Mascara – we buy it even without being fully aware of what is hidden in its small bottle. If your eyes are sensitive and irritation-prone, surely you are more conscious and pay greater attention to the products’ composition. However, do you know all the substances that might not only irritate but also cause damage to eyelashes? Here is the black list of ‘unpleasant’ ingredients which a mascara might be made from.
Mascara – Potentially irritating and harmful substances
1. PPD, p-Phenylenediamine in mascara
It’s a black pigment that is used in more cosmetic products than just in a mascara. It also happens to be a component of hair dyes and colour cosmetics that are meant to be dark (eye pencils, eyeliners, eyeshadows). PPD is a fragranced amine that triggers serious allergic reactions. To clarify, it can cause skin lesions, redness, rash, itchiness, irritation and in extreme situations skin ulcer as well as hair and lash loss.
How to distinguish PPD allergen in a mascara composition?
PPD can have many names. However, if you spot any of the following, put a mascara back onto its shelf: 1,4-Diaminobenzene, 1,4-benzenediamine, p-phenylenediamine, paraphenylenediamine, 4-phenylenediamine, p-diaminobenzene, 4-aminoaniline.
2. Rosin in mascara
Soft rosin of natural origins can have… unnaturally harmful impact on our skin. It’s the side product of turpentine distillation. This substance is obtained from almost all kinds of coniferous trees (mostly from pine tree). Rosin used in mascara boosts a few qualities of the product. Namely, it becomes more durable, its tenacious increases and it clings to lashes better. Moreover, rosin is also a component of soaps and varnishes.
How to distinguish rosin in a mascara composition?
In most cases rosin doesn’t change its name when introduced in the list of ingredients, although it might have more chemical-looking names as well. Therefore, beware a mascara that contains: colophonium, colophony, resin terebinthinae, tall oil, abietic acid, methyl abietate alcohol, abietic alcohol, abietyl alcohol.
3. Nickel in mascara
Nickel is a white and silver metal of delicately yellowish tinge. It’s characterized by its hardness and tenacity typical for this type of metals. It’s used for producing eye frames, zips, buttons, cell phones, jewellery, tools, cutlery and… mascaras. Indeed, it can cause quite a problem to allergy sufferers. To demonstrate, people allergic to nickel notice reddened skin right after being in physical contact with this metal. The interesting fact is that the redness might not necessarily appear in the place where nickel was applied to. In general, allergic reaction to nickel can have the following forms: erythema, itching, blisters and spittle.
How to distinguish nickel in a mascara composition?
Luckily, nickel is rarely added to cosmetics (pay extra attention to the cosmetics imported from China which composition is doubtful). If you would like to scan a product’s composition for nickel, look for its Latin name, which is niccolum, or its chemical symbol Ni.
4. Chrome in mascara
Chrome compounds are present in many types of mascaras. They are applied mostly as green tints that are responsible for colouring a cosmetic. Of course, mascara isn’t the only colour cosmetic that chrome can be added to. It’s also a common component of eye shadows, eyeliners and eye pencils. Allergy to chrome has the form of reddened eyelid, itchiness and dehydration of skin.
How to distinguish chrome in a mascara composition?
Important information is that a mascara featuring chrome doesn’t have to include chromium oxide greens in its list of ingredients. This element is frequently hidden behind CI number, also known as Colour Index. The numbers include: CI 77288, CI 77289, CI 15685, CI 18690, CI 18736. Also, you can recognize chrome by the following names: chromium, chromate, acid red and disodium hydrogen bis.
