A little lipstick can add a lot of color, but that red could be spreading lead, according to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

The non-profit advocacy group recently tested 30 different red lipsticks from designer to drugstore brands.

More than half came back with something many lipstick wearers never considered -- levels of lead.

"You know I never really thought about that actually," said Allison Pickering, of Beaverton.

We tested three lipsticks from the advocacy’s lists; Christian Dior, Cover Girl and L’Oreal and found lead in all three.

The Dior, the most expensive, had the most lead with three parts per million. Both the Cover Girl and L’Oreal had two parts per million.

While there is no federal standard for lead in cosmetics, the amount found is as much as three times higher than the FDA’s level for lead in candy.

Link: SafeCosmetics

That worries Dr. Deborah Syna, a neurologist with Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.

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"I think the fact that lead is in lipstick is concerning because the scientific community doesn't really know what the minimum safe amount of lead exposure is for any individual or group," said Dr. Syna.

Lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates in the body over time. Dr. Syna says ingesting small amounts could be dangerous especially for children and pregnant women.

"Not the women who are pregnant but the developing fetus is what's more vulnerable. The developing brain is very sensitive to that kind of exposure," she said.

It’s especially alarming when you consider the average woman ingests about five pounds of lipstick over her lifetime.

Few of the companies we contacted responded.

But with the earlier findings, an industry group said the report is nothing new and the findings are no cause for worry.

In a statement to Newschannel 8, L’Oreal said it “confidently and proudly stands behind each and every product that we sell, and we pledge that we will always uphold the highest standards of safety for our consumers around the world.”