What Are the Ingredients in Eyeliner?
When you look at the product information for eyeliners, you will find any of the following essential ingredients listed:
- Alcohol denat
- Ammonium acrylates copolymer
- Carbomer
- Colorants
- Dimethicone
- Fragrance,
- Glycerin
- Magnesium silicate
- Mineral oil
- PEG-6 sorbitan oleate
- Polysorbate 20
- Propylene glycol
- Preservatives that extend the life of the eyeliner product
Categories of Ingredients
These basic ingredients found in most eyeliner products may be in cream, liquid, or pencil form and can be categorized into film formers, thickeners, and pigments, according to cosmetic chemist Nick Morante.
Film formers are ingredients that make it possible for the eyeliner product to deposit a layer of pigment onto your eyelids. Meanwhile, thickening agents like wax, gum, and clay make it possible for the product to stabilize and therefore stick to the skin. Lastly, pigments are the ingredients that create the actual color of the eyeliner product. Pigments range from dark black, brown, blue, and even white.
Traditional Eyeliner
Eyeliner was not always made of these modern ingredients. In fact, eyeliners existed since the Bronze Age, when ancient Egyptians and Indians used eyeliner made out of kohl to line the rims of their eyes.
Kohl and Lead Poisoning
However, the use of kohl-based eyeliners is already prohibited in the United States. Kohl, as a color additive or otherwise, cannot be used or imported into the USA, according to the Food and Drug Administration of the United States Government.
According to the FDA’s Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, color additives, such as kohl, are considered unsafe and thereby prohibited by law. In fact, an FDA Import Alert bans importing products and cosmetics containing kohl because it has been found to be toxic and can lead to lead poisoning.
Resources
- Cosmetics Info – “Eye Makeup Products.”
- Goins, Liesa. WebMD – “The Makeup of Makeup: Decoding Eyeliner.”
- FDA U.S. Food and Drug Administration. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – “Kohl, Kajal, Al-Kahal, or Surma: By Any Name, a Source of Lead Poisoning.”
