Dermatitis (formerly American Journal of Contact Dermatitis) 2011-01-01

Allergic contact dermatitis from carmine in cosmetic blush.

Kayoko Suzuki, Keiko Hirokawa, Akiko Yagami, Kayoko Matsunaga

Index: Dermatitis 22(6) , 348-9, (2011)

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Abstract

Although there are many reported cases of immediate allergy after ingestion of foods containing cochineal, there are few reports of allergic contact dermatitis from carmine. We present a rare case of allergic contact dermatitis due to carmine. A 52-year-old female presented with an itchy erythema on her cheeks at the site where blush had been applied. Patch-tested with her cosmetics, she showed a positive reaction to the blush (30% in petrolatum) and to 0.2% (but not 0.1%) carmine in petrolatum. In this case, the optimum patch-test concentration of carmine was 0.2% in petrolatum.