This is the moment when cosmetic companies smile. For now is the time when will women take comfort in the indulgent but relatively inexpensive pleasure of lipstick. " When lipstick sales go up, people don't want to buy dresses," says Leonard Lauder, Chairman of Estee Lauder Cosmetics...An ad for Revlon's Absolutely Fabulous lipstick from 2001 captures the Index perfectly: it featured a model standing in front of what looked like the NYSE trading floor and read, "On a bad day, there's always lipstick."...But is there? Before you rush out and spend those last few stimulus payment dollars squirreled safely away in the cookie jar on a new tube of crimson, be warned: a study from 2007 by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found that a significant portion of lipstick manufactured in the United States contains surprisingly high levels of lead, which can be toxic when ingested. So now even our smallest secure indulgence, a simple lipstick, is parsed into cautionary territories of safe and unsafe, with rather ambiguous guidelines on exactly how widespread and pertinent this health issue could be. My brow furrows and my lips purse as I try to figure out where to run next. Times really are tough.