Cosmetics Unmasked - Listing Cosmetics

The Eu Commission keeps a list of cosmetic ingredients which includes over 470 hair dyes, colorants, and other substances designed to alter the appearance of cosmetics.

A large number of these are named using the color index numbers, e.g., C110316. Occasionally the European  "E" numbers are used, and other colors are easily spotted as they often include the name of the color. For example, Acid Black 52, Basic Blue 99, D&C Red #33, Direct Blue 86,

Disperse Orange3, HC Blue No 11, Pigment Green 7 and Solvent Green 29 are all obviously colors.

Some, however are known by their full chemical name and are not so easily spotted in a list of ingredients.

There might be twenty shades of eye shadow or lipstick, all slightly different .

Some might contain just one of these colors while others might contain two or more in any combination.

To save printing several different labels, all the different shades can carry the same label, which shows all the colors that are used in that range of cosmetic.

Labelling regulations in the Eu allow manufacturers to economize by adding something like this at the end of the ingredients.

{+ /-C1 77491. C1 77492, C1 77499, C1 77713,  C1 77742, C1 7745}.

In the USA the equicalent expression is: "May contain D&C Red #30,D&C Yellow #7,D&C Yellow ~10." This means the particular cosmetic might or might not contain some or all of these colors.

The Problem for you, the consumer, is, you don't know which colors are actually in the cosmetic you are using. 

References: Cosmetic Unmasked: Dr Stephen & Gina Antczak