is red paint around the eyes unsafe?

The guy that is hiring me for an upcoming event has kids who have lots of allergies and very sensitive skin. I use Snazaroo paints, which I think should be ok. His kids recently went to a party where they were painted with Wolfe paints and had no reactions. However, he told me he talked a bit to the face painter, and she had mentioned something about how she doesn't use red colors near the eyes because it's unsafe. Obviously something could have gotten misunderstood or was heard out of context, but do you know anything about this? The guy wanted to know what I thought about it...I've never heard that before. Have you? What is the reasoning behind that? I'm fairly new to face painting and want to make sure I do everything safely.

We are consistently told by all face paint manufacturers not to use red near the eyes or (in some brands) blue near the mouth. As far as I know, it is because the dyes used in those colours have not been tested safe for those areas. It doesn't mean that they are necessarily unsafe, but since they are not tested/certified it is better to avoid using those there if possible. I've painted red near eyes a couple of times, but, it's best if you can try to put something else there instead.... for your rainbow butterflies, put the red on the outside rather than the inside, etc.

I've heard that about fluorescent colors but had not heard about red...but I'd trust you, Perry! I wonder why they wouldn't just go ahead and test them like the other colors. Makes one wonder if they were tested but rather than declare them unsafe, they just say they haven't been tested? Hmmmm.....

technically yes, but only some reds it should say on the back.
and even some of the Mac eyeshadows and other make up brands in red and some pinks. which involve the same pigments in a different way. I read that on a make up artist forum somewhere many months ago. although I don't own any Mac anything . so havn't sighted that for myself.

I remember it is to do with the pigment. I started reading up on it after I read up on the blue ...but I got board. (it was really,really tedious chasing this I spent 6 hours looking up blue) there are tests that I was attempting to find at the FDA did involving bunnys

Pigments are suspended in a lake - basically a medium to sort of lock them in. although I did not find the test for the red I remember the blue was really dumb, and that raw pigment (not in a lake) was used. It was force fed to rats and when they got to high quantitys - they died. they then attempted it with dogs. The dogs in the same amount for their body weight. threw it up. on several occasions this meant the test was inconclusive so they refered to the rat data. and this was alot of pigment about 2lb to the dog.
From what I Know It refers to animal testing done by the FDA.

Not the make up companys

one of the stupiditys I found with the blue is it is the same blue that is appoved for surgical sutures/stiches (cause you arn't eating it!!) and also somthing to do with artificial hips.
the blue passed the eye test - so it got approved for cosmetic use but not around the mouth.

now although I didn't find the red tests I think it would have gone along a similar lines. approved for cosmetic use but not around the eyes.

what this means is so that companys don't have to do animal testing they can use a pigment that has gone through testing previously by the FDA but they must label it accordingly based on these results. i.e approved for cosmetic use but not around the.........

This means also that the testing for approval as a cosmetic is more an analasis of componants/formula and getting a few people to use it. if all ingrediants have been previously tested. (it is also much cheaper)

If companys were to contest these results the bunnys, rats and doggys would cop it. so rather than do that - they label it accordingly. or use a different pigment that passed fully.

I think (but again don't own so can't read) snaz red is appoved for around the eyes. I think it uses a different pigment to the one in question. If you are concerned.

But after reading the make up forums, (and these pigments have been used since the 1980s in various eyeshadows apparently) the FDA stuff on the blue. I am not too worried myself. but ultimatley the choice is yours.

Thank you for the clarification, Sue. I basically only use red near their eyes if they specifically ask for it, otherwise I avoid it.

As far as I know, the red is unsafe around the eyes (especially Red #7 but a few others as well) - it can cause a reaction (redness and itchy and inflammation) - and I've heard of rather extreme cases where the cornea was scratched by the red. I avoid red around the eyes and blue around the lips (I've heard of tingly blue lips with some of the pigments). If I want to do "red" around the eyes ie when I need someone to be aged or look tired or hung over I use a grease makeup I have that is red-ish that contains only pigment safe around eyes - not something I do with kids.....

Ditto what Noella said. I don't do any red near the eyes or blue near the lips. It is actually written on some of the paints. I think there is an old thread on here somewhere about it.

http://www.facepaintforum.com/t1222-red-paint-around-the-eyes-a-no-no

there were several red pigments that were of issue, and yep some worse than others but there were some that passed fully I think 3. they however lacked the intensity. That cosmetic manufaturers were looking for.
most reds do fail on FDA testing.


but snazaroo says it is safe to use around the eyes

http://www.snazaroo.us/faqeyes.htm

out of curiosity could someone flip one over and see what it says (just my curiosity there)

Good to know! I'm sure I can avoid red around the eyes and blue around the mouth in most of my designs.

I just flipped over my Snaz box, and it says: "Blue, Green, Pink and Purple should not be used on the lips. Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink and Purple should not be used in the eye area."

Um....most of the eye designs I see use those colors! And of course some of the designs on the box have those colors in those areas, haha. Are they saying that just to cover their butts legally, or do you think it would really be a problem?

It isn't stated on wolfe red, but on kryolan red it says not to use it in the eye area

In many other countries you will not get those warnings. Reason? They are not FDA APPROVED for those applications.... BUT In other countries, they are approved.

So, if you are claiming to be FDA compliant... In an FDA country.... No red by eyes, no blue , teal, and a few other colors by mouth, no UV except in hair.

It's very frustrating, isn't it? I imported a bunch of neon rainbow cakes for sale in my country and they come with a huge sticker on the back that says "only for hair, not to be used on skin".

Very unhappy. Even if I know the reasons why they're labelled like that, I don't feel comfortable selling them, even though I've used them myself!