Beauty

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Have you ever read product labels(it is found in BE, Malley, TARTE, almost EVERY BRAND OUT THERE) and found ingredients you had no clue as to what they were? You probably just thought, well...it can't be too harmful, after all, most things have to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. That is true to a point. Sometimes an ingredient is not called to attention until several people have reactions and file complaints with the FDA. This is what happened with CARMINE recently.

I was totally shocked to learn by reading a news article and finding out exactly what CARMINE was. I had noticed the name in some ingredient labels and after finding out that this is ground bodies from the females of an insect (their body and eggs) that feeds on cacti. Interesting, huh? The ground material is then turned into Carminic acid and then into CARMINE. And they put this stuff in human food, pet food, baby products and cosmetics! Yuck!

CARMINE is used in foods in items that need a red dye. Some of the items are bottled red cherries, strawberry ice cream, imitation crab and lobster, yogurt, strawberry milk, liquors, etc. It is also used heavily in cosmetics. You can find CARMINE in makeup foundations, eye shadows, lipstick, eye liner, blush and nail polishes. It is also found in baby products.

Ok, now back to the article. This article stated that over 35 people had filed complaints with the FDA on this ingredient. Many had allergic reactions and hypersensitivity to using products with CARMINE. The FDA has decided that food and drug companies MUST now include this ingredient on all product labels. This is nice but first you need to know what CARMINE is and one of the reasons I have written this essay.

So, now when you scan the product ingredient labels and you see this term, CARMINE, you will know it is an insect based ingredient. If you have allergies are sensitivities to insects and/or their bites, you may want to steer clear of items containing CARMINE. It is found is most things with dyes and colorings.

In the past week I have not found anything that does not contain this ingredient - BE Blush, TARTE Blush/Eyeshadows (and they say - Cruelty Free) - the only one is 100% Pure - the Costmetic world just keeps getting ickier by the day.

Enough for me.