Official Company Stance From DFX on Neons

I still haven't heard back from TAG, but here is the Official Stance from DFX USA. Seems VERY reasonable to me and I will proceed using the NEONS.

Official Company Stance from DFX

"I can't speak for Tag, but as far as Diamond FX neon colors - the blue, violet and white do have the FDA approval for cosmetic use, that is the reason they are more expensive. The other colors are considered for special effects and not for cosmetic use. When a classification of cosmetic use is given is because people may use it everyday as their usual "personal care routine" The glow in the dark is not intended for every day use and it has not been tested for that purpose, that is the reason it is not approved as such by the FDA. It doesn't mean it is dangerous, it just means that it wasn't meant to use as an everyday cosmetic and it has not been tested as such (testing is very expensive). By law we have to make the distinction and write that in the labels." Elena Bonifaz, DFX USA

-Metina

sounds good to me!

Sounds really good and makes sense!!!! I don't want to give up on the neons!!!

Breathing sigh of relief...ahhhhhhhhhhh I love my DFX and I love love love my DFX Neonsssssssssss scoreeeeeeeee

Yay! Now I can order my neon rainbow cake.

I certainly don't use them every day..so I will keep them in my kit!

But the company is still saying "not for cosmetic use" and in a court case with my insurance, I don't think it'd cover. Also have to remove "we use only
FDA approved materials" from advertising materials.
It's probably just as safe as everything else but as we know no matter what nothing is 100% safe for 100% of the people. The key for me is we have the knowledge and are trying to educate people to use the most safe and the mostly highly tested and highest quality products, for me it is pretty simple to just use other colours. If the industry demands testing and stops using the products it'll probably happen. When I started I used expensive and beautiful caran d'arche watercolour crayons and then learned they weren't an approved cosmetic, I never saw a reaction in more than 10 years, but when I started to learn more about the facts I set them aside to find products that were approved and my business and skills have improved so much because that is when I found and began to value the online communities of face and body artists.

Thank you for checking into it and for posting their response Metina. I appreciate your efforts to keep us informed so we can each make a personal choice to use or not to use.
Judy

Neons did not just pop up overnight, and have been used for years in the industry, if in fact there was a serious issue regarding harmful/adverse effects of using these type of paints we would have heard about it long before now. We don't use these products everyday and the people we use them on are not having them put on everyday....when you really think about it...what we use them for is for creating a special effect that is meant to be temporary. I mean if I was someone who had to where glow in the dark make-up/paint every single day as part of my job, then heck yeah I would be seriously concerned.....but how many actually fall into that category.

At the end of the day it will come down to a matter of choice there will those who stop using them and those who won't. There are plenty and I do mean plenty of products out there that we use daily that are suspect to say the least, but we still use them.

I think many will end up putting the cart before the horse and just taking the stance of not using them because they've deemed them as not safe....when in fact that is not what is being said and there's no evidence (at least not that I've seen) to really support that they are.

If there was anything else out there other than the fact that certain colors still have yet to be tested (because others have been tested and have been approved) , then yea I would be looking with the raised eye too.

I mean we see folks who post adverse reactions to acrylics....has anyone seen a post or heard of adverse reactions to neons????


Sorry for the long post....happy painting

Well said changingfaces

chicneek wrote:But the company is still saying "not for cosmetic use" and in a court case with my insurance, I don't think it'd cover. Also have to remove "we use only
FDA approved materials" from advertising materials.
It's probably just as safe as everything else but as we know no matter what nothing is 100% safe for 100% of the people. The key for me is we have the knowledge and are trying to educate people to use the most safe and the mostly highly tested and highest quality products, for me it is pretty simple to just use other colours. If the industry demands testing and stops using the products it'll probably happen. When I started I used expensive and beautiful caran d'arche watercolour crayons and then learned they weren't an approved cosmetic, I never saw a reaction in more than 10 years, but when I started to learn more about the facts I set them aside to find products that were approved and my business and skills have improved so much because that is when I found and began to value the online communities of face and body artists.

There is a big difference between using a product manufactured for use on skin (even though it includes pigments that may have been exempted from testing by the governing agencies), and using a product that was never meant to be applied to skin.

Part of training to do special effects makeup for instance is to take classes, apprentice, do research - basically find out what is known about products and how to apply and what not to do. As professionals we know (when facepainting), not to use makeup/product (face paint) over open sores, not to use colors around the mouth not approved for the lips or ingesting, not to use products around the eyes that would not be safe for the corneas or on mucus membranes of the eyes, not to paint inside the nose or ear or whatever else someone might come up with.

People have asked me some things that I'm just shocked aren't common sense - but they aren't - part of our job is to educate as we have been educated.

If you ask your insurance company (in writing will cover you best) if they would cover you for an item, that will set your mind at ease - if you'd rather not use products you are not comfortable with using... don't. I don't personally like using latex for instance - I'll avoid it every opportunity I can, even though it is often used in special effects (aging, prosthetics, bald caps) as well as even day to day makeup (lash glue). I have other lash glues, other ways of doing things. Just like we can do just fine without certain colors if we want - it's not like we have to do without all blue in any form....

From the little I know from talking to manufacturers, I highly doubt that the pigments involved will be tested soon - my eyes glaze over when they start to explain the steps involved and the red tape. I think it far more likely if we "push" that the colors will disappear from use - I know that a couple of manufacturers have stopped with UV reactive colors in various forms (not face paint, but powders and airbrush). The difference isn't product testing, it's pigment approval - and I've spent days researching that before and feeling like I only was scratching the surface of what a nightmare it would be.

Wasn't there a discussion/mention/what have you a while ago anyway, on how it's not FDA-approved stuff we're using, but FDA-compliant?

I personally think that neons are safe. It's not like the kids will be wearing them for days at time, and they are not getting painted every single day, so I will continue using them in my kit. For me, it's like the toothpaste issue. Colgate is the only FDA approved toothpaste, yet people use Crest all the time as well.

no skin off my nose! Thanks for the heads up Metina! and yes I think its always wise to be cautious but we can breath a sigh of relief. If you go to Clash's blog you will see she has had a response from TAG.

Although it was sent to me as an email subscription I can't find the link to it on her blog??

Wow! That is a geat analogy with the toothpaste! I use whatever is on sale!