Lipsticks & lip glosses – INCI lists and analysis

Lipsticks and glosses give the lips colour, shine or a matte finish. Classic bullet lipsticks are moulded sticks, liquid lipsticks are applied with a doe-foot applicator and dry to a film, and glosses stay glossy and slightly tacky. Because lip products are partly swallowed during wear, the ingredients used in them are assessed with that exposure in mind.

A bullet lipstick is typically a blend of waxes such as CERA ALBA, COPERNICIA CERIFERA CERA, EUPHORBIA CERIFERA CERA or SYNTHETIC WAX, with oils and esters like RICINUS COMMUNIS SEED OIL, OCTYLDODECANOL or DIISOSTEARYL MALATE. Glosses often build on POLYBUTENE or HYDROGENATED POLYISOBUTENE, while liquid lipsticks use volatile carriers such as ISODODECANE combined with film formers like TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE.

Colour comes from pigments and lakes identified by CI number, for example CI 77491 (iron oxides), CI 77891 (titanium dioxide), CI 15850 or CI 45410. Pearlescent shades add MICA and sometimes TIN OXIDE. Only colourants listed in Annex IV of the EU Cosmetics Regulation may be used, and some are permitted only in products that do not touch mucous membranes, which is relevant for lips.

Because one ingredient list often covers a whole shade range, colourants frequently follow a ‘may contain’ or +/- sign. Flavour is listed as AROMA, sweeteners like SACCHARIN may appear, and antioxidants such as TOCOPHEROL or BHT protect the oils. The list ends with fragrance allergens if any exceed the declaration threshold.