Rozy asks…Is Himalaya Herbals Kajal safe to put around eyes? What ingredient gives it pigment?
The Right Brain responds:
Before we can talk about this specific product, we need to explain what is kajal is.
Curious about kajal
Those of you not familiar with Kajal may recognize it by its more common name: Kohl, which is a pigment that has been used since ancient time in parts of Asia and Africa to darken the area around the eyes. (“Kajal” typically refers to Kohl eyeliner while “Surma” refers to Kohl powder.)
Historically kohl was made from a sulfide of lead which, as we all know now, is not the safest of chemicals to expose yourself too. While some old-school kohl/kajal products still exist, most modern versions (like STILA Kajal Eye Liner
Is Himalaya Herbals Kajal safe?
Here is where it gets tricky. Unfortunately this company, like many others, does not provide full ingredients lists for its products online. All we’ve been able to find is what they refer to as the “key ingredients” which to us is just marketing speak for “we’re only going to tell you about the ingredients we want you to know about.” Still for the sake of completeness here are the ingredients that we were able to find:
Almond Oil (Prunus amygdalus, Vatada) Camphor (Cinnamomum camphora, Karpura) Castor Oil (Ricinus communi, Eranda) Rose (Rosa damascene, Shatapatri) Triphala consisting of the fruits Emblica officinalis (Amalaki), Terminalia chebula (Haritaki) and Terminalia bellerica (Vibhitaki)
It’s obvious that this formula must have more ingredients since there’s nothing here that contains a black pigment. It’s likely that the product uses an iron oxide just like most other companies do you. But, since, in their infinite wisdom they’ve chosen not to share that information with us, there is no way to know for sure that they are not using a lead compound.
Unless you can get the company to give you a full ingredient list I would err on the side of safety and buy a product that’s honest and open about the ingredients it contains.
Image credit: http://www.freefoto.com
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for writing about this! This is the only eyeliner that I use on my eyes, as I love the way that it applies and it’s colour… and it’s SO cheap! I buy mine at an indian supermarket and it’s only $2.00. The brand that I use is called Hashmi Kajal. I sure hope it’s not dangerous
Beauty brains is it true that the eye makeup worn by ancient Egyptian people prevented eye infection? I love ancient history. If it did why don’t we use that ingredient today in eye makeup, I know it would be considered a drug claim but still interesting to think of makeup with a health benefit.
kajal has been used in Nepal for centuries to on babies and kids to help them develop better eye health. it’s a big part of the culture and no side effects that I heard of. My husband is from Nepal so he has a first hand experience
This article is interesting: http://www.hashmisurma.com/images/tips_for_eyes.pdf
I was so thrilled to find this kajal and even posted images of my new look on my photo site. Then I read this:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/07/19/black-eyeliner-from-pakistan-contains-lead-danger-illinois-ag-f/
I try to compensate by using many coats of black mascara but using kajal on both waterlines was so gorgeous and exotic (and apparently dangerous). I’m not dying to be beautiful.
If you can barbeque with it, why would you want it on your face? Last time I checked, kohl was definitely NOT on my list of rewardingskin care products.
We whole family used Kajal/Surma while growing up in Pakistan. After joining the middle school, we quit using it. However, it is very common among women to use and is considered to beautify the eyes and it adds to the facial beauty.
The black pigment comes from burning the almond or something else and using the soot mixed with the oils to create the kajal. Doesn’t really use sulfide or lead.