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FD&C and Lake Dye Free Makeup

You wouldn’t buy an organic apple that was colored bright red with artificial dyes, would you? We wouldn’t either. To us, the concept of defiling a beautiful, all-natural fruit with artificial dyes seems ridiculous and counterproductive to the spirit of natural produce.

For this same reason, the entire Afterglow Cosmetics line is artificial colorant and synthetic dye-free. This means you won’t find a single FD&C or Lake-dye in our products. We use highly purified, safe, EcoCert /Cosmos certified all-natural Iron oxide pigments, natural Micas, Titanium dioxide and Zinc to provide the colors in our natural makeup.

What are FD&C and Lake Dyes?

FD&C and Lake Dyes are artificial colorants derived from petroleum bi-products like coal tar. They are found in almost all color cosmetics, processed food items, and pharmaceuticals. Ironically, you’ll even find these synthetic dyes in many otherwise natural cosmetic products. Every country regulates and/or bans FD&C and Lake dyes to some extent. In the USA, FD&C and Lake dyes are highly regulated by the US FDA due to ongoing revelations regarding their safety for many reason, including concerning amounts of lead and arsenic levels these petroleum derived, coal tar dyes contain.

What would FD&C and Lake Dyes be doing in a natural cosmetic product?

We’re wondering the same thing! Many of our customers are allergic to FD&C and Lake dyes. We know that our customers are looking for the most natural makeup they can find. For us, this means natural makeup colored exclusively by nature. However, nature does have certain limitations in the color and “long-wear” department. Some “natural cosmetic” companies compromise the integrity of their otherwise natural formulas (and the confidence of their customers) and use these artificial, petroleum-derived FD&C and Lake dyes to create certain bright pinks and reds as well as certain yellows and golds that cannot otherwise be achieved by natural Iron oxide pigments.
Using these synthetic dyes can also be a cheaper and more predictable way to manufacture color cosmetics. Nature is always changing and can sometimes be unpredictable. Synthetics always stay the same, making the process of producing synthetically colored cosmetics easier to manufacture. That’s nice for the brand, but not necessarily the level of natural many look for when buying a natural lipstick.

These artificial dyes also do exactly that, they “dye” your skin, giving you the illusion of a long-wear product when the reside of the artificial color has only been absorbed into your skin.

You have a sea of options for makeup formulated with petro-derived synthetic FD&C and Lake Dyes. Afterglow is here for you when you are looking for a truly natural makeup line that only uses natural pigments.