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Organic Blacks
Organic black is another smallish category, as can be seen from Table 4.7, but again a significant one, if for no other reason than the plethora of decorative cosmetics that aim at various subtle shades of black.
D&C Black No. 2is a carbon black produced by the oil furnace process (FDA n.d.) and is a very intense jet black, exhibiting about 20 times more strength than black iron oxide – a useful property in achieving very black mascaras and eye liners. The major drawback to this colorant is that it is very difficult to handle because it dusts significantly. To avoid this problem, a number of pigment suppliers make D&C Black No. 2 available in disper- sion form.
D&C Black No. 3is also a carbon black, but it is produced from burn- ing animal bones, as opposed to the petroleum-based D&C Black No. 2. It exhibits the same color properties as D&C Black No. 2, but is limited in use because of its animal origin. It is only included here due to the fact that formulators can use it as a natural ingredient.
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Table 4.8 Inorganic violets.
Color type Color shade Major uses Positive Negative
Manganese violet
Blue violet Eye makeup Lipstick
Low cost Approved for
eye-area use in the United States
Lack of intensity Not stable in
aqueous systems Red violet Eye makeup
Lipstick
Low cost Approved for
eye-area use in the United States
Lack of intensity Not stable in
aqueous systems Ultramarine
violet
Violet Eye makeup
Color correcting face makeup
Low cost Approved for
eye-area use in the United States
Lack of intensity External only in
the United States
Not stable in acid systems
tone down bright organic colors, particularly in shades designed for darker skin. Its most common application is in eye shadow, where it produces quite pleasing violet shades without being too overwhelming in terms of intensity. Manganese violet will convert from the violet Mn+7to the brown Mn+2on contact with water, particularly at alkaline pH values, so it cannot be used in aqueous systems. Even the addition of small amounts of water to pressed powders to aid compaction during filling is not recommended.
Ultramarine violetis a weaker alternative to manganese violet, and is less used for several reasons. First, it is a US external only color, so it cannot be used in lipstick. Furthermore, batch-to-batch color consistency is poor, color intensity is low, and it is not stable in acid systems.
Inorganic Reds
The color additives in this category, as listed in Table 4.9, all share similar usage characteristics that are not precisely ideal. Still, they are, in their way, useful colorants.
Red iron oxideis the principal inorganic red used in a variety of dec- orative cosmetic products. Available shades range from yellow to maroon.
Like manganese violet, it is used in lipsticks and nail polish to tone down the bright organic colors in products formulated for darker skin types and is a common colorant for eye makeup and lip color, particularly in earth-tone
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Table 4.9 Inorganic reds.e
Color type Color shade Major uses Positive Negative Red iron oxide Yellow red Lipstick
Nail polish Eye makeup Foundation
Low cost Stability
Dirty shades
Blue red Lipstick Nail polish Eye makeup Foundation
Low cost Stability
Dirty shades
Maroon Lipstick
Nail polish Eye makeup Foundation
Low cost Stability
Dirty shades
Ultramarine pink Pink Eye makeup Low cost Weak shade
External only in the United States Not stable in acid
systems
shades. The major use for red iron oxide, when blended with black iron oxide and yellow iron oxide, is to produce skin color shades in all types of foun- dation. The relative weakness of the oxides is mitigated by their preferred mixture with other colorants.
Ultramarine pinkexhibits a nice pink shade, but like its cousin ultra- marine violet, it is not widely used because of weak color strength, regu- latory restrictions, and acid stability issues. Its predominant use is in eye shadow and highlighters, where the pink shade has the most value.
Inorganic Oranges
Orange iron oxide, a blend of red and yellow iron oxides, is the only choice in this category, as shown in Table 4.10. The only advantage of this color, aside from its relatively low cost, is the convenience of not having to blend the neat ones to arrive at an orange shade.
Inorganic Yellows
Yellow iron oxide is again the only choice in this category, as shown in Table 4.11. It is available in both green and red shades, and while often used
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Table 4.10 Inorganic oranges.
Color type Color shade Major uses Positive Negative
Orange iron oxide Orange Lipstick Eye makeup
Low cost Stability
Weak, dirty shade
Table 4.11 Inorganic yellows.
Color type Color shade Major uses Positive Negative Yellow iron oxide Green yellow Lipstick
Eye makeup Foundation
Low cost Stability
Weak, dirty shades
Green yellow Lipstick Eye makeup Foundation
Low cost Stability
Weak, dirty shades
Table 4.12 Inorganic blues.
Color type Color shade Major uses Positive Negative Ultramarine blue Green blue Eye makeup
Foundation
Low cost Moderate tinting strength
External only in the United States Not stable in acid
systems Ferric ammonium
ferrocyanide
Red blue Lipstick Eye makeup Foundation
High tinting strength Deep masstone
Difficult to disperse External only in the
United States Not stable in
alkaline systems
in eye shadow to produce earth tones and in lipstick to dampen the vibrant color of organic colorants, it finds its major use when blended with red and black iron oxides to formulate skin tones for liquid makeup and other foun- dation products.
Inorganic Blues
Table 4.12 outlines the major inorganic blue color additives.
Ultramarine blue is the most common inorganic blue used in eye makeup. While not as strong as ferric blue, it is preferred by formulators due to its ease of dispersion.
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Ferric ammonium ferrocyanide, commonly callediron blue, is used in eye makeup, but to a lesser extent than ultramarine blue due to dispersibil- ity issues. Masstone is extremely dark, so iron blue can be used in mascara to make black iron oxide appear “blacker” up to levels of approximately 10%
before the blue tone starts to show. Due to the rigorous methods of disper- sion employed in the manufacture of nail polish, the dispersion issues of iron blue are marginalized, making it the blue shading component of choice in these lacquers.
Inorganic Greens
Table 4.13 outlines the major inorganic green additives.
Chromium oxide greenis a yellow shade green that exhibits an olive drab or “dirty olive” look. Its predominant use is in eye shadow, typically blended with iron oxides to produce earth-tone shade products.
Chromium hydroxide greenis a blue shade green and, for an inor- ganic color, displays a clean, bright look. It is most commonly used when formulating green or turquoise eye shadows, eye liners, or mascaras, where a clean, blue shade has value.
Inorganic Browns
Brown iron oxides, as listed in Table 4.14, are blends of the neat red, yel- low, and black colors and are available in shades ranging from tan through light brown to chocolate brown. They are used for their ease of formulation, as they require only slight adjustments with the neat iron oxides to pro- duce a wide range of shades, particularly the skin tones required for liquid makeup.
Table 4.13 Inorganic greens.
Color type Color shade Major uses Positive Negative Chromium
oxide green
Yellow green Eye makeup Color-correcting
face makeup
Low cost External only in the United States Dirty olive green Chromium
hydroxide green
Blue green Eye makeup Clean shade External only in the United States High cost
High oil absorption
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Table 4.14 Inorganic browns.
Color type Color shade Major uses Positive Negative Brown iron oxide Brown Eye makeup
Foundation
Low cost Blend
Tan Eye makeup
Foundation
Low cost Blend
Inorganic Blacks
Table 4.15 breaks down the two versions ofblack iron oxide, really the only choice for inorganic black. It is available in a standard (black) shade that is used in conjunction with red and yellow to formulate a variety of skintone foundation shades and earthtone shades for eye shadow. A jet, bluer black version is also available, used almost exclusively to produce mascara and eye liners, where the deep jet black has value. Interestingly, in a tint, the jet black iron oxides are actually weaker than the standard browner black products.
Inorganic Whites
Titanium dioxide, as indicated in Table 4.16, is the white pigment used in virtually all types of decorative cosmetic products to provide coverage, dampen the intensity of other colors, and produce pastel shades, particu- larly in lipsticks and nail lacquer. While at first glance it appears that white is white, there are actually two different crystal forms of titanium dioxide, anatase and rutile, both of which are used in color cosmetics. Due to tighter packing of the atoms in the crystal structure, rutile titanium dioxide is harder, more chemically stable, more dense, and has higher bulk density compared with anatase.
Cosmetic grade titanium dioxide is defined as not less than 99% by US and EU regulations. Generally, such material exhibits good stability in cos- metic applications.
Table 4.15 Inorganic blacks.
Color type Color shade Major uses Positive Negative
Black iron oxide Brown black Eye makeup Foundation
Low cost Weak tinting strength Jet (blue) black Eye makeup Low cost Weak tinting
strength
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Table 4.16 Inorganic whites.
Color type Color shade Major uses Positive Negative
Titanium dioxide – anatase
Blue white Lipstick Eye makeup Nail lacquer Foundation
Low cost Lower chemical stability than rutile Titanium dioxide –
rutile
Yellow white Lipstick Eye makeup Nail lacquer Foundation
Low cost More difficult to suspend and disperse than anatase
In addition, titanium dioxide can have three different dispersion characteristics, based on the permitted<1% trace constituents present. The first is a pure material that is oil- and water-dispersible. The second is an oil-dispersible product that contains a small amount of aluminum oxide, which retards “floating” in lipsticks. The third grade disperses easily in water due to a high residual salt content, but has the disadvantage that floatation is sometimes observed in water-based foundation formulations.