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Lips

How do lip colours work?

Lip products are one of the most widely-used cosmetics, and come in a variety of forms, including glosses, shimmers, mattes, sheers, lip-stains and long-lasting colours. The basic ingredients have much in common but the quantities of each vary according to the effect desired.

Lip products contain a blend of waxes, oils, pigments and emollients. The wax gives lipstick its shape and makes it easy to apply. The most commonly used waxes are beeswax and carnuba wax. The oils include olive oil, mineral oil, castor oil, cocoa butter, lanolin and petrolatum. These give the lip product its shine and the slick feel. Lip glosses contain more oils and fewer waxes to make them more liquid and glossy.

More recently moisturising agents such as aloe vera and vitamin E have been added to lipsticks to help keep lips soft.

Innovations

Lip products are evolving constantly, with new products offering enhanced effects and textures.

Some lipsticks now contain UV filters, which work to protect the lips against sun damage as well as adding colour and texture. Others create a ‘shimmer’ or ‘moist’ effect by adding a pearlising agent.

You can also try longer-lasting “lip stains” which use dryer oils (e.g. castor oil) that set to form a tough shiny film when dry. Like cling-film, this film helps to protect the lip colour from being rubbed away by drinking or eating.

Where can I find out more?

If you want to find out about different types of ingredients in your products, visit what's in my cosmetic?

The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) is an association of manufacturers of cosmetic, toiletry and perfumery products, founded in 1945 to promote the interests of members, primarily with government. That remit has now extended to include the European Commission and many other regulatory bodies, national and international groups.

Members are manufacturers (full members), raw material suppliers and suppliers of services (associate members). Our Council is made up of senior industry representatives from small, medium, large and multi-national companies. Activities are funded through membership subscriptions.

The focus of our work centres on scientific, regulatory and legislative issues. We have a constant dialogue with the UK Government and this process is repeated at European level through COLIPA, the European trade body and internationally through an extensive network of national association contacts.

Visit the CTPA main website »

The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) is the voice of the cosmetic, toiletry and perfumery industry in the UK. Our members vary from small and medium-sized companies to large multi-nationals and include manufacturers, raw material suppliers and service providers.

Our primary goal is to promote good working practice to ensure that consumers are provided with the very best products. To this end, we co-ordinate the industry's viewpoint on key issues such as science, innovation and safety and maintain an open dialogue with government, both at UK and European level, as well as with international regulatory authorities and key opinion formers.

CTPA recognises that the consumer has a right to understand the processes that industry and the regulatory bodies go through to ensure the safety and efficacy of cosmetic and toiletry products. Over the years we have steadily increased our focus on providing the public with direct access to the industry's perspective and progress on safety, science and innovation.

In April 2008 we launched our consumer information website, www.thefactsabout.co.uk, which provides scientific facts about common ingredients used in cosmetics and the industry's perspective on common safety questions as well as information on how products are regulated to ensure safety and efficacy.

Further information on the work of the CTPA is available from our main website www.ctpa.org.uk which also houses the full set of legislation under 'Cosmetic regulations'.