12 replies to this topic

[wannabhealthy]

Can anyone tell me which eye makeup products are gluten free and safe please? I've found some in the US (Joelle) and some Canadian (Arbonne -- very expensive), but wonder about Maybelline and Cover Girl? I've been looking at ingredients and e-mailed their sites, but haven't received anything conclusive. Anyone know anything about it? I'm a celiac and very sensitive to anything with gluten, even on my skin. Thanks for any help!

[GFreeMO]

I just got out of a chat with a Cover Girl rep. If you go to the website and register, there is a chat button where you can live chat with someone. The person was very helpful. I found out that Cover Girl Clean foundation for sensitive skin and the Cover Girl professional loose powder are gluten free. If you find a product and go to the chat, they wil look it up for you.

[GFreeMO]

I went to Walgreens last night. The Cover Girl powder is not gluten free as it has oat flour in it. The foundation is okay though.

[mbrookes]

How much of this make up do you plan to eat? Except for lipstick, I would think that very little would be ingested. From my understanding, Celiacs have problems when the gluten enters the digestive system, not by external contact.

I am suspicious that a few companies are making quite a lot of money by playing on our fears.

[ravenwoodglass]

How much of this make up do you plan to eat? Except for lipstick, I would think that very little would be ingested. From my understanding, Celiacs have problems when the gluten enters the digestive system, not by external contact.

I am suspicious that a few companies are making quite a lot of money by playing on our fears.

Gluten can be absorbed through the mucous membranes which will trigger antibodies. Some countries test for celiac using gluten filled swabs or suppositories and then biopsy the membranes to look for antibodies to diagnose especially when someone has been gluten free for a while. This antibody reaction includes the eyes and nose as well as the mouth. Some are able to use gluten filled toiletries with no issues but many of us need to avoid gluten ingredients in toiletries to stop the antibody reaction.

[jackay]

How much of this make up do you plan to eat? Except for lipstick, I would think that very little would be ingested. From my understanding, Celiacs have problems when the gluten enters the digestive system, not by external contact.

I am suspicious that a few companies are making quite a lot of money by playing on our fears.

I think anything put on your face could easily get into your mouth.

[glutenfr3309]

bare minerals make up is a little more expensive than cover girl, etc but they are gluten-free and they last quite a while. i have used their foundation, blush, eye liner, eye shadows and mascara without any problems.

[cap6]

my reason for wanting personal products gluten-free is shampoo can run down across the mouth if not ultra careful. To me it doesn't make sense to wash my hands in a soap containing gluten, put lotion on my hands that contains lotion and then go touch food. I don't go over board on making personal products gluten-free but those items I am pretty careful about. I haven't had problems as far as getting sick with "unknown" products (soap in restrooms etc) but when I have a choice I make it gluten-free. I just figure that even if it doesn't make me sick it may be doing damage inside. Just a personal thing.

[ECUmom3]

Not only is it possible to accidently ingest these products (ex. place contaminated hands in mouth, etc.) but many of us have DH (dermatitis herpetiformis), so yes we do need to be extra careful, not only with what we take in, but also what we put on our skin.

Like many of the other who responded, I started using Bare Essentials. It's a little more expensive but seems it will last for a while.

[buffandpuff]

bare minerals make up is a little more expensive than cover girl, etc but they are gluten-free and they last quite a while. i have used their foundation, blush, eye liner, eye shadows and mascara without any problems.

I actually had quite a discussion with the customer service reps at Bare Minerals 2 days ago. Apparently, they have re-formulated some of their products to now contain wheat ingredients. They do offer a list of products that are not made with wheat, barley, rye or oat ingredients, but Bare Escentuals places the disclaimer that they are all made in the same facility as their products that do contain wheat. So be careful. I found this out by accident while I was trying to re-order a tried and true product and I happened to stumble across the ingredient list by mistake. Thankfully, I found this out before I placed the order. By the way, there is not a warning on their website that indicates that any of these products have been re-formulated. I'm very disappointed. I'm switching to Afterglow products -- made by a Celiac for celiacs.

[kareng]

I actually had quite a discussion with the customer service reps at Bare Minerals 2 days ago. Apparently, they have re-formulated some of their products to now contain wheat ingredients. They do offer a list of products that are not made with wheat, barley, rye or oat ingredients, but Bare Escentuals places the disclaimer that they are all made in the same facility as their products that do contain wheat. So be careful. I found this out by accident while I was trying to re-order a tried and true product and I happened to stumble across the ingredient list by mistake. Thankfully, I found this out before I placed the order. By the way, there is not a warning on their website that indicates that any of these products have been re-formulated. I'm very disappointed. I'm switching to Afterglow products -- made by a Celiac for celiacs.

Which products now contain wheat?

[Gemini]

How much of this make up do you plan to eat? Except for lipstick, I would think that very little would be ingested. From my understanding, Celiacs have problems when the gluten enters the digestive system, not by external contact.

I am suspicious that a few companies are making quite a lot of money by playing on our fears.

Yup, you have that right but that kind of thinking doesn't always play well with some. I wear make-up everyday, nearly died from this disease when I was diagnosed, and still wear make-up, like before. I only screen the most obvious things like lip products and body/hand cream. I am careful and have a routine that has worked well for 7 years. Never, ever have had a problem with make-up and I am about as sensitive as it gets. I agree that many companies will use this to get more money from those who can least afford to pay it.

Unless you shove your make-up up your nose or ingest it into your mouth, OR have a topical allergy to an ingredient, there is no need to worry about this.

[Gemini]

Not only is it possible to accidently ingest these products (ex. place contaminated hands in mouth, etc.) but many of us have DH (dermatitis herpetiformis), so yes we do need to be extra careful, not only with what we take in, but also what we put on our skin.

Like many of the other who responded, I started using Bare Essentials. It's a little more expensive but seems it will last for a while.

Did you know that you will not have a DH outbreak from touching gluten? Like classic Celiac, the reaction comes from within...you still have to ingest gluten to cause a DH outbreak. Having said that, I would assume that anyone with the skin version of Celiac may also run a very high risk of having a topical allergy to wheat. That may be why people break out when touching wheat/gluten products.