Re: COSMETIC INGREDIENTS -- Making Good Scents(TM)

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Date Posted: 05:22:42 09/23/03 Tue
Author: O. Franklin, Publisher, Making Good Scents (TM)
Subject: Re: COSMETIC INGREDIENTS
In reply to: MISTY 's message, "COSMETIC INGREDIENTS" on 16:34:57 09/11/03 Thu

Dear Misty:
You've come to the right place. I have always felt that cosmetics made with natural ingredients can and should rival cosmetics made with synthetic ingredients. Not all ingredients that you might see in a product are added for the benefit of the user. When researching an ingredient I always try to figure out three things: 1) Why was this ingredient included in this product? 2) Is this ingredient necessary? 3) If this ingredient is necessary, what natural ingredient can I substitute for it? If you can answer these questions, then you can decide whether or not you need a particular ingredient in your formulations.

Whether or not you hire a cosmetic chemist is up to you. The Food and Drug Administration, the agency which oversees the marketing of cosmetics in the United States, has this to say about ingredient safety:

Cosmetic Safety

Although the FD&C Act does not require that cosmetic manufacturers or marketers test their products for safety, the FDA strongly urges cosmetic manufacturers to conduct whatever toxicological or other tests are appropriate to substantiate the safety of their cosmetics. If the safety of a cosmetic is not adequately substantiated, the product may be considered misbranded and may be subject to regulatory action unless the label bears the following statement: "Warning - The safety of this product has not been determined." See 21 CFR 740.10.

With the exception of color additives and a few prohibited ingredients, a cosmetic manufacturer may, on his own responsibility, use essentially any raw material as a cosmetic ingredient and market the product without approval. The law requires that color additives used in food, drugs and cosmetics must be tested for safety and approved by the FDA for their intended uses. A cosmetic containing an unlisted color additive; i.e., a color additive which has not been approved by the FDA for zits intended use, is considered adulterated and subject to regulatory action. The color additives approved for use in cosmetics are listed at 21 CFR 73, 74 and 82.

The use of the following ingredients is either restricted or prohibited in cosmetics: bithionol, mercury compounds, vinyl chloride, halogenated salicylanilides, zirconium complexes in aerosol cosmetics, chloroform, methylene chloride, chlorofluorocarbon propellants, and hexachlorophene. See 21 CFR 700.11 to 700.23 and 250.250. The agency also considers as adulterated cosmetic nail products containing methyl methacrylate monomer or those containing more than 5% formaldehyde. Although not prohibited by law or regulation, in addition, the manufacturers of cosmetic fragrance products have voluntarily agreed to not use or to limit maximum use levels of certain selected ingredients which have been found to cause depigmentation, irritant, neurotoxic, or phototoxic or other allergic reactions.
(This is available at the following web page: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-hdb1.html).

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