A Guide to Color Additives in Cosmetics

Color additives in cosmetics include dyes and pigments, this group of ingredients is the most tightly regulated group in the corrective industry today. They play an important role in making creams and shampoos seem more highly-seasoned, or for make-up in really staining the skin. In my experience, there seems to be a chip of misinformation floating about on the internet regarding these ingredients. Every bit a consequence, I'm writing this post to requite you a cursory breakdown of color additives, including must-know details about safety, usage and more. Bask!

A Historical Perspective

All the way back to ancient times, colored cosmetics were popular in many cultures. By 4000 BCE, for example, Egyptian women applied galena mesdemet (from copper and pb), malachite (from copper) and other naturally occurring colors (e.g. paprika) to their faces, often signifying their class. Moving through history, ingredients like henna dyes or rice powders have been seen in many cultures, for example, China, Japan, India and North Africa. By the 1500s, European women often lightened their skin with a multifariousness of colored products, including white lead paint. Queen Elizabeth I of England was a well-known white atomic number 82 user, which may have too been a product that led to her death. By the 1800s, zinc oxide began to replace some of the deadly lead and copper white mixtures that had killed many women in previous years. Past 1856, William Henry Perkin discovered the first synthetic dye, mauve, and similar dye discoveries quickly followed. Due to the fact that these dyes were initially produced from byproducts of coal processing, they were labeled "coal-tar dyes". By the 1900s, many artificially colored cosmetics became available and began to grow in popularity.

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Subsequently a number of cases of consumers getting sick from their cosmetic products, the ingredients were assessed to find that many synthetic colors independent a diverseness of poisonous chemicals, for case, pb, arsenic, and mercury. The Food and Drug Act. in 1906 was passed to prohibit the apply of these dangerous ingredients and offer more protection to consumers. By the 1920s and 30s, it became clear that the original Nutrient and Drug Act of 1906 didn't go far plenty to protect consumers from their cosmetics. Equally a effect, the Federal Food, Drug and Corrective Human action of 1938 came virtually to offer more regulation specific to cosmetics. By the 1960s, new amendments came about to prohibit the employ of color additives demonstrated to be a carcinogen.

Today, color additives are very tightly regulated due to the historical risks of these ingredients.There is currently a long list of colour additives that aren't allowed in corrective products. At that place are likewise restrictions for the area of employ for colour additives. For example, if a manufacturer wants to make a lipstick, they have to employ only colour additives that have been canonical for use on lips. Finally, due to demonstrated risks of contagion with heavy metals, once naturally derived ingredients, for case, Iron Oxides, accept to be now made in a lab to ensure consumer prophylactic. As a upshot, aside from botanicals, which mostly aren't used in make-up due to their drawbacks (e.g. poor mixing and staining abilities plus possibilities of skin irritation or smell), shop-bought "all-natural" makeup doesn't really be anymore.

For more 'light' reading on the subject of colored cosmetics through history, I really enjoyed this article on lipsticks through the 1900s.

Color Additives Today

Colour additives used in cosmetics autumn into either of the following two groups: organic or inorganic. The word organic hither isn't the marketing term we come across in the grocery shop. Instead, organic indicates that the chemic construction of the color additive includes carbon atoms. Organic colour additives include synthetic dyes, lakes, and botanicals while the inorganic color additives include many mineral based colors, for case, atomic number 26 oxide and zinc oxide. While many of the colors found in the inorganic group can be found in nature today, all of these colour additives are synthetic and made in a lab to ensure consumer safety (e.g. nature identical). While the mineral mica is indeed natural, information technology is coupled in a lab with color additives, which can be either inorganic or organic, to requite it a color. Thus, micas establish in cosmetics are also not technically natural either. The only truly natural color additives in cosmetics used today include those of the botanical group, for example, turmeric, beetroot, spirulina, etc. Again, due to their poor effects on staining and mixing, and possible smell, these ingredients aren't usually found in brand-upwardly cosmetic products.

Superlative Need-to-Know's

  1. The term "natural" on labels is currently unregulated. As a result, you lot tin can still run across many make-up manufacturers who employ Atomic number 26 Oxides make claims that they're 100% natural. Considering that these ingredients are actually synthetic, I personally recollect that this label is a wee bit dishonest for these types of products… And the Federal Trade Commision seems to concord. Last year in 2016, 5 companies falsely challenge "all-natural" while using these ingredients were charged, and it seems that these charges will bear upon more than companies over the next few years.

  2. There is a big trouble of slave labor inside the mica mining industry, accounting for at least 80% of the Mica available today. Equally a outcome, many companies have opted to remove this ingredient type from their products until these issues are improve understood and addressed. There are upstanding sources of mica available - if you purchase this ingredient or buy a product from a manufacturer who uses mica, it would exist worthwhile asking if they monitor their mica supply chain to ensure it's not mined via slave labor.

  3. Color additives on corrective labels may also include a Color Index (CI) number, the European union method of identification. This applies to all color additives.

The information presented in this weblog post merely is brushing the surface. There is and then much chemistry, legislation and biological science to grasp to really sympathise the complexity of colour additives. If you lot're a formulator or a DIY Beauty enthusiast, we suggest that, if you chose to use color additives in your cosmetic products, particularly for makeup related products, refer to the bachelor Health Canada or the FDA resources to make sure that the colour additives you're using are safe and legal for where you're going to employ it and in what concentration. I personally find diagrams to be i of the easiest ways for me to run into the bigger picture show so I put together the post-obit diagram to cover some of the information covered to a higher place and some of the things we didn't go to. I know there's a lot going on, but if you read through each of the bubbles, yous'll hopefully come up to a better understanding of the world of colour additives in cosmetics.

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Thanks for reading! As always, if y'all have any comments, queries, or conundrums almost the content above, leave a comment or shoot us an e-mail!

References:

Borowska South and Brzoska Yard. (2015) Metals in cosmetics: implications for human health. J appl toxicol. 35(6):551-72.

Kim Thousand et al. (2016) The employ of personal pilus dye and its implications for human wellness. Environ Int. 89-90:222-vii.

Kumar A and Madan A. (2014) Color additives: legislative perspective in the U.s., Europe, Commonwealth of australia, and India. Int j pharm compd. 19(4):293-300.

Lores M et al. (2016) Positive lists of corrective ingredients: belittling methodology for regulatory and safety controls - a review. Anal chim acta. 7(915):ane-26.

Loretz L et al. (2005) Exposure data for cosmetic products: lipstick, body lotion, and face cream. Food chem toxicol. 43(2):279-291

Nanthini U et al. (2016)  Natural pigments in cosmetics - past to present. Int journ pharm scie and busin homo. four(six):seven-14.