image: A blue cosmetic color additive gives darker powder and stick foundations the warmth and depth that current formulations lack.
Credit: Gabriella Baki
SAN DIEGO, March 26, 2025 — On the shelves of makeup counters and drugstores sits an array of foundations in various olive, ivory and fair shades. But for people with darker skin tones, finding the right foundation shade can be a challenge. Dark foundations on the market often fall flat, appearing gray-like once applied on the skin. But now, researchers report a blue cosmetic color additive that gives these foundations the warmth and depth they currently lack.
Gabriella Baki, associate professor of pharmaceutics and director of the cosmetic science and formulation design undergraduate program at the University of Toledo, will present her team’s results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2025 is being held March 23-27; it features about 12,000 presentations on a range of science topics.
“On the market and for the history of cosmetics, foundations have been created with three colorants — red, yellow and black iron oxide,” says Raihaanah Zaahirah Safee, a former student in Baki’s lab and current graduate student at the University of Toledo.
However, using high concentrations of black iron oxide for darker foundations results in an unappealing gray and ashy look on the skin. White pigments used to lighten foundations, including zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, can also contribute to this phenomenon.
To expand the color range of foundations, some cosmetic companies have experimented with adding blue pigments. After learning about a blue pigment called ultramarine blue from a podcast, another student in Baki’s lab approached her about studying the pigment. “If you think about traditional color theory practices in relation to the art world, red, yellow and blue are used in combination with black and white,” says Zaahirah Safee. “We built our research around this idea.”
Previously, Zaahirah Safee and colleagues assessed the effects of the blue pigment on foundation color in loose powders. The team first developed a formulation for the foundation base, then an 11-pigment range for darker and lighter skin tones. The shade range was created by varying the black and blue pigment ratios and the type of white pigment used.
Three techniques were used to analyze the powder foundations: a spectrophotometer measured color differences; foundation swatches were pressed down on Leneta paper, black-and-white paper used to evaluate color on a solid background; and finally, the foundations were swatched on human participants’ skin through a consumer study approved by the University of Toledo’s Institutional Review Board.
“We realized that you can use ultramarine blue solely to create a deeper skin tone foundation, but you do need a little bit of black to create your intended value,” says Zaahirah Safee. Ultramarine blue reduced gray cast, while zinc oxide reduced white cast and created warmer, redder hues in an ultramarine blue base.
Next, Karissa Richards, another student researcher in the Baki lab, evaluated the effects of ultramarine blue in stick foundations. This formulation proved trickier, given that extra variables like liquid moisturizers and skin-softeners called emollients were introduced into the foundation mixture. With stick foundations, “we wet the pigments with the emollients,” says Richards. “Upon developing the formulation, we noticed a lot of issues with the color not being uniform throughout the formulation, once we poured it into the mold to set the stick.”
After figuring out the correct formulation, the team used the same pigment ratios as the loose powders for the new sticks. Then Richards analyzed the new products using the same three techniques. She measured similar color trends in the stick foundations as the loose powders.
The next project for Baki’s group is to study ultramarine blue in liquid foundations. She says this is the hardest of all foundation formulas to develop because the ingredients include water and oil, which don’t mix well with each other. However, liquid foundation is most used by consumers.
Baki says there aren’t any plans to commercialize their foundations, given the formulations are so simple. The loose powder and stick foundations are like “a backbone, they have everything they need and nothing extra.” Her ultimate hope is for chemists and manufacturers to see this team’s research and give ultramarine blue a try in commercial products.
Zaahirah Safee says this work is personally important to her. “Within my introduction into the world of makeup, I came across a lot of hurdles. Foundations wouldn’t show up on me as they would show up on other models,” she says. As an aspiring cosmetic chemist, she hopes to introduce these new ideas at the formulation table. “Changes can be made.”
The researchers report no external funding for this work.
A Headline Science YouTube Short about this topic will be posted on Wednesday, March 26. Reporters can access the video during the embargo period, and once the embargo is lifted the same URL will allow the public to access the content. Visit the ACS Spring 2025 program to learn more about this presentation, “Effect of ultramarine blue on the color of powder and stick foundations” and other science presentations.
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Title
Effect of ultramarine blue on the color of powder and stick foundations
Abstract
Makeup foundations for all skin colors traditionally contain FDA-approved red, yellow, and black iron oxide, mixed with white pigments, either titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. To create darker shades for skin of color consumers, darker foundations contain a larger amount of black iron oxide, which can lead to a displeasing gray cast on the skin. While this is not a concern in lighter foundations due to the lower pigment load, the range of colors and undertones could be expanded in light foundations.
We evaluated the effect of another FDA-approved cosmetic color additive, ultramarine blue, as a substitute for black iron oxide in loose powder and stick foundations. Twenty loose powder foundations and eighteen stick foundations were formulated, including both darker and lighter shades.
Products’ color was evaluated objectively with a spectrophotometer (Konika Minolta CM5), and visually on Lenata paper in the form of press-downs and disks and on human skin in a small consumer study.
Visual evaluation and L*a*b* values indicated that the effect of ultramarine blue was detectable in both foundation groups. Ultramarine blue created tones that were redder in hue and it decreased the apparent gray cast in dark foundations. This study provides examples of how to create more inclusive foundation lines for consumers as diversity and inclusivity initiatives are increasing worldwide.