Everyone's spotted them -- women of all ages who pile on too much makeup as in the oh-she-looks-so-cakey kind of way. But wearing makeup may Everyone's spotted them -- women of all ages who pile on too much makeup as in the oh-she-looks-so-cakey kind of way. But wearing makeup may result in more than just a pancake face. A new study warns that chemicals in cosmetics, plastics and household cleaners -- phthalates -- could actually cause women to go through menopause earlier than their peers.

And that's hardly good news. Previous research has linked early menopause with higher rates of bone loss, heart problems and strokes in women.

"Early menopause has a lot of impact on your health," said Dr. Natalia Grindler, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Washington University's School of Medicine and one of the authors of the study, at this week's American Society of Reproductive Medicine conference in San Diego. "We absolutely think these chemicals have the potential to affect ovarian function and human reproduction."

In the study, Grindler and her colleagues examined the levels of phthalates in the blood or urine of 5,700 women. Those with the highest amounts were found to have gone through menopause an average of 2.3 years before the others. Menopause typically occurs in women around the age of 51, so those exposed to the highest levels of phthalates were going through it at around age 49.