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>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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