Minerals, pigments and optical ingredients
CI 19140 · yellow colour
About this illustration
CI 19140: Yellow 5 Lake referenceSolid cosmetic context
The yellow reference sweepThis illustrated yellow lake preparation shows one way CI 19140 can enter a colour palette. The shade contributes to appearance while the product’s scent and feel have their own ingredient stories.Visual references: UNIPURE YELLOW LC125, FD&C Yellow 5 Lake
Yellow can be a bright statement or a quiet part of a more complex shade. CI 19140 is the numerical name behind tartrazine and Yellow 5, and its route into a solid reveals a useful distinction between the colour itself and the physical form chosen to carry it.
Name on the ingredient listCI 19140
A quick answer
CI 19140 is a synthetic yellow colour associated with tartrazine, Acid Yellow 23 and FD&C Yellow 5. It belongs to the azo-dye family. Manufacturers use straight and lake preparations for different formulation settings, so the code alone is not a complete grade description. In a solid cosmetic it contributes to appearance, sometimes alongside other colourants, while the scent and the feel come from separate parts of the formula.
Tartrazine, Yellow 5 and a numerical identity
A cosmetic list may say CI19140, while another source says tartrazine or Yellow 5. Those names connect to the same colour conversation through different naming systems. The code provides a practical anchor across languages, product names and technical descriptions.
It does not tell you how much is present or how vivid the finished yellow will be. A small numerical entry can identify a material precisely while leaving the actual design choices to the formula. That distinction makes colour lists more useful: they show the palette, rather than acting as a swatch of the finished product.
Urban Decay · FREAK shade entryMay Contain:CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake)CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake)Check the exact shade’s pack
The colour has a manufacturing story
Tartrazine is an azo dye. The official identity describes a manufactured colour that is purified and isolated as a sodium salt. It is therefore a prepared material with a particular composition, not simply yellow plant matter ground into a powder.
This is a useful contrast with turmeric or another naturally coloured botanical. Two ingredients can both contribute yellow while having different preparation stories and different formulation possibilities. A cosmetic maker can choose the colour route that fits the intended visual effect, leaving other ingredients to supply the product's botanical character.
CI 19140 · Yellow 5 Lake referenceTurmeric Powder · botanical material
CI 19140 · Yellow 5UNICERT YELLOW 08005-J · selected powder reference
A lake preparation in a perfume balm
A current solid perfume-balm label explicitly names CI19140 as Yellow 5 Lake. That gives the physical preparation more detail than the bare code alone. A lake is a pigment preparation in which a colour is associated with a suitable substrate, allowing it to be incorporated differently from a straight dye.
The label also names a red lake. Together, they help construct the product's appearance while the fragrance mixture provides its scent. This is a particularly clear example of separate sensory jobs within one compact object: the colour list and the perfume story belong to different parts of the design.
CI 19140 · Yellow 5CI 19140 · Yellow 5 Lake
Yellow may be one part of a blend
A yellow component does not require a finished product to look purely yellow. It can be balanced with other colourants and with the natural appearance or opacity of the base. A translucent mixture and an opaque one can present colour very differently.
When looking at a solid, it is useful to separate hue from intensity and coverage. Hue is the colour family; intensity is how vivid it appears; coverage concerns how much the layer hides what is beneath it. The ingredient identity supplies one piece of that visual construction, while the finished formula combines the pieces.
Illustrated baseColour reference · Yellow 5 Lake
A sunny shade does not identify the scent
Yellow packaging and yellow product colour often make us expect citrus, but colour is not a fragrance formula. A coloured perfume balm can use the shade to express its visual character while its actual aroma comes from different ingredients.
This is an enjoyable way to read a scented solid with less guesswork. Let the fragrance description explain what you may smell, and let the colour ingredients explain the appearance. Both can be deliberately chosen, and neither needs to serve as proof of the other. CI19140 belongs to the visible side of that pairing.
Yellow is a family of visual possibilities
Quinoline Yellow, commonly associated with CI47005, is a different colour identity from CI19140. Similar shade words do not make them interchangeable. Recognising that difference is useful when following an ingredient explanation across products.
For everyday use, the practical decision remains the finished product and its intended purpose. The colour code helps you understand how the maker has built its appearance. It is not a reason to borrow food-use assumptions, hair-toning claims or a different product's directions. The pleasure of the ingredient story lies in the specific material behind an apparently simple yellow.
Questions you might have
Is CI19140 the same as Yellow 5?
CI19140 is associated with the colour known as tartrazine or FD&C Yellow 5. A product may provide additional information, such as explicitly naming a lake preparation. Those details matter when describing the physical material. The code helps connect naming systems, while the extra wording can explain which preparation the maker selected.
Does a yellow solid contain turmeric?
Not necessarily. CI19140 is a synthetic colour identity, distinct from a turmeric powder or extract. A product can use yellow colour for appearance without using a yellow botanical, or it can contain both for different reasons. The ingredient list lets those stories be separated instead of judging the contents from the shade alone.
Is every CI19140 ingredient a lake?
No. Straight colour and lake preparations are distinguished in official and supplier systems. The current perfume-balm example names a lake explicitly, but that does not establish the preparation in every other product. The useful habit is to retain the exact declared identity and any additional grade information the brand provides.
One useful thought
CI19140 turns a familiar yellow into a specific material story: several names, an azo-dye identity and possible preparations selected for the format. Its most useful lesson is the separation of colour from scent and of identity from grade. That makes the cheerful surface of a solid easier to understand.
Sources
References and further reading
- CI19140 – IngredientCOSMILE Europe
- 21 CFR74.2705: FD&C Yellow No.5US Food and Drug Administration / eCFR
- Cheirosa40 Jelly Perfume Balm: All IngredientsSol de Janeiro
