Re: new to list, questions for chemists

[Guest guest]

,

You would be very foolish to use any eye area cosmetic without any

preservatives in it. While I can understand your allergy to the parabens

there are other preservatives that can be used besides the parabens. From a

microbiological perspective the eyes are one of the most sensitive areas on

the body. A contaminated product used in the eye area can cause permanent

blindness in <24 hours. This is very serious. Particles of mica are very

sharp and can scratch the cornea giving the organisms an easy pathway into

the eye.

When I used to work for Almay Cosmetics we would make special version of our

cosmetics for our customers that presented us with a request from their

dermatologist indicating the allergy that affected the customer. We did this

for a nominal charge. I would strongly urge you to seek this alternative

before you risk permanent injury to your eyes learning how to make

cosmetics. For more information about blindness from eye area cosmetics look

up journal articles by Dr.s and Ahearn from ~1975. The case studies

reported in these articles used inadequately preserved mascara from another

one of my former employers. The product liability lawsuits that resulted

were substantial and the results on the industry were likewise substantial.

BTW, the mascara was in a pink and green tube if this tells you anything.

Young

KY Labs

Innovators of Fine Personal Care Products

www.kylabs.com

new to list, questions for chemists

Hello,

I'm new to this list. I recently became interested in making my own

cosmetics when I figured out that I am allergic to the paraben

preservatives.

Right now, I trying to figure out how to make eyeshadow. there

are certain kinds of eyeshadow, often loose rather than pressed, that

do not contain any preservatives.

Are there certain ingredients which would force one to use

preservatives? How is it that these commercial eye shadows can get

away without using preservatives? Mica tends to be high up on the

ingredient list and I don't believe the ones that I've seen contain

talc. The ones I am thinking of are the loose pigment or " crushed

mineral " sort of products. Are there alternative preservatives? Any

suggestions on other eyeshadow ingredients or preparation methods?

Thank you!

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[Guest guest]

Thank you for your reply.

How is it then that these companies can formulate their eyeshadows

without preservatives? Face Stockholm, BeneFit, Jane Iredale, and

Bare Escentuals all make eyeshadow without preservatives. Surely the

FDA would restrict this if it were not safe?

I read an FDA article on cosmetic safety and they did mention the

dangera of contaminated mascara, which infected the eye after the

user had accidentally scratched the cornea with the wand.

Is there a preservative you could recommend that I could obtain and

use for making my own eyeshadow?

Thanks!

brooke

> ,

>

> You would be very foolish to use any eye area cosmetic without any

> preservatives in it. While I can understand your allergy to the

parabens

> there are other preservatives that can be used besides the

parabens. From a

> microbiological perspective the eyes are one of the most sensitive

areas on

> the body. A contaminated product used in the eye area can cause

permanent

> blindness in <24 hours. This is very serious. Particles of mica are

very

> sharp and can scratch the cornea giving the organisms an easy

pathway into

> the eye.

> When I used to work for Almay Cosmetics we would make special

version of our

> cosmetics for our customers that presented us with a request from

their

> dermatologist indicating the allergy that affected the customer. We

did this

> for a nominal charge. I would strongly urge you to seek this

alternative

> before you risk permanent injury to your eyes learning how to make

> cosmetics. For more information about blindness from eye area

cosmetics look

> up journal articles by Dr.s and Ahearn from ~1975. The case

studies

> reported in these articles used inadequately preserved mascara from

another

> one of my former employers. The product liability lawsuits that

resulted

> were substantial and the results on the industry were likewise

substantial.

> BTW, the mascara was in a pink and green tube if this tells you

anything.

>

> Young

> KY Labs

> Innovators of Fine Personal Care Products

> www.kylabs.com

>

> new to list, questions for chemists

>

> Hello,

> I'm new to this list. I recently became interested in making my own

> cosmetics when I figured out that I am allergic to the paraben

> preservatives.

> Right now, I trying to figure out how to make eyeshadow. there

> are certain kinds of eyeshadow, often loose rather than pressed,

that

> do not contain any preservatives.

> Are there certain ingredients which would force one to use

> preservatives? How is it that these commercial eye shadows can get

> away without using preservatives? Mica tends to be high up on the

> ingredient list and I don't believe the ones that I've seen contain

> talc. The ones I am thinking of are the loose pigment or " crushed

> mineral " sort of products. Are there alternative preservatives? Any

> suggestions on other eyeshadow ingredients or preparation methods?

>

> Thank you!

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Post message: Cosmeticinfo@y...

> Subscribe: Cosmeticinfo-subscribe@y...

> Unsubscribe: Cosmeticinfo-unsubscribe@y...

> List owner: Cosmeticinfo-owner@y...

> URL to this page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cosmeticinfo

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Here are the ingredient lists for the products I mentioned:

Jane Iredale:

mica, organo silicone (is this dimethicone??),jojoba ester, Vitamin

E, mineral pigments.

FACE Stockholm:

mica, titanium dioxide, pigments.

Benefit:

mica, titanium dioxide, pigments.

Is it possible that without talc and starches that the product

doesn't attract enough water, (or contain enough nutrients?) to

support microbes? These are all big well-known companies who have a

lot to lose if their product injures someone.

One more possibility for me is to purchase some Almay face powder,

which is preserved with phenoxyethanol (sp?) and mix my own pigments

in. If I were to make the eyeshadows entirely from scratch, do you

think phenoxyethanol would be a good preservative?

Also, would a mortar and pestle be a good substitute for the blender

in making my very, very small amounts of eyeshadow?

Thank you so much for your help.

> ,

>

> Without reading the ingredient listings for the products that you

have

> mentioned I cannot comment on their formulas or lack of

preservatives

> therein. The FDA is unlikely to restrict the sale of any cosmetic

only

> because of a lack of manpower to oversee the industry. The biggest

problem

> that you will have in making your own eyeshadows is the dispersion

of the

> ingredients. You will need a high speed mixer to insure that all

you colors

> are properly extended and that the preservative is also properly

extended.

> For a small home crafter you should look at the Osterizer and the

miniblend

> jars for it.

> As for preservatives you should look at Dowicil 200 and Germall II

or

> Germall 115. All of these can be used up to 0.50%. All of these are

also

> formaldehyde releasers and Dowicil has a tendency to turn the foam

> applicators yellow in a closed atmosphere.

>

> Young

> KY Labs

> Innovators of Fine Personal Care Products

> www.kylabs.com

>

> Re: new to list, questions for chemists

>

> Thank you for your reply.

> How is it then that these companies can formulate their eyeshadows

> without preservatives? Face Stockholm, BeneFit, Jane Iredale, and

> Bare Escentuals all make eyeshadow without preservatives. Surely

the

> FDA would restrict this if it were not safe?

> I read an FDA article on cosmetic safety and they did mention the

> dangera of contaminated mascara, which infected the eye after the

> user had accidentally scratched the cornea with the wand.

>

> Is there a preservative you could recommend that I could obtain and

> use for making my own eyeshadow?

>

> Thanks!

>

> brooke

>

[Guest guest]

,

I read 's observations regarding the proper labelling.

I also want to point out that " mineral pigments " is b.s. - I am

assuming they are referring to Ultramarines and Oxides and I assure

you no one is squashing/grinding up rocks for these - they are all

synthetically manufactured.

It is my understanding that these pigments also have the rep for

growing " bugs " like crazy - maybe or Maurice can comment

further on this.

Seeing this makes one wonder....

HTH,

Jen

http://labcolours.homestead.com/home.html

-- In Cosmeticinfo@y..., rbrookeherrin@j... wrote:

> Here are the ingredient lists for the products I mentioned:

>

> Jane Iredale:

> mica, organo silicone (is this dimethicone??),jojoba ester, Vitamin

> E, mineral pigments.

[Guest guest]

kevin,

I actually paraphrased the ingredients when it came to listing the

individual pigments. The companies did list the individual pigments,

but I took a short cut, figuring they weren't relevant to the

preservative problem. Sorry to be unclear.

So phenoxyethanol would work for this?

Would I need such an accurate scale ( to .001 grams) only for

measuring the preservative? I really don't care too much about the

exact amounts of the other ingredients as I won't be selling anything

and will probably just mix each pot of eyeshadow individually,adding

a little of this and little of that until I get the right color and

texture.

Is organo silicone another name for dimethicone?

Thank you.

[Guest guest]

Thank you for all the info, !

[Guest guest]

> You're saying that all these people who use oxides and ultramarines in their

> soap because they're supposed to be natural are mistaken and they're all

> synthetic? > What about mica?

Hi,

Yes, this is what I am saying. There are very limited natural " colours "

permitted by the FDA such as annatto seed. Unless specifically approved they

are banned.

I think the myth that oxides and ultramarines are ground minerals stems from

them being placed in the Inorganic category of colour additives. Example -

Chrome Oxide Green doesn't occur anywhere in nature.

Be glad they are synthetic, this means that they do not contain heavy metals

such as Hex Chromium, (ala Brokovitch), Lead or Cadmium...

Mica, on it's own is a quartz like substance, however, mica is a misnomer

because everyone is really talking about pearlescent pigments. On it's own mica

is simply a white powder.

To get the various " sparkly " colours it is coated with various dyes/pigments.

So on it's own yes it is natural, but as a pearlescent then I would say no

due to the other ingredients.

I'd also like to mention that just because a " mica " is cosmetic grade it

doesn't mean that it can be used for everything. I have seen certain ones being

sold for lipgloss in particular that I know contain Chrome Oxide Green which is

not permitted for ingestion.

I've included a link below that explains all this colour stuff in more

detail.

HTH,

Jen

http://www.labcolours.homestead.com/files/discussion.htm