Database/Colorant/Pigment Red 90:1 Aluminum Lake
Mostly natural · ISO 16128

Is Pigment Red 90:1 Aluminum Lake natural?

Mostly. Mostly mineral alumina carrying a synthetic dye; the alumina substrate makes up most of the mass.

INCI namePigment Red 90:1 Aluminum Lake
CAS15876-39-8
FunctionColorant · Hair Dyeing
FeedstockAlumina hydrate carries the aluminium salt of an…

How we scored it

Lake: the dye is laid on an alumina (aluminium hydroxide) substrate. Dye content varies by grade (often 10-40%); taken as 25% dye on 75% alumina, the same assumption as the other lakes. Alumina is mineral. Dye part, eosin aluminium salt: only the aluminium, about 2% (its four ring bromines are not mineral salts), natural fraction 0.02. 0.75 + 0.25 x 0.02 = 0.76.
What counts. ISO 16128-2 scores the atoms that remain in the final ingredient. Reagents, solvents, catalysts and protecting groups used during manufacture leave no mass behind and are not counted.

Where it comes from

Alumina hydrate carries the aluminium salt of an eosin-type dye made from petrochemical phthalic anhydride and resorcinol, then brominated. Dye loading varies by grade (typically 10-40%), so the value is an estimate.

In plain English

A red pigment made by fixing a synthetic eosin-type dye onto an aluminium oxide base so that it stays an insoluble powder. It colours make-up and hair products. The base is mineral; the dye is built from petrochemical aromatics plus bromine.

CosIng definition: Pigment Red 90:1 Aluminum Lake is an insoluble pigment composed of the aluminum salt of Solvent Red 43 extended on an appropriate substrate. It conforms to the formula:

Natural alternatives with the same function

References

  1. 1ISO 16128-1:2016 and ISO 16128-2:2017 — Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products. ISO, Geneva.
  2. 2PIGMENT RED 90:1 ALUMINUM LAKE. CosIng — European Commission cosmetic ingredient database. ec.europa.eu/cosing ↗
  3. 3PIGMENT RED 90:1 ALUMINUM LAKE. CosIng u2014 European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/search?search=PIGMENT%20RED%2090%3A1%20ALUMINUM%20LAKE