🚨 Clean-up on Aisle Beauty!
Recalls, Mold, Bacteria and Fungus ... We're accustomed to hearing these words associated with food. But beauty products?
This year, the U.S. Beauty & Personal Care market is projected to generate over $100 billion in revenue, with products from independent upstarts to legacy giants. While all brands are presumably under FDA oversight, how much attention is paid to the actual safety of their products? And more importantly, how do these products interact with your body—your skin, your eyes, and your health?
In the wake of high-profile product recalls, it’s time to have a transparent conversation about safety. Èyes Are The Story is committed to educating and empowering our customers and doctors with facts, while reinforcing trust in our mission for eye-safe beauty. Here’s how we stand out:
Lately there has been growing industry buzz about moldy eyeshadow palettes and a cult-brand recall of their skincare due to fungus and bacteria found in batches. This hot topic smells funny—it wreaks of failed stability testing and formulation flaws. While laboratory mishaps can happen, there is so much more to the story…and Èyes Are The Story sees this industry crisis as an opportunity to educate beauty consumers and doctors alike.
As asserted by ÈYES Founder Amy Gallant Sullivan in a recent Women in Optometry article: A number of ingredients in mainstream cosmetics and skincare may negatively impact our eye health. Alas, the current industry mumblings and social media raucous about faulty formulations does not surprise us.
Formulations
The FDA estimates that around 12,500 chemicals are used for the formulation of cosmetics. Yet fewer than 20% of these ingredients have undergone scientific safety reviews(1). The recent Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) by the FDA claims that this new law will help ensure the safety of cosmetic products many consumers use daily—including the requirement for cosmetics brands to list all ingredients on their packaging.
However, according to the trending beauty news, the recalled batches from the cult brand didn’t appear to have preservatives listed on their packaging—and Health.com wrote that the products contained ingredients such as phenoxyethanol and chlorphenesin, known skin irritants.
Èyes Are The Story products are steeped in the science of vision health - undergoing rigorous testing by our laboratories, certified ophthalmologists and dermatologists, and further tested by focus groups comprised of people with sensitive eyes and sensitive skin, including those with dry eyes and contact lens wearers. Our formulations are specially formulated to be safe for your skin barrier and ocular surface, ensuring optimal skin and eye health.
Preservatives
Preservatives are necessary ingredients in cosmetics and skincare.
The current eye cosmetics manufacturing trend is the inclusion of preservatives to prolong shelf life and prevent growth of bacteria during storage to control infection(1).
Phenoxyethanol and chlorphensin are two callout preservatives used in the recently recalled cult-brand products. These ingredients are typically used as alternative non–formaldehyde-donating preservative. Their use is one of the main ways cosmetic companies get around using parabens to cater to the “natural” and “vegan” markets. Phenoxyethanol and chlorphensin are allowed in cosmetics up to a concentration of 1.0% in the US market, which, according to Harvard research(2) one tenth of this concentration is toxic to our eyes.
Note: It is not safe to formulate commercial products without some sort of preservative, particularly any products used on or around your eyes.
Surfactants
Surfactants are also necessary ingredients in cosmetics and skincare.
Surfactants are often used to solubilize makeup for removal. These ingredients can also solubilize eyelid skin sebum, leading to eyelid irritation and causing the periocular skin to become drier. Surfactants have also been documented to penetrate the skin and remain even after rinsing (1).
The recalled products had not listed the surfactants used on their packaging.
Mislabeling
Preservatives and surfactants are vital components of many cosmetics and skincare products, but certain formulas can trigger adverse reactions or sensitivities in some individuals. Often, the problem isn’t just the ingredients themselves—it’s the mislabeling or lack of transparency from brands.
With the MoCRA Act requiring cosmetics brands to list all ingredients on their packaging, there’s no excuse for oversight. The cult-favorite brand with the recent recall might have avoided the challenge had they disclosed every ingredient upfront.
Transparency matters—not just for trust, but for protecting your skin. Always check labels and choose brands that prioritize safety and full disclosure.
Education
Know what’s in your beauty products!
Eye-safe cosmetics and skincare are specially formulated products designed to be safe for application around the sensitive eye area. They are typically fragrance-free, preservative-limited, and formulated without ingredients such as benzalkonium chloride, formaldehyde and formaldehyde-donors, phenoxyethanol, chlorphenesin, parabens, retinoids and essential oils such as tea tree oil, and lavender oil.
1. Sullivan DA, da Costa AX, Del Duca E, Doll T, Grupcheva CN, Lazreg S, Liu SH, McGee SR, Murthy R, Narang P, Ng A, Nistico S, O'Dell L, Roos J, Shen J, Markoulli M. TFOS Lifestyle: Impact of cosmetics on the ocular surface. Ocul Surf. 2023 Jul;29:77-130. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2023.04.005. Epub 2023 Apr 13. PMID: 37061220; PMCID: PMC11246752.
2. Wang J, Liu Y, Kam WR, Li Y, Sullivan DA. Toxicity of the cosmetic preservatives parabens, phenoxyethanol and chlorphenesin on human meibomian gland epithelial cells. Exp Eye Res. 2020;196:108057
