Although that famous scene in "Something About Mary" was clearly a farce, this is no joke -- protein from bull semen is being used in some European salons � as a treatment to enhance hair's shine, reports Relativity Online. (And you totally thought we were gonna say it's used as hair gel, right?)
Photo 11/14
Road Kill (tallow)
According to Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, the process of rendering animal fat consists of boiling animal carcasses in a pot to create fatty byproducts. The decaying animals used come from every source imaginable: lab animals, deadstock (animals that die before they reach the slaughterhouse), euthanized zoo and shelter animals, expired meat from grocery stores and -- wait for it -- road kill. The majority of this fat is used as a skin-conditioning agent and an emollient in cosmetics like lipstick, eyeshadow and soap.
Photo 12/14
Snail Ooze (KNU)
Products that contain snail secretions (we couldn't make this stuff up if we tried) are used in anti-aging creams that boast benefits like increasing your skin's softness and smoothness -- and are totally safe -- reports StyleCaster.
Photo 13/14
Chicken Bone Marrow (Glucosamine)
According to Relatvity Online, chicken bone marrow is used as an anti-inflammatory agent for topical skin care products like face creams and moisturizers.
Photo 14/14
Pepper Spray (Oleoresin Capsicum)
The same ingredient that protects you in a dark alley is also your best fried when you have an itch that needs some scratching. According to StyleCaster, the warming agent found in most itch and muscle pain relief creams is pepper spray.
If you're one of those folks whose mantra is "ignorance is bliss" then stop reading right now. But for those of you who don't mind a little disillusioning every now and then, you'll most likely be repulsed, yet fascinated by these gross ingredients found in some cosmetics. It's like when you get an email with a ridiculous YouTube video of a dog tap dancing and you just have to forward it to your friends or post it on Facebook -- these findings are just too dang interesting not to share.
We did some online digging and got in touch with our researcher friends from Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database and Stacy Malkan from The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, author of "Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry". We reported not so much on the dangerous ingredients to avoid, but more like omg-we-can't-believe-our-lipstick-has-bug-juice-in-it (yes, bug juice) type of stuff. And it doesn't stop there. We found that some beauty products contain pretty much everything in the circle of life from placenta to road kill -- we're not making this up.
The purpose of this story is not to point fingers or out any makeup, skin care or hair care companies because sometimes there is a communication break down in the supply chain, and some cosmetic companies aren't even aware of the shocking ingredients in their products. In addition, many companies have phased out the use of some of these disturbing ingredients such as whale vomit (more on that in a minute�). Instead we just thought we'd lift the veil of the amazing smells and technologies of beauty products and unwrap the cute packaging to show you some of the medieval-sounding ingredients that are shockingly still used in some cosmetics. See what gross ingredients might be lurking in your lotion, powder, soap or lip gloss now.
