Gluten in Lipsticks!?

Recently, someone mentioned to me that there are lipsticks out there that have gluten in. WHAT!?!!

Ohhh, I was horrified. To say I'm a fan of lipstick would be something of an understatement. I almost never go a day without wearing it, and on the days I do go without, it's usually because I opted for a lip gloss instead.

At the Allergy Show, wearing Revlon's Super Lustrous Cherries In The Snow lipstick

So I was horrified to find out that one of my favourite beauty products might actually be poisoning me, especially when I've been struggling with mild stomach problems for a very long time now. Could my beloved lipwear be the cause of it all?

At Christmas, wearing Avon Colour Trend lipstick in Jungle Fever

To get to the bottom of this mystery, I set about an extensive internet search, looking for the ingredients lists that were missing from the packaging. Unfortunately, my main finding was that almost none of the lipstick-making companies provide ingredients for their products on their website. Not helpful! So instead, I set about calling every company from whom I've purchased a lipstick or lip gloss. That didn't fare much better because very few of them had any idea what was in their own products, or had the ability to look it up!

My Dad's retirement party, wearing Boots 17 Lasting Fix Lipstick in Pink Power

As a way around this, a few of them agreed to find out and then call me back. So I left my name and number, and I waited....and waited...

In the meantime, I DID have some luck! Here's what I found:

Soap & Glory: the ONLY website I came across that actually lists product ingredients. None of their Motherpucker lip glosses contain gluten (yay!). I could find no gluten listed in the ingredients for any of their other lip products, which is great news.

Revlon: This is a tricky one. When I called them, they said that most of their products do not contain gluten (they confirmed the lipsticks I currently use - Revlon Super Lustrous - have no gluten in the ingredients), but that all may be exposed to gluten in the manufacturing process, so there's a question mark over them. If you have a Revlon product and you want to know if there's gluten in it, you can call their freephone number to ask: 0800.0852716. 

Bare Minerals: An internet search suggests that their products are exposed to gluten during manufacture, but their website lists ingredients that go into each product, so as with Revlon, this has to be a judgement-call.

Avon: I wear the Avon Colour Trend lipsticks, so called them to ask whether they have gluten in. But the person I spoke to had no way of checking this herself, and said she'd have to get someone to call me back within the next 48 hours. I'll update this post if/when I hear back from them.

Boots Seventeen and Natural Collection: Same story with Avon. No lists to hand and no way to check. Again, someone will call me back as soon as possible and I'll update you when I hear from them.

Lipcote: I'm thrilled to say they called me back and confirmed that Lipcote IS gluten free. So once you've selected your gluten free lipstick, you can make it stay put through the whole day!

On my wedding day, wearing Boots 17 Lasting Fix lipstick in Shocking

Well class, what have we learned today?

First of all, that if you're a coeliac, you need to be careful with make up. Although there are very few lip products that contain gluten, relatively speaking, there is still a risk. And since we all nibble at our lips and lick our lips and drink from glasses while wearing lip products, there is a very real risk of a glutening from lipstick, lip glosses and lip balms. So repeat after me: if in doubt, check it out!

Class dismissed.