Eyeshadows & eyeliners – INCI ingredients and colourants

Eye make-up adds colour and definition to the eyelids and lash line. Powder shadows are applied with a brush or finger, cream shadows from a pot or stick, pencils and kohls along the lash line or waterline, and liquid liners with a fine tip or brush. Most are removed with a dedicated eye make-up remover.

Pressed shadows are based on fillers such as TALC, MICA or SYNTHETIC FLUORPHLOGOPITE, held together by binders like MAGNESIUM STEARATE, DIMETHICONE or ETHYLHEXYL PALMITATE. Shimmer comes from pearlescent pigments, often MICA coated with CI 77891 or CI 77491. Liquid liners rely on water and film formers such as STYRENE/ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, while pencils use waxes and oils.

Colourants appear as CI numbers and must be listed in Annex IV of the EU Cosmetics Regulation, which also states whether a given colourant may be used in products applied near the eyes. Palettes often carry one ingredient list per shade or a combined “may contain” section. Glitter particles may appear as POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE, which falls under the EU restriction on intentionally added microplastics, with transition periods for make-up.