Did You Know?

Most Lipsticks Contain Fish scales...

Dear ladies,

See these lipsticks of all wonderful colours and tones...

Some of them contain fish scales, the ingredient under discussion is called pearl essence. It’s the silvery stuff found in fish scales that’s used in some lipsticks, nail polishes, ceramic glazes, etc., to make them shimmery.

Pearl essence is obtained primarily from herring and is one of many by-products of large-scale commercial fish processing. Fishermen still collect the stuff, though, and they presume it’s being put to good use.

Pearl essence is just one of a long list of unsuspected animal ingredients in cosmetics. If you think fish scales in lipstick is gross, get a load of cerebrosides, used in skin-care products to create a smoother skin surface, increase moisture retention, heighten "luminosity," etc. According to the Food and Drug Administration, "the raw material for cerebrosides in cosmetics comes from cattle, oxen, or swine brain cells or other nervous-system tissues." Eww.

If you're bothered by this sort of thing you might prefer to get your cosmetics from environmentally aware companies. 

Source: The Naked Scientists