn't be overly concerned- I'm assuming it would need to be injested in a decent amount in order to make you sick.


*amber*Edited by: crimgoddess

[daffodil]

Do you know if the makeup they tested was brand new, or had been used yet?

[marieb73]

If I feel n* or have really bad d*, I tend to throw out any lipstick or lip balm I may have used that day in case it's an sv. I don't want it to be harbored in there for my next use.

[tcsarah]

I don't wear lipstick very often so the ones I have last me years and years. They have never made me ill.

[junglemonkey]

Do you ever hear anyone say "I got sick from putting on lipstick?"


We actually have more bacteria on us than we have human cells. Bacteria are on everything but normally DON'T make us sick. I have MRSA in my nose for example (along with a third of the population) but I've never got MRSA. The presence of these bacteria doesn't mean you'll get infected! This is the thing, they bring out all these reports about how dirty everything is, but neglect toremind you have an immune system! And a very good one at that!


Keep wearing your lipstick [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]It's not dangerous at all

[shiva]

there are so many different strains of e coli, did he say for sure that it was a strain that commonly causes diarrhea? In fact, we have tons of e coli in our bodies right now anyway... I think it takes a certain amount and a weakened immune system to get you sick, so don't worry about it.

As for your make up. Wear it and don't worry about it. Just buy new stuff as often as neccesary. I would say anything past 6 months old, toss it. (not because of e coli, but my sister got a funky eye infection.. hers was only a couple months old even).

[stella9]

E-coli on a lipstick? My imagination runs wild at the thought.


Most of these shows rely on quite a bit of sensationalism in order to get ratings. Make-up is fine as long as you replace it every few months, especially mascara. The most important thing is to not share your makeup with other people.


Stella

[sage]

Thank you Junglemonkey. That is so totally the scientific response. You can test literally ANYTHING and find bacteria on it. 1) Bacteria and viruses are not the same thing - bacteria can only live a short time outside a host (like 15 seconds, I think). And viral particles on lipstick or anything else would be so miniscule that one white blood cell would kill them in an instant. This fear-mongering is to sell ratings on a TV show (and more lipstick!)- it's not scientific at all.


Nevertheless, I'll add this to the 'Ask Alvin' thread and leave it to the expert to answer (but I imagine he'll laugh his head off!)

[samara's on tv]

Thanks guys! Well the Makeup that was tested was stuff the girl had already been using for a while. I've had the makeup I use now for less then 6 months anyway (I bought it in September) Like I said I don't wear it very often cause I don't really need makeup...LoL I'm not saying I'm perfect or anything but I've gotten professionally done at spas before (You know when I was going to go out for a big event) and even they told me I really don't need much makeup. But I guess it makes sense that they are just trying to grab ratings and sell more lipstick. I am a little weary about eye stuff cause I once got this REALLY bad infection from my eye makeup so I'm careful about that but I've never gotten SICK or Vomited from lipstick.


~Monica

[japa]

Don't worry about this.


Um ..... just no....

[tink]

Hey Monica,

I was a makeup artist for MAC for many years. We had to deal with using the products on many different people, the way we did that was by cleaning the products with alcohol everytime they were used. They supposedly did studies in our labs to make sure that there was no bacteria on the products once they were wiped down. So if you are really concerned, you can wipe down your lipsticks with alcohol and you will be fine for sure.. I hope this info helps ease your mind a bit.


--Kim

[sassenacch]

i use mineral powder but that's about it & it's separated from the top, where i shake it out ( kind of like the bareminerals makeup) so i never really felt any anxiety about bacteria in it...but i agree with the girls, there's no reason to worry that you could get sick from your makeup. as long as you're not sharing with anyone i think you'll be fine.

[s_snow]

sometimes i feel nausea because of taste of my lipstick


its kind a wird[img]smileys/smilies_05.gif[/img]