Do You Have One?

Maybe. Nickel is one of the more common allergens. The allergy is more common in women. It causes swelling, redness, eczema, basically contact dermatitis. This kind of information is easy to find, and then it kind of stops. There is just not a whole lot of information about nickel allergies anywhere, except to avoid nickel. Since there is nickel in almost everything this is impossible. The good news is you are probably not allergic to everything. There is something that is setting your allergy off. So, the first step is to get the diagnosis. This seems obvious, but I see a lot of people assume that they are allergic to something. For example, I find that a lot of people assume they are allergic to coconut oil. I suspect at least some of these allergies are actually nickel. The only way to know for sure is to see your doctor. Once you get the diagnosis, you can start eliminating stuff and bringing it back in. Not using any makeup and restricting my diet was hard, but I knew it was the only way. By doing this I found that I was having a reaction to spinach. That was it as far as food was concerned. (By the way, these rashes are most common around the eyes, the stomach and the palms of your hands.) I was not surprised. I knew for the me the real problem was in the makeup.

What Are Iron Oxides Anyway?

For a great explanation on iron oxides, and how eye makeup is made in general check out the book “Make Your Own Cosmetics Volume 4 Recipes for Eye Makeup.” Even if you are not going to set up a lab in your kitchen (it did cross my mind) its an interesting read. You can find it here.

https://www.makingcosmetics.com/Books_c_29.html

Basically iron oxides (also known as mineral pigments) are inorganic substances that are non toxic and naturally occurring. They can be synthetically made and tinted too include all kinds of shades. They are considered safe (safer then other colorants) and are therefore used in most make up. Go ahead and check. I guarantee they are in all the makeup you own. Since they are considered to be gentle and non-toxic, you will also find them in “hypoallergenic” makeup or “natural makeup”. So, while these are options for people with some allergies, they are not useful to someone with a nickel allergy. Sometimes you will not see “iron oxides” in the ingredients, instead they will be listed numerically. Anything starting with 774 is an iron oxide.

Mica

Mica is another common ingredient in makeup. Mica is what makes those incredible shimmers and can be formulated to make pretty much any color you can think off. Mica itself does not include iron oxides, however mica itself is sheer, and when in make up, coated in iron oxides. So when you see mica listed in the ingredients, you can assume there are also iron oxides present.

Will I Ever Wear Makeup Again?

I would love to say yes, absolutely. Unfortunately, I cannot. I don’t know how sensitive you are. I don’t know your skin or how strong your allergy is. However, I can say maybe. Honestly, the best advice I can give you if you have a nickel allergy is too just stay away from makeup. Now that that’s out of the way, I will tell you it actually had the opposite effect on me. It led me from a cosmetic bag full of makeup to basically an attic full. I went most of my life not caring about makeup, but when I found out I couldn’t use it, things changed. I was determined to find something. This led me to trying everything I could get my hands on, and opened up a door to the beauty world. I love it there. It’s not a full time job, but it is a full time hobby. And that takes us to the heart of this blog.