Contents
Coloured powder or cream for the eyelid. Eyeshadow is where the US colour additive rules bite hardest, because the eye area has its own approved palette — shorter than the one available to the rest of the face — and that single fact explains most of the differences between a US, EU and Asian shadow shelf.
What is in it
| Class | Doing what | Names |
|---|---|---|
| Filler / base | Bulk, slip, blendability | Talc, mica, sericite, silica, boron nitride |
| Pigment | The colour | Iron oxides, titanium dioxide, ultramarines, chromium oxides, manganese violet, ferric ferrocyanide |
| Pearl / interference | Shimmer and duochrome | Coated mica, synthetic fluorphlogopite, bismuth oxychloride |
| Binder | Holds a pressed pan together | Magnesium stearate, esters, dimethicone |
| Preservative | Low water activity, so little needed | Phenoxyethanol, or none |
Boron nitride is the ingredient that separates a good pressed shadow from a chalky one. It is a soft platelet that improves adhesion and blendability, and its presence high on a list is a reasonable quality signal.
The eye-area colour rule
In the US, colour additives may only be used where FDA has approved them, and approval is use-specific. The eye area has its own list, and several colours widely used elsewhere are not on it.
The consequence people actually notice: most FD&C certified lakes are not approved for eye-area use in the US, which is why intensely saturated pinks, purples, blues and reds are harder to find in US-market eyeshadow than in imported palettes. Brands achieve those shades with permitted inorganic pigments — ultramarines, chromium oxides, manganese violet, ferric ferrocyanide — which behave differently and often sit less brightly.
Imported palettes sold into the US that use non-approved colours are adulterated under the FD&C Act, whatever their origin. This is a real and recurring enforcement subject, not a technicality.
In the EU the equivalent instrument is the Annex IV closed positive list of permitted colorants — 153 entries — with its own use restrictions, and the two lists do not match.
Formats
Pressed powder is the default. Loose pigment gives the most intense payoff and the most fallout, and should be pressed on with a flat brush rather than swept. Cream shadow lasts well on dry lids and creases on oily ones without a Eyeshadow Primer. Liquid and glitter shadows use a film former, which is what makes glitter stay put.
Glitter must be cosmetic-grade. Craft glitter is cut plastic with sharp edges and is a genuine corneal abrasion hazard.
Where it sits in the rules
Cosmetic — FDA primary category (03) eye makeup preparations, or (04) children's eye makeup preparations. Beyond the colour rules:
- The mercury exception applies here: mercury compounds are prohibited in cosmetics except as a preservative in eye-area products at no more than 65 ppm, and only where no other safe and effective preservative is available.
- Under MoCRA the small-business exemption from registration and listing does not apply to products that regularly contact the mucous membrane of the eye.
- FDA's December 2022 final guidance recommends a maximum of 10 ppm lead in externally applied cosmetics.
Shelf life
Powder shadows are low-water and keep 18–24 months after opening. The limit in practice is the brush, which returns oil and skin flora to the pan and eventually glazes it. Cream and liquid shadows: 12 months.
The eye-area rule overrides all of it: stop using every eye product at the first sign of an eye infection, discard the ones in use, and see a clinician. Never share eye makeup, and treat store testers as contaminated.
Related
- Makeup — the shelf this sits on, and the rest of it.
- Cosmetics — what the label is legally allowed to say, and the full catalogue.
- The rest of Eyes — Eyeshadow Primer · Eyeliner · Kohl and Kajal · Mascara · Lash Primer · False Eyelashes · Eyelash Adhesive · Eyelash Serum · Eye Makeup Remover · Eyelash Cleanser.
- Regulatory statements here follow the FDA and EU sources listed on Cosmetics, read 16 August 2026.