S06 Episode 272 | Revealing lipstick's dirty little secrets & questioning the beauty industry's lack of regulation with Angela Weinberg of Kolorete

<p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">In episode 272, Kestrel welcomes Angela Weinberg, the cofounder of Kolorete, to the show. A luxury color cosmetics brand, <a href="https://koloretecosmetics.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KOLORETE</a> is focused on creating hydrating lipsticks made with organic ingredients.</p> <p><strong>“Lip balms and lip products are traditionally very underregulated. So, when we think of this organic, consumerism ecosystem and conversation, what do we usually think about? I think we usually think about food … it’s less common, less mainstream to think about how the lipstick that we apply to our lips or even the makeup we apply to our face — you know, our skin is an organ, and especially with lipstick, it’s connected to our mouth so we can really consume lipstick the same way we would consume our food.”</strong></p> <p class="" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">This week, we’re talking lipstick … that oh-so-fun tint so many of us don our lips with. </p> <p class="">Taking a step back — you could say lipstick is popular. According to <a href= "https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/lipstick-market" target= "_blank" rel="noopener">Allied Market Research</a>, the lipstick market size was valued at $8.2 billion in 2018, and is expected to reach $12.5 billion by 2026.</p> <p class="">But just like fashion – the beauty industry is largely unregulated, making it another prime space notorious for greenwashing its way into the “sustainability scene”.</p> <p class="">This week’s guest is working to build a more thoughtful lipstick brand – it’s made of 98% organic ingredients, and she actually dreamed up the recipe in her own kitchen. But most lipsticks today aren’t that clean.</p> <p class="">In a <a href= "https://news.berkeley.edu/2013/05/02/toxic-metals-in-lipstick/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2013 study done at UC Berkeley</a>, 32 different lipsticks and lip glosses commonly found in drugstores and department stores were tested. Through this research, they detected lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and