Sophia’s eyeliner inquiry: How do they get the colors for liquid eyeliner? Are there bacteria in Wet n Wild eyeliner? Are there bacteria in colored eyeliner? What colors would have more bacteria or would it get moldy? Does the sun affect the different colors to have bacteria because of the reflection? Is Wet n Wild the best liquid eyeliner to use?

The Right Brain responds:

Sophia, we’ve never had anyone so curious about eyeliner before! First of all, you might want to go back and read our post on how eyeliner works. That will explain the basics of the formula. Go ahead, read it now. We’ll wait here…

All done? Good! Now, on to your questions….

Color safe

First of all, the colorants used in eyeliner are all approved by the FDA (in the US) for use around the eye. These include chemicals with names names like yellow and blue lakes, carmine (which comes from crushed up dead bugs) and mineral-derived colors like Iron Oxides, Chromium oxide greens, and ultramarines. (By the way, we’ve blogged before about the potential danger of eye products containing a black colorant known as kohl, so be sure to stay away from that!

Buggy bacteria

Second, you seem very concerned about bacteria in Wet n Wild eyeliner - normally this should not be a problem. We looked at the ingredients in Wet n Wild Eyeliner and found that it’s protected from bacteria by a combination of preservatives including methylparaben, propylparaben and imidazolidinyl urea. So unless the product is very old or it’s somehow been contaminated, it should be bacteria free. If bacteria DID start to grow in the product, they may nor may not be visible to you just from looking at it. Mold would be easy to spot, but bacteria is not so easily seen.

Here comes the sun

We’re not sure we understood your question about sunlight, but while the color of eyeliner may appear a little different under different lighting conditions, sunlight itself has nothing to do with whether or not the product has bacteria or what that bacteria looks like. If you’ve gotten a bad tube of eyeliner and it looks funny, either take it back to the store for a refund or throw it out and by a new one.

Finally, you asked if Wet n Wild Eyeliner is the best liquid eyeliner to use, but we’ll turn that question over to our Beauty Brains community. Can anyone out there recommend any eyeliners for Sophia? Leave a comment and share your eyeliner expertise!

From The Beauty Brains Forum Members: Cate, Purple Passion, and Pas71

Cate

One of my goals during 2007 and now into 2008 was to learn to apply eyeliner in a classy manner. I was so excited to try Pencil Me In eyeliner in Silky Suede which is a beautiful chocolaty color. Now I have definitely had problems in the past with pencil liners and generally prefer crème liners, HOWEVER, Pencil Me In went on very smooth and stayed very nicely. I did however, use an eye primer because I do have oily eyelids and when I didn’t use the primer the liner was gone in no time at all. The color was amazing and matched my green/gray eyes, pale Irish skin, and wannabe red hair beautifully. I liked the idea that the lid had a built-in sharpener, but unfortunately, mine was lost the minute I opened it. Seriously, I don’t know what happened to it. I was impressed with the number of different colors to choose from and took a good 20 minutes to decide . That is definitely a good thing!

Purple Passion

I tried the Pencil Me In eye liner pencil in Purple Passion. I’m not usually a fan of eye pencils. The line is never as sharp or as distinct as I’d like and it tends to smudge as the day goes on. The Pencil Me In eye liner produces a cleaner line than other pencils. The tip is harder; it’ almost as hard as a lead pencil. I got the best results by applying it in short strokes and building the color up rather than trying to apply it in one long stroke. This also gives you the option of going with a very soft, blended line or a more dramatic line. You can also use it as a shadow since it blends beautifully but it’s very shimmery so it’s definitely an evening look. The selection of colors is excellent and you could really have some fun with an assortment of colors.

Pas71

I am an avid fan of eye makeup; whatever it is, I’ll try it. I love doing dramatic eyes when going out and need to restrain myself during the day so I don’t go out with too much makeup on! Needless to say, I was psyched to try these new pencils.

I was really impressed by the color collection and settled on Char-Kohl, a nice, matte grey. When I received it, I was pleased to see that there was a sharpener in the cap! It didn’t work all that well and I don’t actually need another sharpener, but it’s a great idea, especially for on the go!

As for its performance, the color payoff was decent. I had to go over the line three times to get the color intensity that I was looking for, but it was, in the end, achievable.

The color was beautiful, but it did not stay put. I thought if I let it dry down a bit, it would stay, but 5 minutes later I could still smudge it quite easily with my finger. Great for a smokey look, not so great for a nice, neat line.

Also, the pencil had a nice consistency. Though I am used to gel and liquid liners (and Urban Decay 24/7 pencils, which are uber-soft and have the consistency of a gel), this pencil was not too hard for me, which was a nice surprise.

Overall, the pencils come in a wide range of colors, which is great, but the staying power and color payoff is not quite what you’d get in other pencils, such as Urban Decay’s 24/7s. I would suggest looking to them first (especially if you are looking for staying power and waterproof-ness), and then turning to Pencil Me In pencils if you are looking for a different color.

What do YOU look for in an eye pencil? What’s your favorite brand? Leave a comment and let us know. Or, you can start a thread in the Beauty Brains Forum. And if you’re interested in getting free goodies of your own, join the Forum now and show us you’ve got what it takes to be a Beauty Brainiac!

CMH asks: I’ve read a lot of hype about MAC Liquidlast Liners being “industrial strength” eyeliners. They are smudgeproof and waterproof to the extent that they stay on the skin for days (five days, in the case of one reviewer) in spite of showering and washing. They only come off with oil-based makeup removers and quite a bit of rubbing. What does MAC Liquidlast Liner contain that makes them adhere so tenaciously to the skin?

The Right Brain replies:
We haven’t tested MAC’s liquidliners so we can’t attest to their ability to last for several days, but we can comment on their chemistry. Eyeliners are similar to mascaras in their composition, so, before we begin, you should go read our previous post on how regular mascaras work. All done? Ok, let’s continue.

How eyeliners work

As you know from what you just read, most mascaras (and eyeliners) rely on waxes and oils to hold the pigments in place. But there are a newer style of eye products that employ a different kind of chemistry. These products use acrylic polymers instead of waxes. The properties of these polymers can be controlled by how they are neutralized and how they are mixed with other ingredients that have a plasticizing, or softening, effect. Products made with these polymers can be made very soft and water washable or very hard and long lasting. Blinc mascara is one type that uses this kind of formulation approach. (Have you read our post on how Blinc makes tiny little tubes around your lashes?) Another product that uses this polymer technology is the MAC Liquidlast liner that you asked about.

Why is MAC so waterproof?

Let’s look at the ingredients MAC uses:

Water (purified), Propylene Glycol, Triethanolamine, Cellulose, Xanthan Gum, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Hectorite, Glyceryl Stearate, TEA-Stearate, Acrylates/C10-30 Acrylates Crosspolymer, Oleyl Alcohol, Isopropyparaben, Butylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Ultramarines, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Carmine, Chromium Hydroxide Green, Chromium Oxide Green, Blue 1 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake

Based on this list, our guess is that MAC uses a lower amount of neutralizing agent (Triethanolamine, or TEA for short), which makes the film formed by the polymer (the Acrylates/C10-30 Acrylates Crosspolymer) longer lasting. The trade off is that this type of eyeliner can be very hard to wash off. So you have to decide what’s more important for you – long lasting or easy to wash off. Like having your cake and eating it too, you can’t have both.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

If you like this effect, this is a good product for you. But if you want a more conventional feel from your eyeliner, you might consider Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner or Anna Sui Liquid Eyeliner.

Beauty Brains News Flash:

The US FDA recently approved a new black pigment for eyeshadows and mascaras that is made from charred cow bones. The ingredient contains small, but safe, levels of carcinogens.

Anna asks about kohl eyeliners. Not the modern kohl eyeliners you see in drugstores, but the kind known as kajal or sirma that women in Egypt and Asia use. She likes that these products are supposed to aid against eye diseases and are good for the skin near the eye. However, she`s heard that real kohl eyeliners can contain potentially dangerous levels of lead? Is this true? And is there anyway to tell if the brands that I like are safe or not? The Right Brain replies:

Kohl is a mixture of soot and minerals that has been used for centuries to darken the area around the eye. Interestingly, some cultures believe that kohl should be used on children to help ward off evil spirits. It is also supposedly a good tooth whitener. (Kohl! It’s an eyeliner! It’s a tooth whitener! It’s a dessert topping!)

Can Kohl Kill You?

But seriously, we’re not making fun of the cultures that use kohl, but as scientists we are concerned about using dangerous cosmetic ingredients. And kohl can indeed be dangerous - some brands have been proven to contain high levels of lead because they`re made with galena (lead sulfate) or similar compounds. In fact, in January 2007, the state of Maryland banned the Hashmi brand of kohl because they claimed it contributed to lead poisoning in children. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to tell if any given product is contaminated with lead or not.

The Brains Bottom Line: Stay away from kohl products because there is a real risk of lead exposure. Use a regular eyeliner like Maybelline or E.L.F. if you want to darken your eyes and ask your doctor if you`re concerned about eye diseases.

Liz Longs To Learn:
Why do some eyeliners run/melt?

The Right Brain Turns Up The Heat:

Liz, without more details we have to make some assumptions to answer your question; but we’ll try our best. First, we assume you’re talking about eyeliner pencils. Second, when you ask what makes them run or melt, we assume you mean the stick itself and not the makeup after you’ve applied it. So far so good? Ok, here we go…

The most likely cause of eyeliner “melting” (or deforming after exposure to heat), is that the wax base used to make the eyeliner does not have a high enough melting point. There’s no way to tell for sure without testing, but we’d expect that eyeliners made with high melting waxes like bees wax and carnuaba would stand up to heat better than products made with softer waxes like ozokerite and ceresin. Look to see which waxes show up in the ingredient list before you buy the product, like in these examples:
Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner:
Cyclomethicone, Trimethysiloxysilicate, Ozokerite, Polyethylene, Phenyl Trimethicone, Euphorbia Cerifera Wax (Candelilla), Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, Lecithin, Sorbic Acid, Citric Acid, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, May Contain: Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide, Mica, Ultramarines, Chromium Oxide Greens, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Bronze Powder, Carmine, Chromium Hydroxide Green, Copper Powder, Manganese Violet, Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide

Cover Girl:
PPG-2 Myristyl Ether Propionate, Ceresin, Bees Wax, Ethylene/ Va Copolymer, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Ricinis Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopherol, Ascorbic Acid, PEG-8, Silica Silylate, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Citric Acid, Methylparaben, Iron Oxides, May Also Contain:, Titanium Dioxide, Manganese Violet, Ultramarines, Mica, Ferric Ferrocyanide, Chromium Oxide Green, Chromium Hydroxide Green

Our guess would be the Revlon product would be less likely to melt. Unfortunately, you can’t really tell for sure from just looking at the ingredient list. But without testing each product, or relying on a friend’s recommendation, that’s about all you can do. Let us know if you find any good products!