For those trying to avoid titanium dioxide due to hair loss, or FFA (frontral fibrosing alopecia), it can be very misleading when the ingredients used to colour mica are not included on a product ingredient list. For the large cosmetic labs purchasing the bulk coloured mica, you can see in the last three screenshots above that titanium dioxide and a petroleum dye is listed side by side with mica.
Because of the warnings surrounding titanium dioxide in food, the same risks can apply to makeup applied to the skin and to lips because it is still being ingested and absorbed into the body. If you are not convinced that mica contains titanium dioxide, just google muskovite, which is the natural form of mica. It only comes in one shade range, clear to gold/silver to brown/light green. The bright coloured natural mica and synthetically made mica is always coloured with titanium dioxide and dyes to create the most dramatic, bright colours. There is no alternative in nature that creates the exact same ‘white-out’ effect of titanium or the same intensity of red 40.
To formulators, titanium dioxide is like a drug they cannot live without. It takes so little product and less imagination to manipulate the colour of anything with it because it is like a heavily-saturated white paint (hence, it is also the main ingredient in paint). TD creates colour payoff and coverage payoff that cannot be replicated with another ingredient. And TD is inexpensive.
If someone is not worried about titanium dioxide, this information does not matter, but a higher percentage of makeup lovers are wanting to skip this ingredient for health reasons. Therefore, more information should be on the finished product for it to be a complete ingredient list.
what does chronic hair loss look like?
to avoid titanium dioxide in cosmetics, mica must be avoided too
if a product claims it is titanium dioxide free and yet contains mica, it is not titanium dioxide free. This is often not misleading information on purpose. Most lines hire the same large cosmetics labs to formulate their products. So the full ingredient list is lost in translation. It is important to research how each ingredient or colour is made. Another clue is to look up what an ingredient looks like in the wild, like mica for example. Health issues like hair loss can be frustrating so it is important to be aware of what you are applying every day which may contribute to that chronic hair loss or any type of health issue. It does not only affect the person wearing the product, it affects their family and their pets too.
