your Beauty Our duty

Those free makeovers at department store makeup counters may leave women with more than the latest shade of eye shadow or a great new foundation. They also may leave them with a colony of bacteria swarming over their faces.

That's the word from a two-year double-blind study from Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., that tested makeup samples from 20 companies. Led by biologist Elizabeth Brooks, the team found that makeup samples taken on different days showed between 67 and 100 percent gross bacterial contamination. That means between 67 and 100 percent of the products showed at least some level of contamination by staph aurus, though the bacteria levels varied from product to product.

The sampling runs were conducted at makeup counters on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays over two years. Research team members used sterile swabs to take samples of about two dozen open makeup products, including makeup for skin, eyes, and lips, that women tried at the counter before purchasing packaged products.

The results:

--Fridays: 67 percent contamination
-- Saturdays: 80 percent contamination
-- Sundays: 100 percent contamination

Staph aurus, the bacteria in the makeup, is commonly found on human skin and is not a health concern unless it is introduced to the eyes, nose, or mucous membranes. "It certainly is not hygienic even if it is not a huge health concern," Brooks said in a news release announcing the findings. "If it got into eyes, someone could get bacterial conjunctivitis. It's certainly not a risk we should be taking for makeup."

Brooks offers these suggestions if you want to test makeup at store counters:

-- Try on makeup when you know there will be less traffic at the counter, generally on weekdays. Since makeup does not provide the nutrients bacteria need to grow, the bacteria don't replicate. While there may be 100 percent bacteria contamination in a product on Sunday, the bacteria will die as the week progresses.
-- After trying on makeup, wash your face immediately with soap and water.
-- Don't try on any lipstick or eye makeup, even if the salespeople use a cotton swab to obtain and/or apply the makeup.
-- Since alcohol kills bacteria, try on makeup at counters where the companies require salespeople to dip samples in alcohol and dry them out before offering them to customers.