CI 15850:1

TL;DR. This ingredient is a synthetic red colorant used to give makeup and personal care products strong, opaque color. It is especially common in lip, cheek, and nail products where an insoluble lake pigment is useful for payoff and wear.

What does CI 15850:1 do in a cosmetic formula?

This ingredient is a synthetic red colorant used to give makeup and personal care products strong, opaque color. It is especially common in lip, cheek, and nail products where an insoluble lake pigment is useful for payoff and wear.

Is CI 15850:1 clean?

This ingredient has clean-standard friction because it is a synthetic azo lake rather than a mineral or plant-derived colorant. It is regulated with purity specifications for residual aromatic amines and metals, and stricter natural standards generally do not accept it.

Is CI 15850:1 sustainable?

This material is typically made from petrochemical aromatic feedstocks and mineral salts, not renewable agricultural inputs. As an insoluble pigment, it is not readily biodegradable and is expected to persist as particulate matter rather than break down quickly in water systems.

Is CI 15850:1 COSMOS-approved?

This ingredient is not aligned with COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic colorant preferences, which focus on permitted mineral pigments and naturally derived options. From a Green Chemistry view, its synthetic aromatic chemistry and limited biodegradability make it a weak fit, even though it is used at low levels.

How does CI 15850:1 work chemically?

This compound is an insoluble azo lake pigment, meaning the color-bearing organic molecule is converted into a metal salt form to improve opacity, dispersibility, and resistance to bleeding. It is usually used as a dispersed pigment rather than a dissolved dye, with performance depending on particle size, milling quality, oil-phase wetting, and regulatory purity compliance.

Last updated 2026-05-13