Safety Word. Mine is ‘lip gloss’.
12 Jan
I’ve been doing a lot of research the last few months as I’ve been reviewing mineral makeup and all it’s ins and outs. I thought I might take the time to put together a small cheat sheet about my thoughts on the good, the bad, and the unsafe.
Part One
This ingredient warrants it’s own post. I’ve spoken to the manufacturer again and am now awaiting samples as well as some information from an independent lab.
A paraben, in simplest terms, is a preservative. Lots of companies use them to keep their products germ free, etc etc. But more and more it’s been discovered that there may be a link from paraben use to breast cancer. That doesn’t mean that it DOES cause cancer, but that it MAY. And with that discovery a lot of major, as well as minor, companies started reformulating their products without. Just in case. Because that’s the responsible thing to do.
Personally I try to stay away from using them (products made with them) which is why I prefer MM most of the time. Good hygiene as well as careful use, not sharing, and sterilizing your cosmetics occasionally will keep your paraben free products safe and clean. Since breast cancer runs in my family I will do whatever I can to steer clear of anything that HINTS at a possible cause.
Luminescent Zinc Sulfide
I’ve already covered l zinc sulfide, but it should be repeated. This is never an eye safe product and should be LIMITED in use to novelty cosmetics, used on occasion.
Is it safe? Oh, heck no.
Bismuth is used primary in cosmetics to make things shimmery. Although a mineral, to get to it’s ‘cosmetic use’ state it’s incredibly highly processed. Because of how it’s processed, and all the chemicals involved, many with sensitive skin may find it irritating and it might actually make some skin conditions, such as acne and rosacea, worse.
While I’m not sensitive to it, keep in mind that just because it’s technically a mineral, it doesn’t mean it’s ‘good’ for your skin.
Lots of people found themselves breaking out like crazy when Bare Essentials first came out with their mineral makeup foundation. It was probably the use of the bismuth. It’s not in most indie MM foundations, though, and most are pretty quick to advertise that.
Carmine is bug juice. No, seriously. By crushing certain species of bugs they excrete a red ‘dye’ that’s been really popular in cosmetic coloring for thousands of years. It often gives the brightest, truest shades of red and pinks.
Being vegan I make the personal choice not to use products that contain it. While I may often review colors or products that contain it, I don’t use them. On top of the OMG! bug exploitation, it’s just gross. However it’s perfectly safe, only a small percentage of the population will be allergic to it, versus the many who may be allergic to the dye and lake alternatives.
Essentially essential oils are good. Many of them have aromatheraputic (I made that word up) properties as well as physical uses, some might cause allergic reactions and some are photosensitive. Knowing ahead of time what you are sensitive to and what might cause a potential reaction would be essential.
So if you are allergic to, say, mangos, you would be allergic to the mango essential oil as well, so when something lists ‘essential oils’ in it see if they list them individually or just lump them together.
I like to use products with oils such as ginger to ‘plump’ my skin. Tea tree oil is great on blemishes. In general I try to find an oil to use before I turn to a harsh chemical.
While I can’t think of anything BAD to say about titanium dioxide, I can think of a few reasons you’ll want it in your makeup. It has a natural SPF (just be wary of companies that claim an actual rating) and it helps mica and other colorants adhere to your skin. It must comprise no more then a fourth (25%) of the over all product.
Companies that claim an actual SPF rating based on titanium dioxide ingredients must have submitted it for FDA testing and paid the considerable fees to have it done. If it’s a product such as foundation, EACH color must be submitted and tested. It’s rather prohibited for small companies to do such.
My skin loves silica. It makes it smooth and soft and pretty. Many people are opposed to the use of silica in the use of MM. Most often when I hear complaints about it I get a breast implant reference, and it’s not the same thing.
Used for it’s photoluminescent properties it defuses light and gives skin a soft focus look, blurring imperfections. It’s also used to help absorb oils for a matte finish. MUFE uses pure silica in it’s High Definition Microfinish Powder. In fact, that’s ALL that’s in it. I got several samples of this product when it was first introduced and loved the heck out of it. You can get the same product at TKB for pennies compared to the arm and a leg MUFE charges.
Silica in cosmetic use is generally safe. I’ve read concerns about inhaling it, but you’d really need to snort a heck of a lot of it to cause damage and if you’re snorting silica, well, then, I dunno.
Pearl Powder
Pearl Powder has long been used in Chinese medicine to improve the look and feel of skin. It’s full of amino acids and helps smooth fine lines and does a bunch of nifty things. One of the most common and effective uses is to fade age spots and lighten skin.
It’s often used in primers to help improve the texture of the skin after repeated use. It’s generally safe for use in most cosmetics.
It’s not vegan. Pearl Powder is made, obviously, from crushed pearls, which are taken from oysters, which are animals. So I stay away from it, although I did inherit an amazing set of pearls from my Grandmother. I wear those and think of her.
Silk Powder
Silk powder is made from silk. But not really from the fabric. Silk is made when a silk worm cocoon is soaked to release the long fine filament the bug used to wind together to make her little nest. The liquids from this process are dried and hence, you have silk powder. And for those of you paying attention, yes, it’s basically dried worm spit and not vegan.
This powder is also commonly used in primers to absorb oils and it smooths and softens the skin, like silk is itself. The amazing thing about it is it both keeps moisture in your skin and absorbs oils. So it’s great for a lot of applications, from helping with the slip of shadows, to the softness of primers, to the mattifing-ness of finishers.
It’s also really effective in soaps and other cleansers as both a detergent and as a softener (in terms of skin, not your laundry.)
Carnuba wax is generally accepted as the vegan alternative to beeswax. It’s made from a palm, but should not be confused with palm oil. It’s what some candies are made from and what adds shine to your car when you wax it. The practical applications of carnuba wax are multitudinous.
It’s often uses as a thickener, a binder, or an emollient. I love shadow formulas made from wax coated micas, they are soft and buttery.
It’s generally safe and nontoxic. And when made into Swedish Fish, delicious.
While I’m on the subject I thought I’d take the time to talk about the Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program. Just because a product is listed with the program doesn’t mean it’s totally safe to use. (Just because something is FDA approved in general doesn’t always ensure it’s safe, either.)
I spoke directly to an FDA representative about it and learned some interesting information.
The VCRP is set up for the benefit of the manufacturer, or makers of products, so they can keep up to date on ingredients safety and product recalls. However there is no regulating body. So if a company has registered it’s product and it contains X ingredient and later it’s found that X causes purple tongues in 90% of it’s users, the FDA would notify anyone who had registered they are using that product, but it’s them up to the company to remove it from use. No one comes along to make sure. By being voluntary the FDA hopes that those using it will adhere to it.
It’s also not to be used as an advertising tool and they tend to warn against using it as such. What does that mean? It should not be used in a product listing, advertisement, etc as part of the product description and/or benefits.
It doesn’t cost anything to have your product registered and can be done easily online in a matter of minutes.
Just because a cosmetic is registered, doesn’t mean it’s approved by anyone. So while a cosmetic may be registered the FDA claims no liability over the product and makes no claims of the safety. I could voluntarily register a product with the FDA containing something like ‘urine’ (which could be a mistake for urea) and I would get a filing number for it, but obviously the FDA doesn’t approve of urine in cosmetics.
Tags: FDA, ingredients, repackaging, safety
OK, I admit that I just skimmed this for now. (Kids are up right now, so I can’t give this my full attention.) And it looks like something I should READ AND UNDERSTAND if I want to wear mineral makeup.
But even as I lightly skimmed, I think I know where this is going.
Where, oh where would I be without this blog? I mean, I am starting to feel torn. I WANT to support indie companies just on principal. But it’s starting to seem that it might not be safe a good deal of the time.
I’m certainly eager for part two!!
I wanted to basically show that there are a few questionable products out there being used and that some companies are relying on the cosmetic equivalent of ‘pshycho babble’ to claim benefits to THEIR products over others, when that is most likely not the truth.
As long as a consumer knows that they are buying (and most contents are easily Google-able) they should be fine.
The point of this particular article is to show what you, as a consumer, should know to use products safely. I would argue (vehemently) that indie companies are probably safer over all then major corporations.
Part Two contains actual chemistry and quotes from smart people
I personally will avoid parabens if possible, but the entire myth about parabens/SLS causing cancer is just ridiculous (hooray for botched batches of shampoos in the 70s that have one syllable that sound the same and chain emails!). Anything can cause cancer in this day and age, and the ACS doesn’t recognize parabens or SLS as a carcinogen. Silly internet rumors!
I totally agree that it’s great that companies can formulate without parabens, but at the same time, I also get a bit concerned since a lot of new preservatives haven’t been tested long enough to see if there are any potential side effects or health risks.
Kind of amusing how grapefruit seed extract (promoted as a natural preservative) is identified with the preservative methylparaben…
There is SO many conflicting reports on so many preservatives these days… makes my head hurt.
It was nice to read about this ingredients.
I was amazed by the diamond powder first, but now I’ll avoid it until I know it’s safe for sure.
I try to avoid parabens but I already have many lippies with them, and I’ll use them ’till I finish it…
but then, no more parabens for me…
I tried to compile a list of ingredient I was most often running into that I’ve actually gotten email about.
So I hope it helped!!
thanks for the overview, in my quest for best ingredients for my organic vegan balms I’ve written 2 blog posts about what I do and don’t use, and why.
Here’s the links, in case anyone is interested, but of course remove them if you’d prefer.
First one from October: http://jewelalchemy.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-philosophy-on-ingredients.html
most recent from a few days ago:
http://jewelalchemy.blogspot.com/2010/01/more-lip-balm-philosphy.html
btw, there is no mango essential oil, so the mango-allergic are safe! be more wary of synthetic mango fragrance/flavor, petrochemicals!
Thanks for the links explaining your personal philosophy!
As for the mango, I was sort of using that as a joke reference
My cousin Jess is allergic to mango and yet keeps getting ‘tropical’ stuff and then puffs up like a blow fish.
This is a great article! I especially like that you put non-vegan items in there. I try to stay away from Carmine and Silk Powder. It’s a bit difficult as most companies only put “may contain carmine”, then you gotta email and it’s a whole big thing.
I was thinking that the diamond powder was what you were getting at yesterday. I don’t like using products that I don’t know much about and I also found the Sterling Minerals article about it and decided against trying it. Anything thats illegal in certain countries freaks me out!
For some reason I think I (and I know a few others) were lead to believe something different about the diamond powder. I’m not going to continue with the review, but I figured this post might be a better way to explain the issue I was having overall with the ingredient.
Thanks for this post. I had been interested in the diamond powder, but now I think I can safely move away from that. I most certainly don’t need any product that might make my skin look nasty. Sucks getting older, and I’ll just leave it at that.
Did you mean Bare Escentuals? Their original foundation does contain bismuth, but I think the new Matte foundation does not, and provides a more matte finish. I like it better than the original, but still prefer Meow’s foundation.
I did mean them, but I was trying not to ‘name names’
I’m waiting on an order from Meow right now, I’m excited to try their foundations.
I thought I should ask because I’ve seen Bare Essentials on Ebay, and didn’t want there to be any unnecessary confusion.
Eek, I wouldn’t want to be putting that straight on my face from what you’re saying. It sounds like it could hurt it. Plus, if I got it in my eyes or my contacts they could end up damaged
I’ve seen some companies use minute amounts of bismuth in eye shadows. Have you noticed a problem with those?
I like using mineral foundations primarily because, in addition to my moisturizers with SPF, I like the physical barrier that the titanium dioxide provides. My holy grail foundations come from companies that do NOT claim an SPF rating.
I really like Silica. My favorite finishing powder, ultra resolution finishing powder, uses silica as its main ingredient.
I think Spell’s eye shadows are coated with carnuba wax. And yes, buttery soft eye shadows have this!
I had no idea that the voltunary cosmetic registration program worked the way you described. It’s really good to know how it’s supposed to work but a bit disturbing to know that it’s not really policed.
I think it was most disturbing to hear the actual creator of GL say that it wasn’t meant to be used straight. Both he as well as another representative from the company added that little *warning* to their communications. The PR person at first suggested it was formulated for use in plastics. Ohhh-kay….
I don’t have any sensitivities to bismuth, so it’s hard for me to say. Lately I have been reading that they may have refined the processing a bit and some suppliers sell a milder version.
I included the FDAs link to the VCRP site that basically contained all the info the rep told me, so the info is readily available!
Are the companies that are selling this product aware that it isn’t meant to be sold straight? Do they know that they need to dilute it? Did you contact the company from your previous post?
Grant Industries tells me that that information is supplied with each order, but it’s also readily available on their website.
I’m assuming they are going on the “if a little is good, a lot must be GREAT” theory.
I have not contacted them (although I’ve also discovered a few more doing the same thing). I’m no longer reviewing them, and have no interest in naming names in this situation. I’m hoping they use the opportunity to make corrections as needed.
Thanks for this
I have incredibly sensitive skin/sensitive sense of smell and am always on the lookout for something I can use that is me-safe.
Although. I do have a Kryolan UV palette that I bought a lonnnnng time ago and only use for parties. Infact, I completely forgot about it until this post. Should I chuck it, or just avoid using it around my eyes?
I’m pretty sure those are merely black light reactive, rather then phosphorescent, so they’re safe.
Good to know
Very interesting post, thank you!
I have VERY sensitive skin and I can’t use bismuth oxycloride, silica, silicone (or anything silicone coated) or diamond powder. I can use those in eyeshadows, maybe eye shadows have smaller amount of those ingredients?
Silk powder sounds disgusting but my skin just loves it. And my skin is so difficult, so I’ll continue using it
I hear amazing things about silk powder all the time. Silk it’s self has so many amazing properties, so it’s not surprising.
I don’t blame you for sticking with it, it’s not harmful! It’s just not for me.
I certainly wasn’t expecting the diamond powder coming my way to be potentially toxic. I’m slapping myself on the wrist for not researching the ingredient. Luckily I havn’t tried it yet, and I don’t think I will…not straight anyway. Maybe I’ll add a small small dash of it to my powder foundation, as 5% is considered a safe amount. Holy bejesus, these companies need to be more careful of what they are selling!!! This makes me want to stick to only the well known Aromaleigh and Fyrinnae…these smaller indie companies are starting to freak me out a bit.
I know I say this every time, but that you Grey for doing so much investigating on the products that we put on our faces.
It’s important to to remember that when a manufacturer suggests only using X amount of product that it’s probably best to stick to that. They would really be the best judge of how much is safe and what the actual product contains.
It’s been suggested that the ratio might change as the product is refined. But keeping in mind that it’s ‘potentially’ unsafe in larger doses is key. There just isn’t enough data available to state one way or the other.
Thank you!
Ever since I found out about the illegal citrus repacking scheme, I have become way more aware about what kind of make up I’m using. Your blog has been a big help in this, as well as introduced me to some much better MM companies like AL and fyrinnae. This article is a big help into discovering what exactly is in our make-up. Maybe it will get me to do a little bit of research on my own. Thanks again Grey!
Great post. I’m very interested in this aspect of makeup since I’m a chemical engineer and chemist.
I’v been quite curious about Bismuth Oxychloride in for some time. I don’t know if it’s been determined yet if it’s the chemical composition of the compound or the actual shape of the particles. Personally, I think it could be the structure. Bismuth Oxychloride particles are crystalline “flakes” with sharp edges. A lot of people experience problems when they buff foundation into the skin, and if the mineral has very sharp edges; buffing could cause microscopic cuts in the skin (OUCH).
A lot of people don’t take the paraben issue seriously. I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard people say that “everything causes cancer these days”, and that’s really not true. My prime concern is not if it’s carcinogenic or not; it’s what happens after we’re done with it, and it goes down the drain. Even though the estrogenic effect might be quite weak, I fear it might affect both the environment and humans.
If one has to use parabens, I’d suggest sticking to methyl- and ethyl-paraben and avoid the longer chained carbons such as propyl- and butyl-paraben
Way to shoot our friendship in the foot and mislead your readers. I’m sure you’ll just delete this, too.
Really? Here I thought I was taking our friendship into consideration and getting more facts before I posted about it again.
Take it however you want, but I was trying to make good.
Okay, well, deleting someone’s comment and ignoring their apology isn’t something that generally looks like you’re being friendly. That said, I appreciate the removal of the post about it until you’ve found out more, and I’m concerned about all the people who read the original post and have inaccurate information.
I wouldn’t say it was inaccurate as much as it was incomplete. And I *wasn’t* reviewing anyone’s product, and I never said as much, just that I ran across a product I didn’t like that didn’t work for me and was trying to find out why.
I’m in a LOT of pain after my dental appointment yesterday, I apologize for not crawling out of bed long enough to deal with, what in the end, is a lot of nonsense over nothing. Did you hurt my feelings? Hell yes, I wasn’t expecting that from you. And I JUST now found your email in my spam folder.
Bash me all you want, now I guess.
No bashing. Like I said, I like you both. E-mail still stands. And yeah, you got a lot of information, none of it wrong, just not quite complete. I’m a little sad that you didn’t think to e-mail the company to at least get their take on it, even if you didn’t think they’d be honest. It seems like that would have (and still is) the next logical step in looking into it.
I hope you feel better. This is one of those times when it’s OK to take painkillers.