A Review on Common Ingredients of Periocular Cosmetics and Their Hazards

The pervasive exposure of the general public to chemicals found in cosmetic products underlines the importance of maintaining stringent safety evaluations of cosmetic ingredients. Cosmetics products are composed of many raw ingredient materials including fragrances, colors, thickeners, surfactants, foam agents, minerals, and preservatives. Whether the make-up substances are chemical, synthetic or natural resource, they may be a problem for human dermal skin. The eyelid skin is one of the thinnest skins in the body, emphasizing the dangers of percutaneous absorption of irritants and allergens, with human eye areas on the face being extremely sensitive. Due to the sensitive nature of the human eyelid skin and tear film, great consideration must be taken when determining the safety of chemicals used to formulate cosmetics applied in the periorbital region. Among the cosmetic products commonly used, mascara, eyeliner, and eyelash glue are designed to be applied on the rims of the eyelid. The close proximity that these products may be applied daily to the ocular surface brings about the concern of chemical safety and ocular health. In this review, selected chemicals commonly found in the mascara, eyeliner and eyelash glue, and their potential hazards to the skin of ocular surface were specifically evaluated using available data.