Mascaras may cause irritant contact dermatitis

The majority of adverse effects of cosmetics have been attributed to soaps in Dutch and English studies, but to eye makeup in a recent Swedish study. The reactions may be caused by irritants or by sensitizing substances. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the irritation potential of commercially available mascaras. The mascaras were exposed to the skin in aluminium chambers. The skin reaction was evaluated using both visual assessments of erythema and non-invasive measurements of the skin reaction. Seven mascaras were tested on 15 healthy individuals in a randomized and blinded fashion. Two of the seven tested mascaras induced pronounced skin inflammation, when applied to normal skin under occlusion. These two mascaras were based on volatile petroleum distillate, in contrast to the other five mascaras that were conventional emulsions with stearate as the main emulsifier. The findings suggest that solvent-based mascaras might induce contact dermatitis due to its content of irritating substances.