Line it.

Sponsor

Cosmetic pencils are used to colour those eyes big and bright and those lips pouty and luscious. What else are we getting when we line it?

Ingredients in cosmetic pencil products used on the skin, around the particularly permeable and highly sensitive eye area, are absorbed directly into the bloodstream.¹
The skin on your lips is less sponge-like than eye area skin so you are more likely to ingest. Remember what we told you in the Kiss Toxins Goodbye e-bulletin "...if you wear lipstick every day, over your lifetime, you'll actually eat over five pounds of lipstick off your mouth." Tasty? ²
Eye and lip pencils can contain a few of these "little gems" that are Ingredients to Avoid:
- BHT, Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Parabens, Quaternium-15, TEA and BHA.
To get those pleasing hues, colorants of both natural and synthetic origins are used. See Pure Know How's Colourants 101 to learn about some colourful facts.

Black is best when it comes to eyeliners, as black is the least allergenic colorant.3
If black just isn't your thing (is the Cleopatra look in or out?) don't fret - out of 256 eyeliners registered in the Skin Deep Database, 56 are deemed a low hazard - so there's lots of choice.

A word of caution: Toxic ratings in the Skin Deep database are based on an average of all the toxin ratings for each product. Even though a product may rate a Low Hazard it still may contain ingredients you don't want.
Look for natural cosmetic manufacturers that base their products on beeswax, plant oils, vitamin E and iron oxides.⁴
Look for natural colorants widely used in cosmetics like alkanet, annatto, carotene, chlorophyll, cochineal, saffron and turmeric. Some sound good enough to eat!⁵
Traditional kohl products, used as an eye cosmetic in Middle Eastern, Asian and North African societies, have been found to contain lead. Kohl is not to be confused with modern eyeliner, which undergoes more stringent product controls and has not been found to contain lead.⁶

Tamey doesn't use eyeliner and uses lip liner a few times a year (to make those little lips look bigger). She was worried when writing this article as she uses MAC lip liner, it turns out that MAC lip liner is rated low concern by Skin Deep. Here's her Product Review.
Patti lines her baby blues for a soft smudged look. She switched to more natural manufacturers and has found good results with Trend Sensitiv Eyeliners by Lavera and Dr. Hauschka. See Product Reviews.
Eye and Lip pencils last a long, long time (Patti is sure that eyeliner used for her prom umpteen years ago was still in her make-up bag!). Check out and chuck out your old pencils if not up to current standards.
Make-up is supposed to be fun. Don't let all our talk of toxins scare you off - look for alternatives and, if you so choose, colour it up!

P.S. Get ready. In the next few weeks Pure Know How will start Blogging!

1/2 Product Report - Lip and Eye Makeup. The Green Guide, March 30, 2002.
3 Beauty Flash: The Top 10 Cosmetic Do's & Don'ts for Women with Sensitive Skin, Dr. Zoe Diana Draelos. American Academy of Dermatology, 2003.
4/5 Erickson, Kim. Drop-Dead Gorgeous, 2002.
6 Advisory - Traditional kohl products contain lead, Health Canada, September 28, 2005.