Why colour & Cosmetics

Most people avoid artificial colors in their diet, but do not look at cosmetic colors and personal care products. It is only in recent years that cosmetics have begun to carry the full range of ingredients in their packaging. Making sense of the ingredients can be difficult for the wrong person. This is especially true of colors, which often fall under numbers instead of words. In many lands cosmetic colors are counted as the number of color indicators. C.I. numbers assigned to the Dyers Association with Colors. The program includes colors used in food, personal care products, cosmetics, household products and textile dye. So, for example you may not be accustomed to seeing ‘tartrazine’ in the lipstick ingredients list, but it may be there in the C.I list. 19140. Erythrosine will be listed as C.I. 45430, and so on. The USA uses a different system: FD&C colors are classified by the American Food & Drink Administration for use in food, drugs and cosmetics. So in this case tartrazine is FD&C yellow 5, and amaranth is red FD&C 2. The ‘E Number’ system is used by the European Community (EC). This is a system for assigning code numbers to dietary supplements, some of which are also used in cosmetics and personal care products. This system is also used in other countries but without the beginning of E, so E102 becomes just ‘102’ color. All of this confusion for the average consumer would not be significant, but for the fact that some of these colors are known to cause problems for the people involved. For example, tartrazine (also known as FD&C Yellow 5, CI 1914 and EI02) can cause migraines, itching, rhinitis and agitation in affected individuals. Many people avoid its use in food, but they do not realize how much it is used in cosmetics, such as lipstick, and personal care products. The biggest worries about cosmetic colors and personal care products are lipstick, colored lip balms, lip gloss and lip pencils, because anyone who uses these items regularly 'eats' a fair amount throughout his life, but these colors are also visible on the skin. cream, foundation, mascara and more. (Also keep in mind that these colors can be in 'natural' cosmetics and skin care products.) Another concern is that even 'experts' cannot agree on an international 'safe' list of colors, so that color is allowed to be one. country, but restricted elsewhere. For example, quinoline yellow is approved among the European Community and other countries, but is banned in Japan, Norway and the United States. As before, the advice is: keep yourself informed and read the label. Here is a list of the different names and numbers the common colors fall under: Tartrazine: E102 or FD & C Yellow 5 or C.I. 19140 Quinoline yellow or E104 or C.I. 47005 Sunset yellow or E110 or FD & C Yellow 6 or C.I. 15985 Amaranth or E123 or FD & C Red 2 or C.I. 16185 Ponceau 4R or E124 or C.I. 16255 Erythrosine or E127 or FD & C Red 3 or C.I. 45430 Red 2G or E128 or C.I. 18050 Allura red AC or E129 or FD & C Red 40 or C.I. 16035 Patent blue V or E131 or C.I. 42051 Indigo carmine or E132 or FD & C Blue 2 or C.I. 73015 Brilliant blue FCF or FD & C Blue 1 or C.I. 42090 Fast green FCF or FD&C Green 3 or C.I. 42053 Green S or E142 or C.I. 44090