Lipstick product ethical analysis Research Paper

Lipstick product ethical analysis - Research Paper Example Since the primary objective of a business is seen as profit-making, these issues are hardly considered despite their harmfulness to either health of environment. For that reason, this paper intends to investigate one of the lipstick products, Maybelline to be precise, and offer recommendations on ways to change the process if need be. Maybelline, like any other product, undergoes a series of stages before it has been disposed including extraction, production, distribution, consumption and eventually disposal. First, the extraction process of Maybelline, just like other lipsticks, starts with the gathering of the necessary materials before the mixing process is initiated. Some of the materials used in the extraction process include the oils, emollients, pigments and waxes. Emollients are responsible for the texture and color that Maybelline comes with. Once the gathering of these materials has taken place, the next stage entails the production of the complete product. Here, all the ingredients are ground before undergoing a heating process after which the already-heated waxes are usually added to the mix. Then, lanolin and other oils are added as per the specifications to the mix. Once this is done, different metal molds are used where this liquid is poured. The last two steps see the chilling and cooling of the l ipsticks in a bid to harden them, and a second heating occurs with an aim to create a shiny appearance whilst removing any imperfections (Monnot et al. p.253). While there are claims that Maybelline is lead-free, there has been no concrete evidence to prove this claim. In fact, it had been noted that many of the red lipsticks contain a significant amount of lead with a US consumer group reporting that 60% of the lipsticks that were tested in 2007 had higher levels of lead than the ones allowed (Lemaire p.2265). Also, Maybelline lipstick was among the top ten lipsticks containing a