MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION OF COSMETICS AND TOILETRIES 569 Table II. Distribution of aerobic colony counts on PCA incubated for 3 days at 30 ø C No. of Product items No. and (5/o) of items with colony counts g-• within the range 300 300-1000 1001-10000 10000 Powders Talcum powder 12 12(100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) Face powder and rouge 14 12 (86) 0 (0) 2 (14) 0 (0) Complete make-up 11 7 (64) 0 (0) 3 (27) 1 (9) Creams and lotions Hand and body lotion 21 19 (90) 1 (5) 1 (5) 0 (0) Face cream 17 12 (70) 2 (12) 1 (6) 2 (12) Skin perfume 6 4 (67) 2 (33) 0 (0) 0 (0) Hair cream and dressing 16 15 (94) 1 (6) 0 (0) 0 (0) Shaving cream and foam 6 5 (83) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (17) Eye make-up Mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow 20 13 (65) 3 (15) 1 (5) 3 (15) Soaps and detergents Bath oil and detergent 18 16 (89) 0 (0) I (6) I (6) Shampoo and hair colourant 13 12 (92) 0 (0) 1 (8) 0 (0) Soap 6 6 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) Miscellaneous Toothpaste 6 6(100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) Lipstick* 6 6(100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) Total 172 145 (84) 9 (5) 10 (6) 8 (5) * cfu/lipstick surface, not per g. clostridia. Cl. tetani was not detected but 16 of the 50 isolates examined were identified as Cl. perfringens. Yeasts and moulds The distribution of counts of yeasts and moulds is presented in Table V. Of those items containing viable organisms, most were contaminated more heavily with yeasts than with moulds, the level of mould contamination rarely exceeding 50 cfu g-L Growth of moulds on moistened samples of cake mascara, rouge, and similar products did not occur during a three-month period at 25øC. On three occasions, heavy growth of bacteria occurred on plates of SDA. In each instance the bacteria were Gram negative rods, which also comprised the predominant flora of the items tested (liquid eye make-up). Such growth could have been avoided by the use of an antibiotic- containing medium (15).

570 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Table IIl. Distribution of aerobic colony counts on PCA incubated for 2 days at 37 ø C No. of Product items No. and (yo) of items with colony counts g-• within the range 300 300-1000 1001-10 000 10 000 Powders Talcum powder 12 12(100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) Face powder and rouge 14 12 (86) 0 (0) 2 (14) 0 (0) Complete make-up 11 8 (73) 1 (9) I (9) I (9) Creams and lotions Hand and body lotion 21 20 (95) 0 (0) I (5) 0 (0) Face cream 17 16 (94) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (6) Skin perfume 6 5 (83) 1 (17) 0 (0) 0 (0) Hair cream and dressing 16 14 (87) 1 (6) 1 (6) 0 (0) Shaving cream and foam 6 5 (83) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (17) Eye make-up Mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow 20 13 (65) 4 (20) 2 (10) 1 (5) Soaps and detergents Bath oil and detergent 18 17 (94) 0 (0) 1 (6) 0 (0) Shampoo and hair colourant 13 12 (92) 0 (0) 1 (8) 0 (0) Soap 6 6(100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) Miscellaneous Toothpaste 6 5 (83) 0 (0) I (17) 0 (0) Lipstick* 6 6(100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) Total 172 151 (88) 7 (4) 10 (6) 4 (2) * cfu/lipstick surface, not per g. Table IV. Distribution of colony counts of clostridia from powders on RCA incubated for 3 days at 37øC No. of Product items No. and (yo) of items with colony counts g-• within the range 10 10-300 300 Talcum powder 12 8 (67) 4 (33) 0 (0) Face powder and rouge 14 9 (65) 5 (35) 0 (0) Complete make-up 11 11 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) Total 37 28 (75.6) 9 (24.4) 0 (0)