Sugarpill Fun Size Palette Swatches

Pressed pigments aren’t necessarily unsafe or irritating to eyes. The overly-literal definition of pressed pigment is pigment with no fillers or binders, in a pressed (not loose powder) form; products labeled “eyeshadow” have definite fillers and binders (though to be fair, many pressed pigments DO also have binders). (And speaking as an artist, the definition of “pigment” is even broader than that; most people who only come across the word in the context of makeup wouldn’t recognize its use in art supplies.) As others mentioned, pigments have a reputation for staining, but that’s usually because they have no buffer materials (fillers) to protect the skin from staining.

The term “pigment” is sometimes used to mean “not intended for use in eye area” in the sense that it’s not labeled specifically “eyeshadow,” but that’s a misuse of the phrase, and it confuses the issue. “Pigment” has literally nothing to do with whether it should go near the eyes (or be kept away from there). In other words “pressed pigment” doesn’t mean anything (specific), or its meaning is dependent on the intentions of the person creating the label for a specific product.

The FDA has two lists of color additives approved for use in Cosmetics here:

https://www.fda.gov/industry/color-additive-inventories/summary-color-additives-use-united-states-foods-drugs-cosmetics-and-medical-devices

If it’s a colorant listed there, pigment or not, it’s fine relative to the FDA’s “Uses and Restrictions.”

Keep in mind that some ingredients not approved by the FDA for certain applications ARE approved in other countries, and some companies selling those “approved there but not here” products are gambling that people in the U.S. will still want to use them, based on the assumption that we recognize our FDA might be overly cautious (not my opinion, just an idea floating out there … like the joke about how everything causes cancer in the state of California, so why would anyone want to live there?).

https://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/dataset/cosing-list-of-colorants-allowed-in-cosmetic-products

My point is, “pressed pigment” doesn’t say anything about a products potential for use around the eye area — you have to check the list of approved additives colorants yourself to see what the real deal is.