I know that this is difficult to believe, but it has been concluded that several popular cosmetic colors cause cancer in rats and mice. Therefore these colors are no longer allowed in ingested drugs and ingested cosmetics. Until the last few years or so, these colors were probably used in a majority of the lipsticks manufactured.
These colors are still listed for use in blushers and noningested cosmetics. For more information about potentially carcinogenic colors, read Article 3, What Are You Putting on Your Face-And Is It Safe? And for a complete list of colors that are permitted in lipstick see the end of this article.
